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.
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.
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.
Like all aboriginal tribes of the Americas, their culture has been irreparably bruised by the coming of other peoples, yet at the core of their history are the indisputable teachings of how to live a life that is good. In order to live harmoniously with one another, other cultures need to understand the Dene people in their own terms, and not in a way that compares their culture to other. THE DENE PEOPLE! 3 The Dene People of North America The Dene people are a group of Aboriginal nations residing in North Western Canada and the South Western United States who are part of a larger group of Aboriginal nations. This larger category of nations, so named for the language they speak, are called Athabaskan people.
The topic: 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. INTRO: As stated in the topic, there are many ways that have influencial development in culture and worldviews within a person and within a group. These influences make up a person’s “self”, the way they view themselves, the world and their own rationality. A majority of worldviews are developed through surroundings, so, culture.
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.
The Asmat, like many other people, feel a need to understand the how things work, specifically the world. The film maker takes the viewer deep inside the Asmat world to show one how religion, magic, rituals and beliefs can help people cope with their fears. I will further explain how this tribe deals with chaos, the rituals and magic they do, and the consequences of foreign integration. Like the name of the film suggests, the Asmat live in South central New Guenea, which is basically a jungle surrounded by water, mud and trees. Legends and myths play a very important role in this community.
The ceremonial life is consequently impacted, as Aboriginal spirituality is linked to the education of tradition and life skills through the Dreaming. The physical, spiritual and psychological impact of dispossession is indisputable in regards to the Stolen Generation, which continued a cycle of abuse that has left an unsettling legacy on Australia and its treatment of
An essential factor of Aboriginal spirituality is to invariably care for the land which has been a necessity for many years. Totemism is a system of belief that gives rise to the existence of
According to a 2009 dictionary, a society is “an organized group of persons associated together for religious, benevolent, cultural, scientific, political, patriotic, or other purposes” (Dictionary.com, 2009), which indicates that Aboriginals, like Australians, have a consistent society. As well, upon the actual study of Aboriginals, the idea of kinship and the deep cultural heritage passed down through generations contradicts the notion of Aboriginal people society being heterogeneous or