Escolar Documentos
Profissional Documentos
Cultura Documentos
WARNING NOTICE
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that the following title may include images and
voices of deceased persons.
Focus:
The Dreaming is an ever-present reality which describes the formation of the world and everything in it.
There are many Aboriginal deities; some are regarded as supreme creator beings, others are regarded as
ancestral beings.
Dreaming mythologies of the many different Aboriginal tribes are variations on a common theme.
Important Words
Dreaming beginnings when ancestral beings formed the land, its features, animals, plants, the laws that
kept everything in existence. The Dreaming is an ever-present reality
Totem animal or natural species considered related though the spirit ancestors to an individual or group
of people, and taken as their symbol
Traditional Aboriginal Tribal Life
Australia's indigenous people, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, have occupied this
country for some 50,000 years, perhaps even longer. It is estimated that there were around 300,000
Aboriginal people at the time of first settlement in 1788. They lived in tribal groups, sparsely scattered
throughout Australia's vast continent.
Due to huge distances separating the various groups, Aboriginal tribes had little or no contact with
each other. It is, therefore, a misunderstanding to think that Aboriginal people shared a uniform set of
beliefs and a single way of carrying out ceremonies and rituals. At the time of European settlement there
were over 500 Aboriginal language groups. While there were similarities in their beliefs and customs, each
group had its distinctive characteristics.
Similarities in beliefs and customs probably evolved as a result of the common challenges
Aboriginal groups shared. Apart from the eastern coastal areas, the continent was either arid or semi-arid
and largely unsuitable for cultivation. Aboriginal people were completely at the mercy of nature. They relied
on the regularity of the seasons to stimulate the plant growth necessary for their own survival and that of
the animals on which they depended for food. Endless droughts presented them with their biggest
challenge and led Aboriginal people to appreciate the life-giving properties of rain as well as its destructive
power through floods, storms and cyclones.
From these common challenges evolved the Aboriginal understanding of the world and spirituality.
While specific variations exist due to geographical distance, Aboriginal belief systems share one common,
all-embracing theme - the Dreaming.
The Dreaming - Heart of Aboriginal Spirituality
Aboriginal Art
The 'Dreamtime' is an English term used by some people to convey the Aboriginal concept of the
beginnings. It refers to the time when ancestral beings formed the land, its features, the animals and plants,
as well as the laws that kept everything in existence.
As a point in history, however, time is an unknown concept in traditional Aboriginal understanding.
The 'Dreaming' is a more correct expression of an event that cannot be placed in time, as the events and
ancestral beings that brought them about are caught up in an eternal moment that is an ever-present
reality. 'Dreaming' is used in this Title because it acknowledges the distinct, although very similar, belief
systems of Australia's many Aboriginal tribes.
While there are variations in the mythologies of different Aboriginal groups, there is basically one
unifying theme. It arises out of the common challenges faced by the attempts of different Aboriginal groups
to address issues all human societies in the course of history have sought to resolve. These are:
creation of the universe
creation of life
reason for night and day
reason for the seasons
why people die
reasons for the existence of different tribal languages
reasons for natural disasters
how life came about.
Aboriginal Dreaming and Dreaming stories, belief systems and deities, address questions raised by these
issues.
Ancestral Beings
At the core of the Dreaming are Aboriginal deities, or ancestral beings. While these mythological
beings possessed supernatural powers, they looked like animals or plants - even insects. They also
displayed human weaknesses, such as selfishness, greed, deceitfulness and jealousy; some were even
evil.
Names and roles of these ancestral beings differed from place to place. Some areas told of a
supreme creator being with names such as, Biami, Bunjil, Eingana, Goin, Nurelli, Ngukunder and Ngalyoo.
Often, the Rainbow Serpent was imaged as this supreme creator and different myths exist about her
actions in forming the land.
One creator spirit also created other beings to help in the creation process. Aboriginal people
believe that it was the Father Spirit (Sky God) who made this world and still keeps it in fertility. In the
Dreaming, the Father Spirit worked through ancestor spirits to form all the features of the land. Stories of
these ancestor spirits abound in all parts of Australia.
Bunjil
Bunjil was an Eaglehawk whom Victorian Aboriginal tribes consider a supreme creator. In addition
to creating the landscape, Bunjil created human beings and taught them to live by providing them with laws,
customs and rituals. He is considered to be the guardian of the secret knowledge and is also connected
with the initiation of boys into manhood.
Aboriginal people believe that Bunjil warmed the sun, which in turn warmed the world. He resides in
the sky as a bright star and has a son, Binbeal, who is the god of rainbows.
Rainbow Serpent
The Rainbow Serpent is considered by many Aboriginal tribes to be a supreme creator, although
she usually shared her creative powers with other ancestral beings. She is a mythological snake-like
creature whose body arches across the immense sky in the form of a rainbow. Usually depicted as a
female, she is known by many names, e.g. in Queensland, she is known as Taipan, while in parts of the
Northern Territory she is called Ungar.
Believed to have created the billabongs, rivers, creeks and lagoons on which Aboriginal people
depend for survival, the Rainbow Serpent has a strong connection with water. She is also the instigator of
the destructive forces associated with rain, floods, storms and cyclones. Easily angered, she can unleash
great destruction upon the land.
Greatly feared because of her great powers, the Rainbow Serpent rules the relationship between the
sexes. She regulates male physiological processes and women's menstrual cycles. Pregnant and
menstruating women must take great care not to violate her pools lest a violent storm, flood or cyclone
should be unleased upon the tribe.
Eingana is a supreme creator snake goddess and mother of water animals and human beings.
Eingana has power over life and death, controlling the substance of which life is made; creatures die when
she lets go of that vital substance.
At first, Eingana gave birth to living creatures by vomiting them out of her mouth. However, she was
not satisfied with what she had created, so she swallowed them again. Lacking a vagina, she was unable to
give birth; instead, the creatures grew bigger and bigger inside her body causing her to reel in agony. The
ancestor being, Barraiya, saw Eingana in great pain and used his spear to make a hole near her anus, so
that labour could begin. Traditionally, this is the reason women have vaginas, enabling them to give birth.
