Australian Aborigine

1

Australian Aborigine Religion
http//www.youtube.com/watch?vH7oE4sKIDuU
2

• Who are the Aborigines?
• Aborigine means native
• Original people of Australia
• Traveled in canoes from SE Asia
• Lived there at least 40,000 years as the only
  people
• Developed unique beliefs about creation
• Survived as hunters and observers.often hunting
  with boomerangs

3
Who are the Aborigines?

• The word Aborigine comes from a Latin word
  meaning from the beginning.
• Scientists believe that Aborigines traveled to
  Australia from Southeast Asia on boats via a land
  bridge over 40,000 years ago.

4
Many died from disease or starved when their land
was taken from them by the Europeans in the 1700s
(colonialism)
5
CORE BELIEF SYSTEM

• Dreamtime is at the center of the Aborigines
  belief system and describes the mystical time
  when the Aboriginal people established their
  world.
• Dreamtime explains the origins of the people
  and of the land. Dreamtime includes a story of
  how things have happened, how the universe came
  to be, how humans were created, and how the
  Creator intended for humans to function in this
  world

6
Aborigine Religion The Dreamtime

• All things began with The Dreamtime (The
  Dreaming
• It continues to co-exist with our now time
• It is all things past, present and future
• It is sacred
• It is the time before time
• It is the time outside time
• It is the time of creation of all things

7
What does The Dreamtime mean to them?

• Belief system
• Moral teaching
• Spiritual code
• Making sense of the world
• They belong to the dreamtime
• History and tradition
• Identity often linked to animals and plants

8

• Dreamtime Continued
• ' Dreamtime' explains the origins and culture of
  the land and its people.
• Have the longest continuous cultural history of
  any group of people on Earth - dating back - by
  some estimates - 65,000 years.
• Dreamtime contains many parts It is the story of
  things that have happened, how the universe came
  to be, how human beings were created and how the
  Creator intended for humans to function within
  the cosmos
• Believe that everything in the natural world is a
  symbolic footprint of the metaphysical beings
  whose actions created our world.

9

• Dreamtime Continued
• Shamans "clever men" or Karadjis interact
  with the sacred i.e. the "sky gods" such as
  Baiame, Biral, Goin and Bundjil. A shaman
  undergoes a ritual death, religious journey and
  ritual rebirth.
• Sacred stories of the Dreamtimes are passed down
  orally and describe the origin of Australia from
  ancient times involving great Ancestral Beings
  who created the landscape and Aborigine tribes.
  

10
Dreamtime Stories
Passed down through generations by word of
mouth Artworks depict deep meaning told through
dreamtime stories Basis of value and belief
system, affects their interaction with the land
and animals Land is sacred because it contains
their heritage, history, and powerful ancestors
or spirits
11
The Dreaming

• The land owns us we dont own the land.
• The land owns us we dont own the land.
• We are part of the land.
• From the time we are children we learn the
• songs and stories about the land.
• For thousands of years, these songs and
• stories have been part of the peoples oral
• tradition and beliefs.
• Aboriginal Dreamtime

12

• The Dreaming
• The expression 'Dreamtime' is most often used to
  refer to the 'time before time', or 'the time of
  the creation of all things
• The 'Dreaming' is often used to refer to an
  individual's or group's set of beliefs or
  spirituality.
• For instance, an Indigenous Australian might say
  that they have Kangaroo Dreaming, or Shark
  Dreaming, or Honey Ant Dreaming, or any
  combination of Dreamings pertinent to their
  'country'.
• What is certain is that 'Ancestor Spirits' came
  to Earth in human and other forms and the land,
  the plants and animals were given their form as
  we know them today.
• These Spirits also established relationships
  between groups and individuals, (whether people
  or animals) and where they traveled across the
  land, or came to a halt, they created rivers,
  hills, etc., and there are often stories attached
  to these places.

13
The purpose of dreamtime stories

• To explain the world how the birds got their
  colour how the tortoise lost its tale how the
  black snake became poisonous.
• To teach where the water holes are, how to
  navigate using the stars.
• To connect with their totemic ancestors

14
(No Transcript)
15
The connection with the land

• One belief was that, before animals, humans and
  plants were created, there were souls who knew
  that they would become physical, but did not know
  when.
• When the time was right, they all said we
  will do our very best to try to help the one that
  takes care of us all. Then they all became
  animals or plants. The last soul became the
  human.
• That is why aborigines respect the environment
  because it is sacred.

16
Physical manifestations of the Dreaming (Ayers
Rock)
17
Dreamtime stories

• Aborigine Creation Story
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vkoxp_q46z0Q
• Why koala has a stumpy tail http//www.youtube.com
  /watch?vitszep0duwIfeaturerelated

18
Aboriginal Art

• Last traditional art form to be appreciated
• To understand Aboriginal Art we first need to
  learn about Dreamtime
• Dreamtime refers to their beliefs of how the land
  and its people were created
• Believed supernatural beings with magical powers
  created the lands features, animals and plants
  during dreamtime
• Art is a way to stay in touch with their ancestry
  and be a part of the natural world

19
In Aboriginal culture everyone is an artist
because everyone participates in activities such
as dancing, singing, body decoration, sand
drawing and weaving baskets.
20
How did Aboriginals create art?

