Importance Of Australian Identity In Dorothea Mackellar's 'Life Cycle'

Australia is one of the worst countries for having pointless and prefabricated ideas of "Aussiness" that basically has no real relation to our true ‘culture’ or the way in which we really see ourselves. We, however, reach for these stereotypes when trying to find some expression of our Australian identity. However, sometimes these representations and ideas of national identity have not depicted the way the rest of the nation sees it. Deep inside the ‘reality’ of texts today background shows another side that can be often overlooked. These can be found the film, Red Dog. And the movie, The Castle. in the book, Harp in the South.

The Poem My Country, by Australian poet Dorothea Mackellar, depicts the diverse land of Australia and why she loves it so much. This poem makes me feel proud to be Australian because I am lucky enough to live in such a vast and beautiful country, as the poem describes. The constant flow of this poem is created by the rhyme scheme where the second and fourth lines of each stanza rhyme and so do lives six and eight. For

The fourth lesson will be analyse the content of the picture book “Why I love Australia” by Bronwyn Bancroft. The lesson involves: discovering the visual art element and principals of the illustration (VAES1.3); introduce the artist Bronwyn Bancroft (VAES1.3); explore the traditional Indigenous feature and art technique used in the illustration (VAES1.3); reading the book to class, and guiding student to discover the relation between the words and pictures (ENe-1A).

The Land in every aspect sustains aboriginal lives, spiritually, physically, socially and culturally. The concept of landscape as a second skin is central to every aboriginal art form, whether it is dance, music or painting.

All that exists in this world, as the Aboriginal Australians believe, originates from “The Dreaming”, a cosmology of existence which serves as the larger context or background against which Aboriginal people orient their lives. In a mystical time long ago, anthropomorphic and theriomorphic beings who emerged from the land, traveled across Australia manifesting permanent geographic features and all there is into being. The essence of these powerful beings remains within the subterranean realm and evidence of their existence, vestiges, are embedded in the Australian landscape. Vast regions of western and central parts of the Australian continent are covered by harsh, arid terrain. Geographically, this region includes grassy plains, sand hills,

Many Australians pride themselves on our quirky animals or the unusual aspects of our culture, or even our country’s relatively stable financial situation compared to most other countries. However, many Australians fail to see how Australia is sacrificing this natural beauty, internationally recognisable icons and unique culture, all for the sake and profits of development. These images reflect on the vulnerability of Australia’s culture, icons and healthy ecosystems and challenge the tourism/‘perfect Australia’ stereotype that makes Australia seem ecologically, economically and socially stable. Three aesthetic features that demonstrate this are colour, positioning and symbols. The need for a national shift in economical power and an intuitive

Indigenous Australians consider mountains to be of a great importance. They cherish a combination of both cultural and historical factors that are associated with mountains. The natural and cultural heritage of Australia is essential to the environment. Natural heritage refers to the physical landscape and the cultural heritage refers to human associations, stories, myths and emotions. For example, Aboriginal people have lived in the Blue Mountains located in New South Wales for thousands of years now, and they’ve always treasured the mountainous landscape. Traditional lands belonging to the Gundungarra and Darug tribal groups are situated in the Blue Mountains region. Aboriginal Australians found comfort in mountains. This was because the

Since its days as a British colony Australia has developed a complex national culture with immigrants from many parts of the world as well as an indigenous Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population. The strong sense of societal and historical distinctiveness among the different states and territories has developed into subcultural diversity based on geographic regions.

The land of Australia is viewed as more than just soil or rocks or minerals by the Aboriginals (Australian Government 2008). They view it as a land that sustains and is sustained by the people and their culture (Australian Government 2008). The indigenous have a spiritual connection with the land, and is important to their issues of today (Australian Government 2008). Each clan has its own territory that they adapt to, and is defined by geographic boundaries such as lakes, mountains, and rivers (Australian Government 2008).

This creates a feel that soldiers are marching to the beat of nature. The poet humanizes Australia by using words like "she" and "her". By doing this the reader feels that Australia is not a dead piece of land but shares the similar characteristics to a person. My Country is a rhyming poem, fourteen stanzas in length. The introductory two stanzas describe the British scenery, but this is not the country that Mackellar longs for.

Prior to the arrival of Europeans, land care was a major purpose in life for Aboriginal people and although their approach was entirely sustainable, they were actively intervening in the landscape. They involved activities such as damming creeks, fire-stick farming and sustainable harvesting methods. (Roberts, 2014) The damming of creeks created natural watering holes for their own use as well as attracting animals to the area, which incidentally resulted in a change in Australian landscape. Fire-stick farming was used to promote the growth of valued plants, with plant species unable to survive fire and declining in numbers, and more resistant species, such as grass trees, eucalypts and acacias, dominating. The Indigenous harvesting techniques were also quite sustainable in conserving resources. For example, women dug some varieties of yams in such a way that a portion which would regenerate was left in the ground. (Williams, 1986, pp. 93-94) Prior to the arrival of Europeans, the Indigenous Australians managed their lands in a way that was sustainable and would ensure biodiversity for the future.

Mackellars poem illustrates the harsh extremeties of the Australian landscape. The uniwue juxtaposition of the beauty and the terror features the extremeties of the Australian landscape and climate. Mackellar explores to show the unorthodox

For over 50,000 years the Indigenous cultures of Australia have existed, adapting and changing over time. Their affinity with the land expresses how it serves as the core of their spirituality and remains so today. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities have established effective ways to use and sustain resources, allowing them to ensure the survival of native plants and animals, to which they have a deep sense of connection and responsibility (Reconciliation Australia, n.d.). This has often posed challenges, particularly with the arrival of the first European settlers who brought with them different agricultural practices and new perspectives that clashed with those of the Indigenous communities. Wetlands are just

| b. Construct a labelled collage showing photographs of the TWO selected Australian communities. (single-sided A4) Black and white photocopies are acceptable.

Helen Keller once said that “The most pathetic person in the world is someone who has sight but no vision.” This illustrates how important it is to have a vision. Vision is something that will push us forward in achieving something we wish for. Without visions, we would have no motivation and spirit to pull through tough times. Douglas Stewart has been influenced by the Australian culture and society and it has given him insight of the Australian visions. In his poems, he explores the Australian visions of man’s bond with nature, conservation of fauna and the spirit of egalitarianism. The way Stewart artfully conveys these ideas has also given responders a deeper understanding of Australia’s nature and its people.