Multiple Creator Beings
While some tribes recognised the existence of a supreme creator, it was more common for groups
to believe that their own ancestor beings were responsible for the creation of the world. This is not
surprising in view of the fact that Aboriginal groups were generally very isolated from one another.
Some ancestral beings became cultic heroes who taught the first people the skills needed to
survive, i.e. how to hunt, make weapons, tools, and fire, and how to carry out ceremonies. When their work
of creating the earth was finished, these beings returned to the land from which they first came, or became
physical features of the landscape.
Besides remaining present in the land, the spirits of ancestral beings are passed on to individuals
before their birth. This spirit helps form their identity. Through connection with ancestral beings, each
person becomes part of the sacred essence of the earth and its creation spirits.
Muramura
The muramura are female spirit beings who travelled all over the land during the Dreaming. They
are believed to have been responsible for creating human beings.
One of the most prominent muramura is Darana, the Rainmaker, who is believed to have created
red dust. According to mythology, Darana turned two youths into heart-shaped stones. It is believed that if
these stones were scratched, endless hunger would result. If they were destroyed, the land would be
covered in red dust, destroying all creation.
Most of the muramura were either turned into stone, forming various rock structures, or else they
changed into animal forms and became buried deep within the earth. Two groups of muramura girls,
however, were drawn up into the sky where they became the star constellations - Pleiades and Orion.
Ancestral beings, in the Dreaming mythologies of Aboriginal tribes living in the Kimberley region, are
called the wadjina. They take a variety of forms including human, and some have no form at all. For
example, Warana was an Eaglehawk, whereas Walanga's form was undefined because he belonged to the
sky and now resides as the Milky Way.
Wadjina
The wadjina are associated with the rainy season and the production of spirit children. Most of them
became rock paintings and their spirits reside in sacred waterholes where they ensure the regularity of the
rainy seasons.
Two Lightning Brothers
Two ancestral beings of Northern territory Dreaming stories are Tcabuinji and his younger brother
Wagjadbulla. Tcabuinji killed his brother who wanted to take possession of his wife, Cananda.
He is thought to reside in a waterhole during the dry season, and in the wet season he rides on top
of the thunderclouds, wielding his axe to produce lightning. His voice is said to sound like thunder.
The Dreaming - Origin of the Universe
Dreaming Mythologies
Dreaming mythologies of the many different Aboriginal tribes are variations on a common theme.
According to traditional Aboriginal beliefs, the universe, or the earth and sky, has always existed along with
the supernatural ancestral beings.
At the beginning of time, i.e. the Dreaming, the earth was a dark, cold and formless mass. The sun
and moon lay dormant, deep within the earth along with supernatural deities which would become the
ancestral beings of the Aboriginal people. These beings were sometimes in human form, sometimes
animal, and resembled perfectly-formed men and women, or creatures like the kangaroo and emu.
Irrespective of their appearance, ancestral beings behaved like human beings and could transform
themselves from one form to another.
At some point in time, these supernatural beings awoke from their deep sleep and emerged from
beneath the surface of the earth. This was to mark the beginning of creation, the Dreaming.
The purpose of Dreaming mythology is not to present a chronological account of how things came
to be. It emphasises that creation is an interconnected network of relationships comprising the land, plants,
insects, animals and fish, as well as human beings and their ancestral beings - what Aboriginal people
understand by the Dreaming. From this point on two parallel themes appear in the creative process.
1. The first tradition develops the unfolding of creation from the perspective of a supreme creator being, the
Sun Mother.
2. The other, probably more common tradition takes a polytheistic approach.
Supreme Creator - Sun Mother
According to this tradition, the supreme Father of All Spirits was the only one awake while all lay
dormant. He woke the Sun Mother and commissioned her to go down to earth to wake up the sleeping
spirits. The Sun Mother did so, and as she walked across the land the plants began to grow. She
descended into caves within the earth where her light gave birth to insects of all kinds which flew out to
feed on the flowers. Her heat melted the ice, creating the rivers and streams. Then she created fish, birds
and animals. Eventually she created two children, the Morning Star and the moon, and sent them to earth.
There is no uniform agreement as to how human beings came to be.
1. Some traditions maintain, they were created at the same time as all the animals; some ancestral beings
looked like men or women, others like animals, and some could interchange their form from animal to
human.
2. Other traditions maintain that animals and plants were created first; those ancestral beings who kept the
laws given to them were turned into human beings, while the law-breakers were turned into the various
rock formations and landscapes we see in Australia today.
Polytheistic Approach
Dreaming mythologies from the polytheistic tradition maintain that ancestral beings travelled around
the land creating the physical features of the environment, as well as its peoples, plants and animals. Many
mythologies, however, acknowledge the involvement of a Supreme Creator who 'gave life' to the ancestral
beings. In various ways, these ancestral beings subsequently shared in the creative power of the Supreme
Creator.
After this period of creating, some ancestral beings were transformed into a particular site where their
spirits remain. Others moved on, leaving part of their spirit behind. This helps explain how the Dreaming is
relevant not only to the past, but also to the present and the future.
It is interesting that there is no myth that places much attention on the creation of human beings. It
seems they were just created along with everything else in the world, thus confirming the interrelatedness
of all creation. For example:
1.One tradition holds that the muramura women spirits created human beings by smoothing out the limbs of
unformed creatures.
2.Another tradition maintains that human beings were made from unformed totem animals that lacked
sense organs; reportedly, they grew in strength as they rested in the sand hills, and eventually stood up as
human beings.
3.The Wotjobaluk people believe that only one gender existed at first, and that woman was created by an
ancestral being by the name of Gidja, who accomplished this task by castrating Yalungur the Eaglehawk.
Ancestral beings remain in the different forms they took and in the various places they created
throughout the country. In fact, the physical features of the landscape mark the deeds of these wandering
ancestral beings. For example:
1. Gagudji people in Arnhemland believe that the prominent sandstone formation in Kakadu National Park
was created in the Dreaming when Ginga the crocodile-man became badly burned. As he jumped into the
water to save himself, he turned into the sandstone formation we see today.
2. At Victoria River, there is a rock formation attributed to the spirit god Walujapi. She is said to have carved
a snake-like track along a cliff-face there, leaving an impression of her buttocks when she sat down to rest.
