Religious Expression in Australia’s Multicultural & Multifaith Society

Question 1

What does it mean that aboriginal spirituality is animistic

Answer 1

Everything, including people, plants, animals and landforms are seen as interconnected.

Question 2

What does it mean that aboriginal spirituality is metatemporal

Answer 2

It is unconstrained by any linear understanding of time; it incorporates the past, present and future.

Question 3

What does it mean that aboriginal spirituality is esoteric

Answer 3

Aboriginal knowledge is esoteric; known to only a particular nation or group.

Question 4

Define ‘DREAMING’

Answer 4

The living spirit of aboriginal/TSI beliefs + practices of Aboriginal and TSI people - It is the spirit of their creation and their history, identity, spirituality and culture.

Determines the roles, responsibilities, moral values and provides guidance on how to live their lives.

Structures many indigenous cultures, providing a framework for understanding and interpreting the world and the place of humans within it.

Question 5

Define the ‘DREAMTIME’

Answer 5

The Dreamtime: The period in which life was created according to the Aboriginal Culture.

Question 6

What are three things determined by the DREAMING

Answer 6

Kinship
Ceremonial Life
Obligations

Question 7

Define ‘KINSHIP’

Answer 7

Kinship: refers to an Aboriginal person’s social group (e.g. family or mob) and a system of belonging and responsibilities within a clan.

Complex system that defines social relationships, roles, and obligations within communities, often based on lineage, totems.

This intricate web of relationships also governs land ownership and custodianship.

Question 8

TRICK CARD - GO READ OVER THE WHOLE OF THIS SECTION

Answer 8

IM NOT JOKING HER

Question 9

What is the link between kinship and the dreaming

Answer 9

Dreaming stories often explain the origins of kinship systems.
Kinship ties relate people to specific ancestral beings.
Both kinship and the Dreaming connect people to territories and sacred sites.
The Dreaming provides laws governing kinship relationships.
Totems from the Dreaming play a role in kinship structures.
Kinship determines roles in Dreaming-related ceremonies.

Question 10

What are the three primary foundations of kinship:

Answer 10

Moieties
Totems
Skin Names

Question 11

Define Moieties

Answer 11

According to moiety, everything is split in half, including you + your environment; each half of these entities mirror the other.

Question 12

Define Totems

Answer 12

Represent ancestral spirits which link a person to the physical universe; to land, water, geographical features and animals.

Question 13

Define Skin Names

Answer 13

‘Skin Names’ inform people how they are linked, indicating their bloodline and their obligations to one another.

Question 14

What are the two major purposes of aboriginal ceremonies

Answer 14

They mark the relationship of Aboriginal peoples to the spirit world and the Ancestral Beings who made the cosmos.

They mark the stages in every Aboriginal person’s life.

Question 15

How are ceremonies connected to the dreaming?

Answer 15

A ceremony can refer to Aboriginal stories, rituals, song, dance and art.
The Dreaming is the source of ceremonies and rituals - Rituals help maintain an Aboriginal person’s knowledge of the Dreaming.
During ceremonies, ancestral beings, which are taught in the dreaming, present themselves through people, objects, words, and movements.
The dreaming is maintained as a present reality through ceremony.
- Rituals held at sacred sites can re-enact events which occured during the dreaming - importance of ceremonial life to the dreaming.

Question 16

What is a ‘Rites of passage and initiation​’ ceremonies

Answer 16

Rituals or ceremonies to mark significant moments in a person’s life, such as birth, adolescence, marriage​

Question 17

What is the ‘Death and Burial​’ ceremony

Answer 17

Ceremonies to honour and bury the dead. Belief in the continued life of the spirits and great care is taken with their possessions and speaking their name.

Question 18

Describe a smoking ceremony

Answer 18

The Smoking Ceremony is an ancient custom among Aboriginal Australians that involves burning native plants to produce smoke, which is believed to have cleansing properties and the ability to ward off bad spirits. Purpose and significance:

Question 19

Define ‘Obligations to Land + People’

Answer 19

For Aboriginal peoples, ownership of the land means that they have a responsibility to be stewards; care for it and nurture it.

Question 20

Define ‘SACRED SIGHTS’ + example

Answer 20

Sacred Sites: Natural areas that hold spiritual importance - often connected to the Dreaming, ancestral beings, or important historical events.

