Traditional Rituals: Aboriginal Kinship And Identity

By losing their territory, the traditional owners lost their ‘connection to country’ and this greatly impacted on their wellbeing – physical, mental and spiritual. Traditional ceremonies (among other things) to make the land productive became meaningless when the land was stolen. Kinship ties were broken when tribes were split up and scattered. Aboriginal kinship has an elaborate system of ‘skin’ relationships which determine a person’s place and roles within their family and community. When the tribes fragmented, people lost their power, their purpose and their identity