3. The Darling Scarp in Perth is believed to represent the body of a serpent being, Wagyl, who wandered
over the land, creating the rivers, waterways and lakes in the area.
The sun appears after the spirit beings raise the sky above the highest mountain in the world. In the
polytheistic tradition, the sun was considered to be either, one of the spirit beings who lay dormant beneath
the earth's surface or in the sky, or a mighty fire started by one of the ancestral beings and maintained by a
spirit in the sky. Different understandings of the sun will be explored in greater detail in Part Two.
When the spirits first light the fire, it does not throw out much heat; but by the middle of the day,
when the whole heap of firewood is in a blaze, the heat is fierce. After that it begins to die away gradually
until, at sunset, only red embers are left. They quickly die out, except a few the spirits cover up with clouds
and save to light the heap of wood they get ready for the next day.
Children are not allowed to imitate the laughter of Goo-goor-gaga, lest he should hear them and
cease his morning cry. If children do laugh as he does, an extra tooth grows above their eye-tooth, so that
they carry the mark of their mockery in punishment for it. Well, the good spirits know that if ever a time
comes when the Goo-goor-gagas cease laughing to herald the sun, then no more dawns will be seen in the
land, and darkness will reign once more.
Do Not Murder
Observance of rules is essential to the survival of any society, and this also applies to Aboriginal
tribal society. A basic rule is to respect other human beings and not kill them. Murderers are banned from
Aboriginal tribes for the rest of their lives to prevent them from killing again. The next story illustrates the
importance of observing the rule, 'do not commit murder'.
How the Moon Came To Be
Japara lived in the Dreaming and was an excellent hunter. He had a wife and a little son, whom he
loved dearly. One day, when Japara was out on the plains hunting, a man called Parukapoli visited
Japara's wife. He was a lazy man, who preferred telling stories to hunting. That day he told many stories to
Japara's wife, and told them so cleverly that she forgot everything else as she listened and laughed. She
even forgot her baby son, who crawled out to a nearby stream and toppled into the water. Japara's wife
heard the splash and ran to the water, pulling the boy out, but it was too late, the child had drowned.
For many hours she sat by the stream, holding the little dead body in her arms and sobbing as she
waited for Japara to return home. When Japara at last arrived and heard the story he was at first very sad,
but then he became extremely angry with his wife, blaming her for the loss of his precious boy. He took up
his hunting weapons and in a blaze of anger, killed his wife. Then he had a fierce fight with Parukapoli.
They fought for a long time but at last Parukapoli was also killed.
Japara was left with many painful wounds from his fight and a great sadness for the death of his
child. The rest of the tribe saw that Japara was badly wounded and distressed, but they were very angry
with him. They gathered around shouting, 'You should not have killed your wife. She loved your boy very
much and did not mean for such a terrible accident to happen'.
Despite his great distress, Japara slowly began to listen to his people and realised that what they said was
true. He became very sorry for what he had done. He hurried to where he had left his poor dead wife and
son, but their bodies had disappeared. Immediately he understood that kind spirits had taken them away to
finish their lives in some better place. He called to the spirits to forgive him for being so cruel and told them
that he really loved his wife and wanted nothing more than to be with her and their little boy again.
The spirits heard his pleas and they knew he was telling the truth. They assured him that his wife
and boy were safe with them in the sky world. They would allow Japara to leave the earth world too, but as
punishment for his cruel deeds he must search the lonely sky world until he found his family.
The story tellers say that the moon is the reflection of Japara's camp fire. The lines that are visible
on the moon are the reminder of his scars. Some say the moon changes because Japara is forever
changing camp as he moves across the dark sky world, still searching for his family. Others believe that he
has now found his wife and son and that they are exploring the mysterious sky world together.
Existence of Many Languages
People from New Zealand speak English with an accent quite distinct from the English spoken by
Australians, even though both countries share a similar heritage. The reason is that, over the last two
hundred years or so, the two populations have been geographically isolated.
Australia's Aboriginal tribes were in a similar position, except that the isolation they experienced was
over a significantly greater area and time span, so far and long in fact, that the various Aboriginal groups,
even in ancient times, communicated in different languages. Of course, these factors would not have been
understood by the tribes of ancient times. As a result, they explained the different languages they observed
within a worldview that was familiar to them - violence.
It makes sense that they should choose violence as a reason! Why? Because violence is symbolic
of speaking in different languages, and arises (among other things) from misunderstanding - from not being
able or willing to understand or accept the other person's point of view! This is the essence of the next
sacred story.
Lyrebird the Mimic
In the Dreaming, all the birds and animals spoke the same language. This meant that all the birds
and animals could talk to each other and understand each other and there were no fights. There was plenty
of food to eat and at this time no animal ever hunted another. They had nothing to fear. Even the tiny whip
snake and the kookaburra were friends. One day, all the animals and the birds decided that they would
hold a huge corroboree, with lots of singing and dancing. The corroboree was to last for several days, so a
great quantity of food was collected, and all the animals and birds in the whole land were to attend. The
brolga, being the best dancing bird in the land, was to be in charge of the dancing and the dingo and
kookaburra were going to sing. Everyone was looking forward to it.
On the day it was to start, all the animals began to gather at the waterhole near the camp of the
lyrebird. The native cat, slinking in from the bush, was the first to arrive, and then the crows, the eagles, the
galahs and the magpie geese flew in. The old wombat waddled in, the kangaroo and the wallaby hopped in
together, and the frog arrived with the platypus. It was the largest gathering anyone could remember. They
set up their camps and readied themselves for the corroboree. It was a splendid affair. Never before had
they enjoyed themselves so much. The kookaburra told some jokes, and laughed much louder than anyone
else!
The frog, who was the greatest mimic in the whole land, then copied the kookaburra's voice, and
told some more stories. All the animals, even the kookaburra, roared laughing. They all agreed that the frog
was certainly a very clever mimic. Then the brolga danced, and all the animals and birds joined in, even the
old wombat. The frog thought that the wombat looked so funny, dancing beside the graceful brolga! Then
the frog had an idea. He would really have some fun! He copied the brolga's voice, and called out to the
wombat.