Uluru (Ayers Rock)
For the Anangu people, the traditional owners, Uluru is central to their creation stories and law. It’s believed to have been created by ancestral beings during the Dreamtime and is seen as a place where the physical and spiritual worlds intersect.

Question 21

Define ‘DISPOSSESSION’

Answer 21

Dispossession = Refers to the eviction, deprivation or expulsion of a person or person’s possession of land or property.

Question 22

Dispossession was enforced through assimilation policies and protection policies… DEFINE ‘ASSIMILATION POLICIES’

Answer 22

19th century idea that Aboriginal people should be ‘improved’ by being ‘civilised’ and Christianised. Policies took Aboriginal people, particularly “half caste” and placed them into the white community to forget their culture. It also led to separation of Aboriginal children from families - the ‘Stolen Generation’. These people often faced abuse, discrimination and disadvantage.

Question 23

Dispossession was enforced through assimilation policies and protection policies… DEFINE ‘PROTECTION POLICIES’

Answer 23

aimed to preserve/protect Aboriginal peoples by moving them into missions (based on an European idea of what was best for them). Intent was to isolate Aboriginal people from the rest of the community until their culture died out.

Question 24

Go read policies of protection and relocation pg 4

Answer 24

DO IT

Question 25

The continuing effects of dispossession of Aboriginal Spiritualities in relation to: Separation from Land Provide Examples

Answer 25

This amounts to an enormous loss of identity as the land is inextricably linked to the land and the Dreaming. By driving them people off their ‘Country’, the European settlers deprived them of their independence, culture + spiritual world. The relocation of Aboriginal people away from traditional areas resulted in the destruction of families and cultural ties, and sometimes led to animosity between the various traditional groups struggling to survive. Customary law + authority and a close relationship with the land were also undermined - land was lost to the more powerful settlers. There is a loss and disruption to one’s purpose, totemic responsibilities, and heritage; cultural erosion. Cultural practices and ceremonies associated with the land and sacred sites could not be carried out. People were unable to effectively draw on the spiritual power of the Dreaming and ancestral spirits.

Question 26

The continuing effects of dispossession of Aboriginal Spiritualities in relation to: Separation from Kinship Provide Examples

Answer 26

Oral tradition, as inspired by kinship relationships, was fragmented and destroyed due to the separation of families. Totemic responsibilities, originating from the land, were disrupted. The role of tribal Elders was undermined

Question 27

The continuing effects of dispossession of Aboriginal Spiritualities in relation to: Stolen generation Provide Examples

Answer 27

The ‘forced separation’ or ‘taking away’ of children of Aboriginal mothers and European fathers from their families occurred in every part of Australia from the late 1800s; from the 1950s and 1970s, this was government policy. During this time, as many as 100,000 children were separated from their families, known as the Stolen Generation; they suffered humiliation, maltreatment, sometimes violence and physical abuse. The separation took three forms; Putting Indigenous children into government or church-run institutions. Adopting children into ‘white’ families. Fostering children into ‘white’ families. The ultimate goal was to absorb ‘half-castes’ into the European community. The children who were taken away lost their identity, culture, language and spirituality, and their self-esteem. The legacy of separation extends to the dislocation of communities and a spirit of solidarity.

Question 28

Provide some impacts of dispossesstion

Answer 28

Lower life-expectancy 72 (M) and 76 (F) compared to 81(white M) 85(white F) Poorer socioeconomic outcomes & discrimination. 2018-19, 24% have diagnosed mental health/behavioural condition 31% of adults reported high levels of psychological distress. Less formal educational, employment and health opportunities. High incidences of poor mental health, suicide + substance abuse. 2018-19, 34% of the health gap Higher rates of incarceration

Question 29

Define 'LAND RIGHTS'

Answer 29

Refer to claims by the Aboriginal and TSI people to repossess and/or seek compensation for the use of their traditional lands

Question 30

What are the 'three major judicial milestones in rectifying this injustice.'

Answer 30

1992 Mabo decision - recognition of a form of native title to land. 1993 Native Title Act - claims process for native title and regulated future government acts affecting native title land. 1996 Wik decision or The Wik Peoples v Queensland - coexistence of pastoral leases and native title

Question 31

What is the MABO decision?

