Examples Of Aboriginal Spirituality

All aboriginals are linked to the Dreamtime through their totemic creation ancestors, whose stories are passed on through generations. Just as they would care for their family or tribe, they are obliged to care for their ancestral spirits existing in their land. It is important to remember that ancestral spirits are not necessarily ‘Gods’, but instead they are natural features of the land. As the Ancestor Spirits travelled the land, they taught the Law. When Aboriginals say they have a spiritual connection to the land, this relationship exists through the Law developed at the period of formation that includes a system of totemism. A totemic being represents the original form of an animal, plant or other object as it was in the Creation Period. The Kumbumerri Yugambeh people’s totem is the Eagle. ‘What is meant by totemism in Aboriginal Australia is always a mystical connection, expressed by symbolic devices and maintained by rules, between living persons, whether as individuals or as groups or as stocks, and other existents—their ‘totems’ —within an ontology of life that in Aboriginal understanding depends for order and continuity on maintaining the identities and associations which exemplify the connection.’ (5.3) Totems not only create a sense of belonging and spiritual connectedness to the land and others in the tribe, but they also offer hints to the person's

All Aboriginal people believe that through walking and singing the land, they will one day find their tjurunga and their ancestor their dreaming matches up with. Even though many people disagreed with the way the Aboriginals lived, they have stood true to their beliefs since the beginning of time.

The core belief system of Aboriginal spirituality inextricably connects the concepts of the Dreaming, sacred land and Aboriginal Identity. Over centuries of Aboriginal spirituality, the profound connection with the Dreaming and the land has created the basis for Aboriginal identity. The intricate relationship provides Aboriginal people with a way of living and their fundamental beliefs and values, as exemplified in 'We are the custodians of the land; but we must also be its students, learning all we can about it if we are to look after it properly' (David Unaipon, Aboriginal Australian preacher, inventor, and author). Dreaming is the central system for all beliefs and legends. It guides Aboriginal people with a framework of living as it underpins

Aboriginal spirituality is directly linked to dreaming. The dreaming is the term which refers to the past, future and present of Aboriginal spirituality. The dreaming grasps the Aboriginal ideas of creation. It is the foundation on which the Aboriginal religion is built upon. The impacts of dispossession on Aboriginal spiritualties concerning separation from the land, the stolen generation and separation from kinship group is discussed. Departure from the land started with the European settlement. It removed the sense of belonging and sense of spiritual identity. One of the first forms of dispossession even date back to when the first fleet arrived in 1778. The removal of Aboriginal people from their land had a detrimental effect on their spirituality

The belief in kinship with creation is widely supported within most indigenous religions. In this way of thinking, there is more importance placed on the concept of “we” than there is on the concept of “I”. Here, the family or village is where strong emphasis lies. In many indigenous traditions, developing and maintaining a respectful relationship with spiritual energy is paramount. This concept doesn’t only apply to humans, but also, in many cases to the immediate natural environment as well. The oneness of the body and the land is vital. Many think of themselves as mere ‘caretakers’ of the earth, and nothing more, who has a duty to nurture and preserve it for future generations. Certain animals are seen as spiritual conduits, just as certain trees are seen to impart herbal healing secrets.

That entire struggle created and produced awful issues for Aborigines for example, diseases, alcoholism, depression and converted to Christianity because most of these missions run by churches. However, the Dreaming today is much more hope than before because Aboriginal have proven themselves to be an adaptable, therefore the Dreaming spirituality still a live through their efforts of maintain a spiritual connection to the nature especially the land which is the fundamental key of their religion. One of the methods of maintains the Dreaming was the traditions beliefs combination into their new European way of life. Kinship groups are another significant element which gathers all aborigines as one big family; they are all sharing their experiences, ceremonial life and religious practises. Their traditional beliefs emphasise on kinship between people, although this action no longer existed when white European arrived to Australia and forced aborigines to leave their native

"For Indigenous Australians the land is the core of all spirituality." (www.dreamtime.net.au, 2003, p.1). All land is important in some way, but some places are more sacred than others. These 'sacred

Source 1 displays a Indigenous prayer ceremony to prepare for Christmas. The ceremony is influenced by Aboriginal culture such as their connection with the land and the spirits of the First Peoples. For Aborigines “all objects are living and share the same soul and spirit as them”. Spirituality is heavily incorporated into the everyday lives of Aboriginals. Spirituality can be defined as the sense of a connection to something bigger than yourself and involves a search for the meaning of life.

The Dreaming is the centre of Aboriginal religion, which underpins all beliefs and practices in Aboriginal communities, and thus is important due it its worth in strengthening and forming relationships and responsibilities for all Aborigines. The Dreaming explains the significance of the land within Aboriginal spirituality, it presents the idea that the through the land that the Dreaming is activated. The Dreaming is illustrated through the sacred site of Uluru, in which the land is where ancestral beings reside to keep their spirits alive, thus rituals are required to performed on sacred sites as it is according to the law. Furthermore, with the sacred sites spreaded around Australia is plays a significant role of the Aboriginal cultural identity.

Indigenous people are members of a large spiritual family that believe their number one problem is having life out of balance. They believe the cause for this problem is lack of remembering. They also believe that balance in life is more important than what happens in the afterlife. They have a sense of where they belong by following the rhythms of life. They aim to restore harmony and there are many different indigenous religions that go about it.

One of the knowledge I have learned was aboriginal people have a strong connection to land. The land that I was standing on was the ‘Country’ of people of the Kulin Nation. For aboriginal people the land is their mother who provides lots of living resources to them. I was told that various plants are used for making tools, food, and medicine. Plants come from the land so that the

A great sense of trust supports this mutual ‘give-take’ relationship. ‘If you take care of country, country will take care of you.’ These beliefs are totemist and animist, which basically means Aboriginals perceive all natural objects to possess a spirit or soul. While totems are quite significant within Aboriginal culture as they act as symbols in a system of beliefs, signifying a relationship between an individual or group and an animal or plant. Thus, creating a link between the human, natural and supernatural worlds. As the word ‘totem’ comes from a Native American language where it represents group membership; and literally means is ‘he/she/it is a relative of mine’.

Aboriginals or indigenous Australians are the native people of Australia. Aboriginals were nomadic people who came to Australia about 40,000 – 60,000 years ago from Southeast Asia. Religion is a great part of Aboriginal culture. The essay answers these questions: What do Aboriginals belief? What is a Kinship system? What is Dreaming and Dreamtime? What rituals does Aboriginals have?

Australian Aborigines believe that to destroy or damage a sacred site threatens not only the present inhabitants but also the spiritual inhabitants of the land. Broome described that "Each tribe believed that its boundaries were fixed and validated by the stories about the movements of their ancestors, and therefore there was no reason to desire or try to possess the country of another group: it would have seemed meaningless to them since their creation stories only related to their own piece of territory" (14). Australian Aborigines traveled around a land that was a symbolic and religious world. There were not simply rocks, trees, and watering holes but they were objects and places that the great ancestors had created and places where they still lived. The Aboriginal culture stressed continuity over change.

Most indigenous cultures had a profound respect for their environment. They believed that their relationship with nature was very sacred, they believed the earth needed to be treated with dignity and reverence, they believed in harmony with their surroundings. Speaking of indigenous religions, Lewis (1995) wrote,