You look so stupid! Fancy a fat little roly-poly like you, trying to dance!
The wombat stopped and looked at the brolga. No one had ever been rude to him before! Not even
the nasty crows. The frog, seeing how well his trick had worked, took on the voice of the brolga, and called
out to the emu.
Hey, emu, why are you trying to dance. Emus can't dance, they can't even fly!
The emu was furious. No one had ever teased her about her small wings before. The emu ran
towards the brolga. The frog, thinking that this was great fun, began calling out all sorts of rude remarks. He
imitated the kangaroo and the kookaburra, and he insulted the platypus, who thought it was the eagle being
nasty. Soon all the animals at the corroboree were hurling insults at each other. In the middle, sat the frog!
He was having great fun. There were animals and birds quarrelling and fighting all around him. Then the
frog, using the voice of the wombat, yelled:
To battle! Let's fight! come on, to battle!
A huge fight broke out, and as the animals fought, the frog hopped quietly up on to a high rock, to
view the whole fight. Only the lyrebird took no part in the fight. Fanning his beautiful tail feathers, he went
from quarrel to quarrel, pleading with the animals to stop; but stop they wouldn't! The kookaburra was
fighting with the whip snake. The crows were chasing a lizard. The lyrebird pleaded
... please, please stop! We are all friends. It is senseless to fight. Please stop!
But no one took any notice of the lyrebird. In fact the fighting grew even worse! The noise was
deafening. Shouts and groans filled the air. The frog was jumping around on his rock, yelling more insults,
urging on the fighting. Now, the noise of all this woke the spirits. Seeing what had happened, they became
so annoyed that they put an end to the battle. The animals were very embarrassed. They had never fought
before. To punish them, the spirits took away the creatures' common language and gave each animal and
bird a language of its own. The wicked frog that had the most beautiful voice was given an ugly croak as
punishment for having started the fight. The lyrebird was to be the only animal that would be able to talk to
all other animals. Even to this day, the lyrebird is the only animal that is able to imitate all other animals. To
this day Aboriginal people have a special respect for lyrebirds because of their role as peacemakers.
Today, frogs still talk in an ugly croak. Still today, no animal or bird can talk to a different animal or bird.
They can only talk with their own kind.
Death
The final sacred story presented here deals with the question of death - the reality of which has
been faced by all human beings since they came into being. Aboriginal people, like their ancient
counterparts, naturally contemplated the question of why people died and what happened to them after
they died.
It is no surprise that breaking the law, i.e. being violent, is presented as the reason for people dying.
For Aboriginal tribal people, the violence of a human ancestor is the cause of death. What is interesting
about this next story is that the violence committed was against a totem animal. Such an animal is not
allowed to be killed because its protection ensures the survival of everyone. Through selfish violence, the
spirit man killed the very source of his survival and therefore he had to die and consequently, all people will
die one day.
Aboriginal people believed that when a person died, the spirit continued to live. It needed to be
released so that it could return to its own country and ancestral spirits, or to totemic sites where it could be
born again in a different person.
1. A woman from 'A' (Banaga) marries a man from 'B' (Garimarda) and the children become 'C'
(Burungu).
2. A woman from 'B' (Garimarda) marries a man from 'A' and the children become 'D' (Balyirdi).
3. A woman from 'C' (Burungu) marries a man from 'D' (Balyirdi) and the children become 'A'
(Banaga).
4. A woman from 'D' (Bayirdi) marries a man from 'C' and the children become 'B' (Garimarda).
Clan members are usually prohibited from hunting totemic animals, and restrictions are in
place regulating the preparation and consumption of certain foods. Restrictions also apply to when
and where various species of fish can be caught and how these resources are to be harvested
and used. Protocols are designed to maintain a sustainable environment and provide a secure
future for generations to come.
Sacred Sites
Clan members are responsible for maintaining sacred sites under the guidance of elders.
Believing that sacred sites are inhabited by the ancestral beings from which they are descended,
clan members perform sacred rituals to honour them, and to ensure country's ongoing identity and
fertility.
Increase rituals, or rituals of well-being, play an important role. Designed to promote life,
these rituals ensure the well-being of plants and animals. While conducted by clan members at
specific sacred sites within country, their benefits are believed to be transferred to regions where
other clans are engaged in similar ritual activity. Increase rituals, therefore, promote a sense of
interdependence among Aboriginal people and deepen their appreciation of what it means to be
custodians of the land.
Sacred sites are often protected, particularly if they are places of nesting or breeding, or
meeting places of several water sources. Such areas often function as sanctuaries where hunting
is prohibited, since they are places where animals feed. Nature is given time to regenerate and be
replenished.
Promoting the Well-Being of the Land
In addition to increase rituals and prohibitions, clan members are also obligated to take a
direct and active role in promoting the well-being of country. This role is expressed through
activities, such as:
spreading seeds in areas where they are likely to germinate and grow
leaving behind small amounts of food on which animals can feed
leaving part of plant tubers in the ground to encourage the ongoing growth of crops.
Aboriginal clans also promote the well-being of country through controlled burning. They
describe their burning activities as 'cleaning up country', and believe that country that has been
burned is clean and well-looked after country.
While burning plays an important role in promoting growth and maintaining biological
diversity, it also takes on a spiritual significance. Many Aboriginal groups believe that the spirits of
their ancestors still inhabit country where they hunt, sing and dance, and they even burn the
landscape. For these clans, burning is a way by which members establish a link with their
ancestors.
Obligations to Other People
It is widely known that Aboriginal people are very generous. They share their possessions
unselfishly and without hesitation. Children, for example, are taught to share food from an early
age and their actions are linked to kinship - 'give him some, he's your brother'.
This generosity reflects the fundamental principle governing one's obligations to other
people within Aboriginal society - the principle of reciprocity, derived from kinship obligations.
Essentially, reciprocity refers to a system between people involving the exchange of goods,
services, favours and obligations. It can be summarised by the simple rule, 'one must look after
one's own'. The principle of reciprocity governs most aspects of communal life, including rituals
and sacred stories.
