Effects Of Dispossession On Aboriginal Spirituality

For the Aborigines their spiritually involves everyday objects such as plants and animals which are connected to their ancestors. Their spirituality and beliefs are kept alive by passing on their knowledge through ceremonies and “Dreamtime” stories. The “Dreamtime” stories are how the Aborigines explain the beginning of the Earth and the foundation of their core beliefs. In most of the stories, ancestral spirits came to the Earth and as they moved along they created the plants, animals and even rocks. One the spirits did their job, they morphed into stars, watering holes and other objects. An example of these “Dreamtime” stories is the “Rainbow serpent” which is about a serpent who “pushed out the land to make mountains, she spilled water over the land to make rivers, lakes and billabongs. She also made the sun and fire, and all colours of the rainbow.”

The Australian Indigenous community hold extremely significant corrections to the land of Australia, of which they refer to as ‘Country.’ Indigenous people acquire deep meaning from the land, sea and the countless resources derived from them. This special relationship has formed for many centuries. To them ‘Country’ is paramount for overall wellbeing; the strong, significant, spiritual bonds embody their entire existence. Knowledge is continually passed down to create an unbroken connection of past,

Religion is a set of beliefs towards life where it helps describe the truth, purpose, lessons and outlook on life and also beliefs toward a higher authority or creator depending on the beliefs. Aboriginal spirituality is the set of beliefs of spiritual traditions and teachings which is passed down orally through the generations and centuries of believers. Buddhism is the set of beliefs of ending personal suffering and discovering happiness in life to achieve the state of nirvana which ends the cycle of reincarnation. Through Aboriginal Spirituality and Buddhism, there are similar themes in beliefs between these religions such as beliefs upon spirits, the circle of balance and afterlife; in which these ideas demonstrate and distinguish the relation between Aboriginal Spirituality and Buddhism.

"Aboriginal people are a steady beating heart at the centre of our Australian spiritual identity."

Aboriginal religion is based on land. Land is the heart of Aboriginal Dreaming and provides the assurance needed for the continuation of rituals and ceremonies (king, 2010, p.213). The effect of Dispossession on Aboriginal spiritualities related to the separation from their land was enormous and overwhelmingly detrimental.

Spirituality often can be classified to an ultimate or immaterial reality or inner path enabling a person to discover the essence of their being; or the deepest values and meanings by which people live. This can be true for the aboriginal people, whose concept of spirituality is derived from the concept of the Dreaming, where the roots lie in a variety of stories, ceremonies, values and structures. In the beginning many people held on to what ever they could, holding on to their idea of themselves a connection to the families that they left behind. However, in order to wipe away any thought or lingering feelings “many masks, regalia. And ritual artifacts were confiscated and burned as pagan works of the devil- or simply held and later sold for profit.”[7] This was devastating as many lost whatever connection they had to the outside world, their families and their spirituality. While in residential schools “Children were taught that the beliefs of their

Before the European invasion in the 1700’s, Indigenous Australians lived in tribes all over the country, with an estimated population of 750,000 people (Australian Museum, 2013). By 1901, less than 100,000 remained. Their deeply rooted belief and spiritual system, known as the Dreaming, was a

The Dreaming is communicated through songs, stories and rituals, in which is explains how the “creator ancestors shaped the land and brought it to life” (Gammage, 2011, p. 1419). All of life, from religion, geography, life and more, are explained and connected to the Aboriginal people’s spirituality, land and family through this form of communication. The Dreamtime “shapes the Aboriginal people’s view of the universe and themselves” (Wierzbicka & Goddard, 2015, p. 43). The passing on of the Dreaming stories from one generation to the next was a “most important aspect of education” (Edwards, 1998, p. 83) and is seen as the fundamental reality. Edwards stated that through ritual, humans are able to “enter into a direct relationship with

and shaped by the actions of spiritual ancestors who travelled across the landscape. Living and

