DQ 1: Find two Web sites dealing with indigenous cultures or religions. Discuss how modern civilization has affected the spiritual lives of the indigenous peoples you explored. Are indigenous religions still practiced today? If so, how have the practices changed over time?…
Culture is very important to the Aboriginals and they are connected to the land. They believe their land has spiritual, religious and social significance. Each group of Aborigines has different traditions and beliefs in relation to…
With reference to the source and your own knowledge, discuss how Aboriginal spirituality is determined by the Dreaming. (5marks)…
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people feel more comfortable communicating face to face, they like to talk and see who they are talking to. Using the contacts I have made and the relationships and partnerships I have formed, with people from the ATSI community and cultural broker, I would invite these people to visit the service and provide input on the strategies. A cultural broker may be used if needed. Example: An education centre in regional Western Australia provides an important cultural connection for its Indigenous Australian individuals with a designated area offering space for a campfire, meetings and cultural activities in bush surroundings. Local Indigenous Australian people bring bush tucker to the centre on a regular basis…
Seen as a crucial and pivotal element in the process of deepening spiritual understanding, religious ritual plays a fundamental role in building both personal and cultural identity, an act that expresses and emphasises the things that bind a faith community together. In all religions, the milestones of a practitioner’s life are highlighted and celebrated through ritual and ceremony. These events often include both birth and death, marriage and coming of age. Several features play an indispensable role within rituals, such as the presence of representative symbols, people or religious leaders and music, features that have been central to both worship and ritual since primordial…
Dispossession, that is, depriving the Aboriginal people of their land, identity and religious expression, has had a lasting impact on Aboriginal people and their spirituality. The forceful removal of the Indigenous Australians from their lands led to the forceful removal from their family and kinship groups, causing the destruction of Aboriginal spirituality. Through the eradication of the Dreamtime, the centre of their spirituality, their sense of identity and belonging was lost, status and land right continuously denied, and kinship groups were fractured. This loss of kinship ties, in addition to the perpetual impact of the Stolen Generation, resulted in the disruption of the passing on of the Dreamtime stories and tradition, which in turn prevented the spirituality being kept alive through the next generation.…
The Aboriginal people believe in myths but do not have faith in a creator. Instead, they believe in a spirit world, they say that after death there is another world beyond, they trust in ideas of reincarnation. The spirits are active in this world but they also live on in a world after death. The Aboriginals use rituals as a way of communicating between the two worlds. Communities or tribes gather to take part in dances, story telling, art making and other practices. They group for these rituals at sacred sites, these are places or areas that hold great significance for the Aborigines. These fascinating beliefs are very deep and complex views of how the cycle of life on our Earth occurs.…
* Refers to the complex relationships of blood and spirit that exists between Aboriginal people; based on familial and totem relations that govern Aboriginal life by determining clan issues.…
Australian independence from Britain changed little in the relationship between Whites and Aborigines. The occupation of main land and the spread of European livestock over vast areas made a traditional Aboriginal lifestyle less viable, but also provided a ready alternative supply of fresh meat for those prepared to risk taking advantage of it.…
In the 19th century, the Canadian government believed it was responsible for educating and caring for the country's aboriginal people. It thought their best chance for success was to learn English and adopt Christianity and Canadian customs. Ideally, they would pass their adopted lifestyle on to their children, and native traditions would diminish, or be completely abolished in a few generations.…
In chapter 2, the textbook author uses various terms for “indigenous religions”: traditional, aboriginal, indigenous, tribal, nonliterate, primal, native, oral, and basic. Select four or five of these terms and discuss why you believe each of those terms is applicable to the religions covered in this chapter.…
Aboriginal objects include physical objects, such as stone tools, Aboriginal-built fences and stockyards, scarred trees and the remains of fringe camps, materials deposited on the land and also the ancestral remains of Aboriginal people. Conserving these particular sites are vitally important in order to preserve Australian Indigenous Culture. (“Aboriginal cultural heritage conservation,” 2014) Rich cultures and traditional indigenous systems may be lost if not regularly and passionately practiced, properly recorded and preserved, and proudly and widely promoted to the wider public in Australia and around the…
I found it interesting that the the vast majority of indigenous religions are so interconnected, even when they are continents away from each other. The indigenous people (not all, but most/some) share similar languages, specialists, and sharing of their sacred ways. Personally, I have always found it interesting how the metaphors seem to transcend literal space. The metaphors that are shared via storyteller, dance, drums, and chants are similar in most indigenous religions. To me this symbolizes an underlying truth of hierarchy and respect. Specifically, I find that the communication with and reserve for nature as the dominant in indigenous religions is incredibly important to our world as a whole (and this is shown through the indigenous…
There are numerous details included in the essay that indicate that the author is Aboriginal. For example, in the leading sentence of the essay, he states that he was “born on a trapline” and learned to speak Cree as his first language. This clearly shows right from the start that he was raised in an Aboriginal environment. The fact that he lived on a trapline also demonstrates the hunter-gatherer way of life that many Aboriginals lead in order to utilize the their environment to provide many of their necessities while retaining their connection with nature. In the second paragraph, the author mentions that he enjoys travelling to Northern Ontario to hunt with his father. This anecdote is important because he describes in detail how they hunt, namely highlighting the fact that whilst most Canadians will simply buy food at a supermarket without a second thought, it is customary for Aboriginals hunting to say a prayer for the animals’ spirits to show appreciation and gratitude for their sacrifice. This demonstrates the Aboriginal perspective because Aboriginals recognize that they are very dependent on other parts of creation, and therefore show respect and appreciation through activities such as praying, giving thanks and using human pronouns when speaking about animals. Another point in the essay where the author is shown to be of Aboriginal descent is when he expresses frustration about the number of homeless people (Aboriginal or otherwise) that need help, comparing it to his childhood memory of his mother telling him that “In the old days, no one went hungry as long as there was food, and everyone had a place to sleep”. This demonstrates the Aboriginal mentality of communalism (vs. individualism) that dictates that everyone in the group is important and responsible for following the laws of nature, as they believe that individuals within a community are all interconnected, and that the harmony of a group helped keep the…
In American society, there are many things that can be considered sacred. Sacred items are usually considered religious items, but that isn’t always the case. Sacred item examples include things, places, persons, and ideas. There are many ways to look at sacred elements.…