Sharing is one aspect governed by the principle of reciprocity. Being regulated along
kinship lines, each person is required to share with those from whom he or she has received
benefits in the past and from whom benefits will be received in the future. Among Aboriginal
people, sharing is driven by demand and is constrained by the balance between what is
considered reasonable to demand and appropriate to refuse.
Aboriginal people are obligated to make gifts.
Upon initiation a man is expected to make gifts (such as tools or implements) to those who
initiate him; upon betrothal, he makes gifts to his future wife's family. Usually the economic value
of the gift is unimportant: the purpose of giving and receiving is to reinforce social bonds. The
requirement of reciprocity underpins most aspects of community life, including ritual, ceremony
and the protection of sacred sites.
The principle of reciprocity operates both within the tribe and between language groups to
reinforce the interrelatedness of all people and their mutual obligation to one another. There is a
negative side in that it also operates to avenge wrongdoing. This is what Aboriginal people refer to
as 'payback'.
Elders
Elders have particular obligations relating to spiritual affairs and laws. As custodians of
laws, male elders are given the responsibility of honouring and maintaining them and handing
them on to future generations. They are responsible for looking after sacred objects, managing
spiritual matters and performing sacred rituals.
The obligations of their female counterparts relate to fertility and marriage. The duties of
female elders include
... love magic, control over reproduction, the growing up of young girls, appropriate sexual
behaviour, the creation of harmony between disputing females, as well as curing and healing.
Part Ten: Effects of Dispossession on Aboriginal Spirituality
Focus:
The separation of Aboriginal people from their land, systematic disintegration of the kinship
system, and forced removal of Aboriginal children from their families, have had profound and
devastating effects on Aboriginal spirituality.
Aboriginal people are connected to the land both geographically and spiritually and dispossession
is akin to the destruction of their spirituality - the very means by which they achieve social
cohesion and meaning in life.
Loss of identity, heritage, traditions and rituals have separated Aboriginal people from the
Dreaming and heart of their spirituality and forced them to search for a new place in a foreign
culture, where many are no longer able to draw on their rich spiritual heritage to provide the
stability and social cohesion needed to cope with rapid and constant change.
Important Words
British Select Committee full title is 'Parliamentary Select Committee on Aboriginal Tribes,
(British Settlements) 1837'
Colonisation establishment of colonies by making new settlements abroad
Dispossession being stripped of ownership; expulsion or eviction from occupancy
Protectorate Policy policy recommended by the British Select Committee to address settlers'
injustices against Aboriginal people
Stolen Generations descendants of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who
were forcibly removed from their parents
Terra Nullius declaration that land is owned by no one
Unilateral one-way agreement without a reciprocal agreement from another; not a two-way or
mutual agreement
Effects of European Colonisation
Since non-indigenous settlement in 1788 and subsequent European colonisation and
transformation of Australia into the society we know today, the history of Australia's first
inhabitants has been far from peaceful and happy. In fact, most Aboriginal people regard
European colonisation as an invasion of their land and country - of which they have been
custodians for more than 50 000 years.
Sadly, the story is one of violence and injustice as Aboriginal people were systematically
stripped of their land, separated from their children, and became victims of the systematic
disintegration of the social framework that held their communities together. It is not surprising,
therefore, that the process of dispossession has had a profoundly damaging effect on Aboriginal
spirituality.
Part Ten examines three aspects of the story of dispossession and their consequent effects
on Aboriginal spirituality:
1.separation of Aboriginal people from their land
2.systematic disintegration of the kinship system
3.forced removal of Aboriginal children from their families in what has become known as the
Stolen Generations
Separation from the Land
Three Methods
During the European expansion of the eighteenth century, it was an internationally
accepted practice for colonisation to proceed by one of three means:
1. conquest, i.e. imposition of rule by military means
2. consent, i.e. occupation on the basis of an agreement or treaty entered into with the indigenous
people
3. unilateral possession, i.e. occupation on the basis that the land was not owned by anyone.
Captain James Cook arrived in Australia in 1770 with the instruction to take possession of
the continent by unilateral possession if it was uninhabited, or by consent if it was occupied by
indigenous people. Setting foot on the continent, Cook discovered a land and a people very
different from his own.
When Lieutenant James Cook first set foot on Wangal land over at Kundul which is now
called Kurnell, he said oh let's put a flag up somewhere, because these people are illiterate,
they've got no fences. They didn't understand that we didn't need fences ... that we stayed here for
six to eight weeks, then moved somewhere else where there was plenty of tucker and bush
medicine and we kept moving and then come back in twelve months' time when the food was all
refreshed ...
- (The Late) Aunty Beryl Timbery Beller
Terra Nullius
Cook reported that Australia was a wasteland and basically unoccupied. Consequently, the
British government applied the principle of terra nullius and Australia was recognised in British law
as belonging to no-one. The land was, therefore, available for unilateral possession.
Cook's assessment was quite incorrect, as Captain Arthur Phillip later remarked.
We found the natives tolerably numerous as we advanced up the river, and even at the harbour's
mouth we had reason to conclude the country more populous than Mr Cook thought it.
However, it was too late. The doctrine of terra nullius had been applied to Australia.
Aboriginal laws had no legal status and Aboriginal entitlement to land was denied. Cook's action of
claiming Australia, without the consent of the indigenous inhabitants, began the British
government's violent and forceful separation of the Aboriginal people from their land - an action
justified on the grounds that Australia was largely an unoccupied wasteland.
Reserves
English Model
British settlement and expansion were by no means a peaceful process. During the
nineteenth century, violent battles took place over land, food and water, resulting in the most
inhumane and brutal treatment of Aboriginal people.
At one level, injustice was inflicted by moving Aboriginal people to areas set up along the
model of an English village and designed to help the 'natives' adopt the 'civilised' lifestyle of 'white'
people. They were expected to live there as 'whites', totally separated from their former lands now
occupied by colonists.
Within a short time it became apparent that the model had failed. Removed from their own
lands and source of spirituality, Aboriginal people struggled. They suffered malnutrition and
disease, were unable to find work, became increasingly dependent on government rations, and
became an embarrassment to the government. Many were forced to hunt white settlers' sheep and
cattle and 'steal' water from waterholes once their own.
