Each group believes in different supernatural ancestors that created the natural world. They have emerged from land features which are considered sacred sites. Sacred sites may be land /rock formations, parts of rivers/seas or burial grounds. The Land is regarded as sacred to aboriginals because ‘The Dreaming’ occurs on it. The dreaming consists of creation stories about how the ancestral spirits moved through the land creating rivers, lakes, mountains, animals and plants.
Assignment 1: Reflective Paper (750 words) While a variety of factors have shaped the diversity of Indigenous Australian philosophy and practices across the Australian continent, one of the central characteristics of the Aboriginal worldview is the concept of the ‘Dreaming’. Outline some of the key aspects of this belief system and reflect on this in comparison to your own worldview. The Dreaming is described by the Aboriginal people as the era of their creation. The belief underlying the concept of The Dreaming helps them understand their very existence (Edwards 1988, p.17). According to Edwards (1988, p. 17), the Aboriginal people believe that they came from the land on which they live and have occupied the land since the era of The Dreaming.
We gain knowledge of their past through Aboriginal oral traditions, and archeological digs. We do know that the base for the Aboriginal belief is in the Dreaming, or the Dreamtime. The Dreaming has different meanings for different Aboriginal groups. In general the dreaming can be referred to as the timeless time of creation, when the rules governing relationships between the people, the land, and all things that pertain to Aboriginal life was created. The Aborigines believed that every person’s soul exist forever, in an important way, in the Dreaming.
Another aspect worth noting is the Art, which is viewed as a transfer of knowledge from person to person and the final feature is the Rituals and Ceremonies which are the primary link between Creation and the current world. The Dreaming is the most basic part of Aboriginal religion as it is commonly seen as the essence of Aboriginal spiritual beliefs about everything from the creation of the world to spiritual and physical existence. The link between Aboriginal people, the land and everything associated to the Aboriginal lifestyle is created through the Dreaming. The knowledge of all aspects, including how Aboriginal people interact with each other and different tribes, of Aboriginal life is provided by the Dreaming. A point worth observing is that the Dreaming does not make reference to one point in time, or a particular event.
A majority of worldviews are developed through surroundings, so, culture. Before settlement of Europeans around the time of Captian Cook (1836), in Australia there were roughly 250 distinct languages, 700 different dialects being spoken, and in South Australia alone there were 54 different languages being spoken (Adelaide's recipe for life Wisdom of the Kaurna, 2000, p5). Though there was vast diversity amongst the Aboriginal people across Australia, there was also cohesion around the main beliefs and ideals of the Indigenous people, the most Influential being “The Dreaming”. The large number of groups of Indigenous across early Australia still had their own distinctive language,
Focus will be on the lifestyle of the Basseri concerning the areas of kinship and descents, sociopolitical; and economical systems including their responses to social changes within those areas from outside influences. Kinship and Descent The Basseri are a very interesting tribal people with family ties based upon their unique kinship and
Of special interest is the "earth-diver" motif. In this motif, a god sends a bird or animal to the depths of the ocean to bring back a bit of soil from which the entire earth can be created. This motif occurs among a variety of Native American peoples, but it occurs in remote parts of the world as well, such as Siberia. The turtle, too, is a recurring figure in the mythologies of many lands, from North America to China and India. Oral Response Many cultures view the earth as a female figure.
Culture is as a body of knowledge that people have about a particular society, whether is be beliefs, values, customs or languages. Culture is precious to Lorrpu. Tribal culture is a significant custom that the aboriginal’s take part in. The boys are taught that the crocodile totem and spirit ancestor will watch over them and direct them throughout life. Lorrpu, Botj and Milika grew up with ancient stories, customs of hunting animals for food and ceremonies.
The term “cosmology” can be used to refer to the body of concepts and doctrines about the origins and properties of the world and its inhabitants (Keen, 2004). For Indigenous Australians, cosmological beliefs connect them to their country through a complex cosmological experience that is present in all aspects of their daily life and it is instrumental in shaping their world view. By exploring some of the cosmological beliefs of the Bardi people of Western Australia, the Kunai people in Southern Victoria, the Pitjantjatjara people of the Western Desert, and the Yolngu people from Arnhem Land, it is possible to see how the landscape is a vital link to their connection with their ancestral past; conceptions of life and death; while also providing a structural framework for their morality or ‘law’. For Australians whose origins lie elsewhere, including settler Australians and New Age believers, the ability to gain a sense of connectedness and belonging to the land, is limited by lack of understanding and appreciation of the importance of Indigenous cosmologies and their role in defining the Australian landscape. Throughout Australia, the Dreaming is the central feature of Aboriginal cosmology, forming an integral link between humans, the land and all living creatures.
Native American Music Also known as ‘Amerindian’ music, the Native American music is a widespread tradition used as a form of spiritual representation of many aspects of the culture. Together with dance, their use of music in culture is hugely important in order to maintain traditions thousands of years old. So as to fully understand the different types of Native American music, we must also acknowledge the large scope of different Native American tribal units that play this music. Cultural Areas Although most of the Native American music style, along with aspects of their culture, is homogenous, there is evidence that before being forced to move to North American reservations, the Amerindians were divided into separate segments of culture. There are known to be around 1000 tribal units with almost as many languages, as well as 60 independent language families within North America.