Answer 31

1992 High Court judgement in Mabo v. Queensland, that the Indigenous peoples of Australia finally won a case regarding their ownership of land. The Mabo Decision was the first successful land rights case to overthrow the legal fiction of terra nullius. The High Court ruling found that a native title to land existed in 1788. The judgement, made in 1992, is usually referred to as Mabo. Because the Mer tribes were never taken off Murray Island, Mabo's lawyers could easily prove "continuing ties to the ancestral land" which further strengthened Mabo's case. In the 1992 Mabo decision, the High Court declared that: Native title exists where the indigenous people have maintained their connection to the land.

Question 32

What is the Native Title act?

Answer 32

The ownership of land and waters that have always belonged to Aboriginal people according to their traditions, laws and customs. Form of land title which recognises Aboriginal people as rightful owners of the land. The Native Title Act 1993 came into force on the 1st January 1994 and recognised the existence of Aboriginal native title in Australian federal law and the native title rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. ALLOWS FOR NATIVE TITLE CLAIMS. It set up a claims process for native title rights, and regulated future government acts affecting native title land. Native title is only available to indigenous people who are able to prove a continuous link with the land. They can only fully claim vacant crown land. They cannot claim “free hold” land.

Question 33

What was the wik decision?

Answer 33

One year after Mabo, in June 1993, the Wik people claimed native title over some traditional lands on the Cape York Peninsula in Queensland. The Wik Decision, handed down by the High Court in December 1996 determined that native title could coexist with other rights on land held under a pastoral lease. Crown land did not need to be vacant to be claimed by Indigenous peoples, but co-existence was not permitted under various circumstances; e.g. Corporate Land, Areas of National Interest, Public Areas etc.

Question 34

Define 'RECONCILLIATION'

Answer 34

Reconciliation: ongoing method to resolve social issues between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians. It refers to the ways people/organisations have addressed past injustices, present inequalities and future hopes.

Question 35

What does reconciliation involve?

Answer 35

Resolving social issues by confronting ongoing injustices and inequalities. Closing ‘the gap’ to enable Indigenous peoples full participation in society. Overcoming racism by embracing differences and the beauty of Indigenous culture. Acknowledging mistakes the trauma inflicted on Indigenous peoples in the past to pave the way for the nation’s healing. Recognising Indigenous people’s humanity and equal rights in the Constitution to promote a shared history.

Question 36

Why is reconciliation important?

Answer 36

Recognizes the importance of Aboriginal culture Recognizes past injustices done to Aboriginal people and their culture Tries to address ongoing injustices e.g. economic disadvantage Teaches us the history of injustice so we can learn from this (and not repeat it) Promotes a harmonious society

Question 37

What is the The uluru statement of the heart

Answer 37

In 2017, over 250 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander delegates came together to reach consensus on the Uluru Statement, calling for three elements; A Voice to Parliament enshrined in the Constitution. A Makarrata Commission to supervise treaty processes and truth-telling. A Truth-telling Commission. On the 26th May 2017, this statement was delivered; on the 26th oct, the Australian government rejected the proposal. In November of 2017, 2500 churches and agencies signed a statement, prepared in consultation with First Nations peoples, expressing disappointment at the government’s rejection; the rejection galvanised the voices of those accepting the ‘gift to the Australian people’ and accelerated the process of reconciliation through the Reconciliation Action Plan ( RAP ) program and interfaith dialogue.

Question 38

What is one christian example of reconciliation

Answer 38

E.g. Notably in 2022, the National Council of Churches in Australia (NCCA) including the Catholic, Anglican, and Uniting churches, has expressed support for the Uluru Statement from the Heart, which calls for constitutional recognition and a voice for Indigenous peoples in Parliament.

Question 39

What is one jewish example of reconciliation

Answer 39

The Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) has publicly endorsed reconciliation principles, participated in National Reconciliation Week, and also expressed support for the Uluru Statement, reflecting a commitment to fostering dialogue and collaboration with Indigenous communities.

Question 40

What is one Muslim example of reconciliation?

Answer 40

Dr Erian, past president of the Islamic Society of Australia stated; “The Muslim community in Australia is most supportive of Aboriginal reconciliation on moral, humanitarian and prudential pragmatic grounds.”