Violent confrontations occurred as settlers retaliated, often massacring large numbers of
Aboriginal men, women and children. In time, reports of such violence and injustices reached the
British government. Its response was to appoint a Select Committee to inquire into the condition of
Aboriginal people.
The official British view was that Aboriginal people were British subjects and, as such,
should be well trained, taught basic literacy and converted to Christianity. It was assumed that
British civilisation was superior to any other and Aboriginal people would appreciate its
advantages and willingly abandon their former ways.
Protectorates
From the 1830s onwards, Australian states established protectorates. Land was set aside
for reserves where Aboriginal people were provided a place to build camp. These reserves were
operated under the stern control of a white manager. Aboriginal people were expected to live
collectively, be self-sufficient in raising animals and crops, and eventually take on a European way
of life.
The manager controlled the movements of people on the reserve, had the power to expel
people, handed out food and clothing and generally treated the Aboriginal people like children,
instead of adults mature enough to determine their own lives and look after themselves. It was
hoped that by establishing reserves, Aboriginal people would no longer interfere with the
pastoralists and their stock, and would be protected from any retaliation by pastoralists. A school
was often provided on reserves where it was hoped British culture and ideals would be learned.
Missions
Paternalistic but Kind
Missions established by various Christian churches including Catholic, Methodist, Anglican,
Lutheran and others, were set up along the same lines as reserves. Missionaries set the rules and
were somewhat paternalistic, but showed kindness and concern as they worked alongside
Aboriginal people in primitive conditions.
In some instances, missionaries tried to learn the local language and understand the
Aboriginal point of view by using the local culture as a starting point. Aboriginal people were
afforded self-respect and dignity. Others, however, tried to undermine Aboriginal culture by
branding traditional beliefs as evil and ruthlessly stamping out traditional rituals, ceremonies and
languages. Sacred objects were ridiculed and their secret nature disregarded.
On mission stations, Aboriginal children often lived in dormitories while they attended
school, isolating them from their families for a good part of the time. Parents had limited access to
their children and what they were being taught. Consequently, children had little means of learning
the knowledge and skills traditionally passed down from generation to generation.
Effects on Aboriginal People
'Protectors' were given power to remove Aboriginal people from their lands to reserves.
Lake Tyers Reserve in Victoria, for example, was set up in 1861 at the recommendation of the
Victorian Board for the Protection of Aboriginal people.
In 1822, traditional custodians of the Shoalhaven area in New South Wales were displaced
when Alexander Berry took up the land. They were relocated to the 'Wreck Bay Aboriginal
Reserve'.
In Queensland alone, more than 7 000 Aboriginal people were removed from their lands to
sixty-four missions and reserves between 1898 and 1939. The last of these did not close until
1987.
Problems resulting from reserves and missions were many.
1. Aboriginal people of different and not always congenial communities and language groups were
often herded together and transported to reserves far from their own country.
2. Traditional ways of living were destroyed.
3. Rather than hunting and gathering, Aboriginal people came to depend on handouts.
4. Traditional groups were scattered and communities were broken apart.
5. Their dignity was taken away from them.
6. Most devastating was the removal of Aboriginal people from traditional lands, depriving them of
their identity and robbing their lives of meaning.
Other Forms of Dispersal
Conflict and Competition
The organised removal of Aboriginal people to reserves and missions was accompanied by
other forms of dispersal. These began as settlers took over vast areas of land during the
nineteenth century.
Settlers showed little, if any, respect for the traditional owners of the territories they
acquired. They simply cleared the land and sowed crops or grazed sheep and cattle without
regard for the fact that the land was a source of livelihood for Aboriginal people. They took
possession of important waterholes to use for themselves, their stock and crops.
As a result, Aboriginal people gradually lost their sources of food and water. To survive,
they were forced to hunt white settlers' stock and 'trespass' on their land to access water. This led
to violent and bloody confrontations between settlers and Aboriginal people, from which the latter
emerged second-best. Those not killed at the hands of white settlers or by diseases introduced
from Europe, faced starvation.
Move to Farms and Cities
In order to survive, some Aboriginal people gained employment as labourers on settlers'
farms, where they were fed and accommodated. Most, however, relocated to cities in search of
accommodation and employment. For example, the number of Aboriginal people who moved to
Sydney from country New South Wales was so significant, that in time, traditional custodians of
the land in and around Sydney became relegated to the ranks of an insignificant minority among
the total Aboriginal population.
By the 1870s, all fertile areas of Australia had been appropriated and indigenous
communities were reduced to impoverished remnants living either on the fringes of Australian
communities or on lands considered unsuitable for settlement. Many indigenous people adapted to
European culture working as stock hands or labourers.
Impact on Aboriginal Spirituality
Destructive
Displacement of Aboriginal people resulted in loss of cultural knowledge for many groups
removed far distances from their traditional lands. People were unable to maintain their spiritual
relationship with sites of cultural significance within their homeland ... the foundation of their very
existence. In most missions they were also forbidden to continue cultural practices. Being taken
from their own personal 'story place' can result in ill health, and being removed from ancestral
sites has an enormous impact on emotional and spiritual well-being.
Today, a significant majority of Aboriginal people remain dispossessed from the lands that
rightly belong to them as traditional owners. While no longer confined to reserves controlled by
non-indigenous people, most Aboriginal people have adopted mainstream Australian culture, with
many assuming an urban lifestyle.
As a result, the impact of having been dispossessed of their land continues to be felt by
Aboriginal people to this day. For reasons that will become apparent, this process of
dispossession has had a profoundly destructive effect on the spiritualities of the many different
Aboriginal language groups.
Loss of Identity and Heritage
Country is multi-dimensional - it consists of people, animals, plants, Dreamings;
underground, earth, soils, minerals and waters, air ...People talk about country in the same way
that they would talk about a person: they speak to country, sing to country, visit country, worry
about country, feel sorry for country, and long for country.
Aboriginal people are connected to the land both geographically and spiritually. They
belong to the land; in fact, 'country' is the very fabric of Aboriginal people's spiritual and human
identity; it is part of who they are as a people. Country connects Aboriginal people with their past,
present and future cultural heritage, as well as to ancestral beings who created and sustain the
land.