• Unique subject matter and style
• Known for their rock paintings, bark paintings,
  sand (or dot paintings), and body decoration
• Brushes made from bark, plant fibers, twigs, hair
  or feathers
• Also used fingers or sticks to paint
• Used natural ochers (minerals) or clay to make
  red, yellow, and white paint
• Black was made from charcoal

21

• Aboriginal Rock Art
• Longest continuously practiced artistic tradition
  in the world.
• Ubirr, located in North Australia, has very
  impressive rock paintings.

22
Bark Painting

• Tradition for thousands of years
• Bark is cut into a rectangle, after the wet
  season, when its soft
• Placed on warm coals, pressed flat with weights
  and sticks tied to both ends with string
• Painted with natural pigments mixed with a
  natural fixative sticky gum from trees
• Style is similar to rock paintings and
  illustrates stories
• Painted on bark for ceremonies, burials, and
  everyday objects such as baskets and belts

23
Dot Painting

• Traditional dot paintings were made in sand
• Contemporary dot paintings are on canvas with
  acrylic paint
• Depict a story using Aboriginal symbols
• When you understand the symbols it gives a whole
  new meaning to a dot painting

24

• Aboriginals used symbols to represent natural
  surroundings.
• They are shown as tracks left in the ground and
  look like they are seen from a plane.
• Represent recent tracks left by animals or tracks
  made in the past by ancestors.

Thunder Lightening
25
Kangaroo tracks tail
Emu
Goanna (lizard) dragging tail, footprints on side
Footprints
Womens Ceremony
Frogs (black) Water holes (blue)
Snakes
Men Hunting
26
ART

• .
• .
• The animals of Australia seem to be at the center
  of all Aboriginal art. They are the subjects of
  the Dreamtime myths and legends.
• Traditionally, the paints are earth tones and
  made from clay and rocks.
• Brushes were created from chewed twigs, plant
  stems and hair.

27
Animals

• The animals of Australia seem to be at the center
  of all Aboriginal stories and art. They are the
  subjects of the Dreamtime legends.
• They are depicted in art, and take center stage
  in the festivals. The Aborigines are talented
  mimics and like to perform dances in which they
  imitate animals.
• Common animals used the kangaroo, koala, pygmy
  mice, flying possum, pouched wolf, the bandicoot,
  and the wombat

28
(No Transcript)
29

• Body Decoration
• Traditional practice for ceremonies
• Includes scarring, smeared clay or ochres on
  face, wearing ornaments and headdress
• Deep spiritual significance
• Geometric designs
• Use respected patterns of an ancestor to take on
  their living appearance
• Designs may also reflect their role in the family
  or important role in their community

30
Music and Dancing

• The traditional music of indigenous Australians
  holds a lot of meaning to their culture.
• Music is used throughout an aboriginal's life to
  teach what must be known about their culture,
  about their place in it, and about its place in
  the world of nature and super nature. As a very
  young child, the aboriginal is encouraged to
  dance and sing about everyday tasks.
• Music and dancing are often used as a means of
  communication.

31
Music and Dancing

• The Didgeridoo is a wind instrument developed by
  the Aborigines at least 1,500 years ago and is
  still in widespread usage.
• It is sometimes described as a natural wooden
  trumpet
• The instrument is traditionally made from
  Eucalyptus trees which have had their interiors
  hollowed out by termites or died of other causes.

32
Music and Dancing

• Digideroo http//www.youtube.com/watch?v9g592I-p
  -dc
• Dancing http//www.youtube.com/watch?vcQGApoHMZY
  I
• Song http//www.youtube.com/watch?vdCR80_GwIPsf
  eaturefvst

33

• Resources
• Carol, Finley. Aboriginal Art of Australia.
  Lerner Publications Company, Minneapolis 1999.
• Petersen, David. Australia. Childrens Press, New
  York 1998.
• http//66.113.241.131/lessons/envs/live/htdocs/les
  son107.htm
• http//www.bardaglea.org.uk/aboriginal/index.html
• http//www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/xray/hd_xray.htm
• http//www.astonmanor.bham.sch.uk/learningzone/art
  /movements/aboriginal/aboriginalart.htm
• http//goaustralia.about.com/library/graphics/tjap
  ukai1.jpg
• http//www.aboriginalartonline.com/art/body.php
• http//www.bvdrangs.com/dreamtime.html
• http//www.aboriginal-art.com/desert_art_toc.html
• http//www.dickblick.com/multicultural/aboriginal/
  
• http//people.hws.edu/mitchell/oz/Carnarvon96.html
  Art
• www.lclark.edu