The Aboriginal Dreaming refers to the religious and spiritual beliefs of the aboriginal people of Australia. The dreaming is what they base their traditional lives around, the dreaming determines their values and beliefs and their relationships with the animals, plants and environment around them. The Dreaming tells the stories that explain their views and beliefs on how the world came to be and its history and the totems which represent each historical factor of the dreaming. The dreaming stories explain how the Spirit Ancestors made the trees, rocks, waterholes, and rivers, mountains and stars as well as the animals and plants, and which spirits

Aboriginal spirituality is a celebration of connectedness. The relationships which the Indigenous people form with their environment reflects that their spirituality is far more complex than a religion, rather, it is an identity. For theses ancient people there is no separation between the people, flora and fauna, and the land (Korff, What is Aboriginal Spirituality?, 2017). All of these elements are profoundly connected through song, dance, sacred stories and art, which are the pillars of Aboriginal spirituality. These traditions also allow the Indigenous people to connect with and understand the earth, therefor understanding ancestor spirits who are ever present within the land. Ancestors may have come to rest within specific land forms (Australian Museum, 2015). These connections create an inextricable relationship with the land; not only in a spiritual sense, but also as a way of understanding one’s history. “The land is our food, our culture, our spirit and identity” (Korff, What is Aboriginal Spirituality?, 2017). This report will explore the connection between Indigenous spirituality, land rights, European settlement and the impact colonisation had on the Australian Aboriginal peoples.

In 2009, the city of Edmonton announced a ten-year plan to eradicate poverty within its bounds. There is no denying that poverty is a major social problem: as of 2011, 100 810 Edmontonians lived in poverty – almost one in every eight people (Galarneau and Morissette, citation 11). Different social and cultural groups prove to be especially vulnerable to poverty, and it is important to consider the perspective of each to arrive at a solution. In this paper I will analyse different perspectives on poverty to determine to what extent it is feasible to eradicate poverty in Edmonton, and how it could be done. Aboriginal Perspective An important cultural and social group when discussing poverty in Edmonton are the Aboriginal peoples who live there.

History has unveiled the early contacts of colonization from the Europeans that set motion to cultural oppression and exclusion of the Aboriginal communities (Kirmayer, Tait, Simpson & Simpson, 2009). The introduction of the residential school system was meant to eliminate the indigenous people’s cultural heritage and way of life, creating a historical trauma. As a result, survivors of the residential school system left the majority of the Aboriginal population without a sense of cultural heritage, lack of self-esteem, and depression (Gone, 2010). Aboriginal culture was suppressed, breaking the connection of traditional knowledge from parent to child (Kirmayer, Tait, Simpson & Simpson, 2009). Trans-generational trauma of the Aboriginal people has left psychologically and physically damage towards their own heritage (Gray & Nye, 2001).

The Dreaming embraces time past, present and future, stories that describe the travels of the spiritual ancestors, which are integral to Aboriginal spirituality that relates to Aboriginal law with stories passing on important knowledge, cultural values and belief systems to future generations through song, dance, painting and storytelling (Bourke & Cox, 1998, p. 56). The Dreamings came from Aboriginal ancestors who created the law; however Aboriginal people are unable to change it, as it is part of their history, therefore Aboriginal law and Western law can conflict with one another, as during the colonial process Western law did not recognise Aboriginal customary laws (Roy, 2008). But as will be discussed, the Dreamings play a role in Aboriginal law in contemporary urban Aboriginal life through their culture and history, however Western law still does not recognise Aboriginal customary law; a law that influences and

It is clear from these beliefs that spirituality and religion played a major role in the Aboriginal culture. There were many myths and rituals connected to both the tribe's ancestors and the creators of the world, none of whom ever died but merged with the natural world and thus remained a part of the present. These myths and rituals, signifying communion with nature and the past, were known as the Dreaming or the Dreamtime, and reflected a belief in the continuity of existence and harmony with the world.