Dispossession of land is akin to the destruction of Aboriginal people's spirituality, as well as
their loss of identity and sense of who they are. It is like waking up in a hospital bed after a deep
coma with no idea of one's name, address, family or job; one no longer has a unique identity or
cultural heritage from which to gain a sense of self-worth.
This is exactly what has happened to many Aboriginal people as a result of being uprooted
from their country. Not only did they lose their personal identity, but their past and present cultural
heritage largely vanished. Uprooted from their heritage, Aboriginal people became strangers in a
foreign country with little, if any, connection to their spiritual heritage from which to draw meaning
and strength, as well as pass on to their children. Loss of self-identity and cultural and spiritual
heritage continues to play a role in the many social problems facing Aboriginal people today.
Traditions
Many traditional laws, sacred stories and songs, dances, art and customs have been lost as
a result of separating Aboriginal people from the land to which they once belonged. Their memory
and celebration required the Aboriginal language group to be physically present in their own
country.
Such traditions were rooted in the Dreaming and comprised one of the few constants in
traditional Aboriginal life, which being semi-nomadic, was constantly changing. They played an
important role in maintaining the stability needed to live with constant change.
While on the whole, contemporary Aboriginal people are no longer semi-nomadic, they are,
like all people, faced with constant change. Unfortunately, many are no longer able to draw on
their rich spiritual heritage to provide the stability and social cohesion needed to cope with this
rapid and constant change.
Rituals
Ritual played an important role in traditional Aboriginal language groups and maintained a
sense of constancy. Rituals, such as coming-of-age ceremonies, secret women's business and
secret men's business, regulated essential aspects of Aboriginal life.
Rituals were integral in maintaining group cohesion and socialising the young into the life of
the Aboriginal community. Together with the ceremonial objects used in their performance, sacred
rituals were closely linked to the group's country.
Dispossession of land has led to many Aboriginal communities being unable to perform
their sacred rituals. Future generations are gradually being dispossessed of important aspects of
their spirituality, as parents are unable to pass on spiritual traditions to their children. They have
become disconnected from their cultural and spiritual heritage - the very means by which the
Aboriginal community achieved social cohesion and meaning in life.
Systematic Disintegration of the Kinship System
Effect on Spirituality
Kinship is the single most important means of organising and regulating social and spiritual
relationships within and among Aboriginal language groups. In this context, the separation of
Aboriginal people from their land, whether by 'voluntary' relocation or by forced removal to
reserves, has impacted significantly on Aboriginal spirituality, because of the connection of kinship
groups to the Dreaming through the land.
Effect at Family Level
Fortunately, the separation of Aboriginal people from their land has had little impact at the
most fundamental kinship level of the immediate and extended family. Traditional family structures
are strongly maintained and the classificatory system around which the Aboriginal family is
organised generally remains intact.
Rules and responsibilities associated with the classificatory family structure also remain
largely unchanged. It is not uncommon today for several adults to assist in the rearing of children,
as extended families tend to live close to one another. This means that a person who is not a
blood relative may still be assigned the role of grandparent, mother, father, sibling, aunt or uncle,
depending on their position in the classificatory family tree.
Effect at Language Group Level
The tribe was inextricably linked to the land, which was known as the language group's
country. Each language group was connected to ancestral beings through the land and obtained
food and other resources according to laws handed down by ancestral beings.
Separation of Aboriginal people from the land that once belonged to them has had a
significant impact on their spirituality. Most Aboriginal people are no longer able to interact with
their environment according to the laws handed down by ancestral beings. This constitutes a
significant loss of spiritual heritage associated with the land.
Also significant is the disappearance of activities once central to Aboriginal life and
governed by laws from ancestral beings during the Dreaming. These were designed to maintain
harmony within creation and the ongoing sustainability of the land. Now under the control of non-
indigenous Australians not subject to the laws of the Dreaming, the land has increasingly become
exploited.
For many Aboriginal people, kinship at the tribal level has been dismantled at its core by the
removal of Aboriginal language groups from the country to which they once belonged. Many
language groups have lost the point of fixture and social cohesiveness that came from their
connection to land and the Dreaming. Consequently, numbers of Aboriginal people continue to
experience psychological and emotional distress, as they struggle to find a new identity,
disconnected from country.
Effect on Totemic Groups and Clans
Totemic groups and clans are linked to specific objects, plants or animals. When Aboriginal
people were separated from their land, they also became separated from their totemic identities.
Today, this loss is experienced as a disconnection to the Dreaming - the heart of Aboriginal
spirituality.
Clan and totemic group breakdowns have resulted from Aboriginal dispossession of land
and country, as they are essentially organised around territory. The disappearance of ritual
practices and responsibilities associated with totems makes it difficult to perpetuate the Dreaming
in language groups and hand it on to future generations.
Effect on Moieties
The moiety structure has not been significantly affected by the dispossession of traditional
Aboriginal lands, because it transcends the boundaries of language groups. This system remains
a cornerstone of Aboriginal communities in regulating social behaviour.
However, moieties are in danger of losing their spiritual significance in maintaining a
collective Dreaming. This is because a collective Dreaming is dependent upon the individual
Dreaming mythologies of language groups and their connection with totemic groups and clans. As
language groups are dismantled, parts of individual Dreaming mythologies, upon which the
collective Dreaming of the moiety depends, are lost.
The Stolen Generations
There is no doubt that the removal of Aboriginal people from their lands and the systematic
dismantling of the kinship system constitute grave injustices. However, the greatest and saddest
injustice inflicted upon them, even if done within a context of ignorance, mixed with the desire to
help, was the removal of Aboriginal children from their families.
Known as the Stolen Generations, these children were forcefully removed from their
families and many never saw their parents, families and clans again. While records are poor, it is
estimated that as many as 100 000 children were removed from their families in four distinct
phases.
1. Removal during the nineteenth century
2. Merging and absorption of Aboriginal children into non-indigenous society
3. Assimilation
4. Self-management and self-determination
Removal During the Nineteenth Century
Informal Removal
The term, Stolen Generations, usually refers to children removed from their families by the
enforcement of government policies between 1915 and 1970. It should, however, be remembered
that children were forcibly removed long before any such policies were enacted.
Many Aboriginal children were forcibly removed from their families by early settlers who
regarded them as cheap labour. They worked on stations and were never paid money for the work
they did. Instead, they were provided with accommodation, food and clothing.
Formal Removal
Formal removal of Aboriginal children from their families began in the second half of the
nineteenth century in response to the British Select Committee's recommendations. Key to this
was the recommendation that a protectorate system be formed which, as already indicated,
resulted in the relocation of Aboriginal communities to reserves.
Education of Aboriginal children was also a focus of the protectorate policy. However,
education was understood as enculturation into the British way of life. This was made possible by
the establishment of the Aboriginal Protection Board, and by 1911, other boards were set up in the
Northern Territory and all states, except Tasmania.
Most protection boards appointed a Chief Protector, who in some states and the Northern
Territory was made the legal guardian of Aboriginal children. Under his direction, children were
sent to schools, institutions and missions. There, they were accommodated in dormitories and had
severely limited contact with their families.
Merging and Absorption
Half-Caste Problem
Numbers of Aboriginal people declined rapidly with European settlement. Consequently, it
was generally assumed that the Aboriginal population would eventually die out or at least, the
differences between the races would breed out over the generations. As time passed, it became
evident that this was not going to happen, so new policies were introduced in the 1900s to absorb
and merge Aboriginal people with mainstream Australian society.
In particular, these policies focused on merging the mixed-descent Aboriginal population
into non-indigenous society, as it was known that their skin colour became lighter over successive
generations. This would facilitate the acceptance of Aboriginal people into mainstream Australian
society together with the loss of their Aboriginal identity - a commonly-held belief expressed in the
Brisbane Telegraph in May 1937.
Mr Neville [the Chief Protector of Western Australia] holds the view that within one hundred
years the pure black will be extinct. But the half-caste problem was increasing every year.
Therefore their idea was to keep the pure blacks segregated and absorb the half-castes into the
white population. Sixty years ago, he said, there were over 60,000 full-blooded natives in Western
Australia. Today there are only 20,000. In time there would be none. Perhaps it would take one
hundred years, perhaps longer, but the race was dying. The pure blooded Aboriginal was not a
quick breeder. On the other hand the half-caste was.
Assimilation
Becoming European
It was believed that children would adjust to learning a new way of life more quickly and
completely than adults. To facilitate this, from 1915 a policy was instigated by which Aboriginal
and part-Aboriginal children were removed from their homes to be fostered by white families or
raised in institutions.
Children who remained with their families on reserves and missions attended schools that
taught European subjects and ways of life. They were housed in dormitories away from their
families and prohibited from speaking traditional Aboriginal languages and engaging in traditional
activities. Rather than taking their place in society alongside Europeans, girls were trained for
domestic roles as cooks and housekeepers, while boys were trained as stockmen and farm
labourers.
Many dedicated people worked in these institutions and gave their very best to these
children, but with significant exceptions. Girls, some as young as twelve, did exhausting work with
little pay. A large percentage of them became pregnant to white men on properties where they
worked. Young boys were also exploited as cheap labour on stations and forced to live under poor
conditions. For those who remained in the institutions or in foster homes, one in five is said to
have been physically abused at the hands of so-called carers.
Protectors' Powers Expanded
Government legislation expanded the powers of protectors to facilitate enforcing the
merging and absorption policy. These expanded powers were used differently from state to state.
In Queensland and Western Australia, for example, the Chief Protector removed children from
their families at the age of four and sent them away to missions and other institutions where they
remained until the age of fourteen, after which they were sent to work.
If an Aboriginal girl became pregnant she was returned to the mission or institution from
where she came, to have her child. Having given birth to the child, she was returned to non-
indigenous society to work once again.
In Victoria and New South Wales, Aboriginal children with a certain amount of European
blood were removed from their families on reserves and sent to 'white' training institutions or
missions. They stayed there until they were old enough to work.
Commonwealth-State Native Welfare Conference, 1937
The first Commonwealth-State Native Welfare Conference in 1937 became a lever for
increasing the number of children removed from their families. The conference resolved that the
... efforts of all State authorities should be directed towards the education of children of
mixed aboriginal blood at white standards, and their subsequent employment under the same
conditions as whites with a view to their taking their place in the white community on an equal
footing with the whites.
Prior to 1937 the 'merging' of Aboriginal children was a passive process. They were simply
placed into domestic and farming roles without any expectation that they be treated the same as
their European counterparts.
A shift to a highly intensive process of assimilation occurred as a result of a resolution of
the 1937 conference. Aboriginal families were required to be closely scrutinised so that neglected,
destitute or uncontrollable children could be removed from their homes. While the law applied
equally to 'white' children, it was loosely interpreted in the case of Aboriginal children. As a result,
it did nothing more but continue the discrimination already experienced by Aboriginal people.
1950s and 1960s
By the 1950s and 1960s the number of Aboriginal children removed from their families in
the name of assimilation had grown to such an extent that schools, institutions and missions were
no longer able to accommodate them. Governments responded by placing the Aboriginal children
in foster homes or putting them up for adoption.
Many children were taken away and adopted without their parents' knowledge or full
consent. Of those fostered or adopted, many were raised with no knowledge of their Aboriginality.
In fact, their darker skin was explained as their being 'Italian or Indian'. Others who did remember
their parents were told that 'they didn't want them' or that 'they had died'.
In many cases, Aboriginal children were warned not to go near Aboriginal people or play
with their children because Aboriginal people 'were dirty'. Aboriginal parents were not allowed to
know the whereabouts of their children and if they did, were told they had died. Since children
were usually transported to homes far from where their parents lived and their names changed,
finding them became impossible.
Self-Management and Self-Determination
Aboriginal Family
In 1967, the situation finally changed when the Australian constitution was altered, making
all people in Australia subject to the same laws. The policy of assimilation was abandoned by the
Whitlam Government and replaced by a policy of Aboriginal self-determination in 1972. In 1975,
the Fraser Government passed the Racial Discrimination Act making discrimination, on the basis
of race, unlawful.
These events empowered Aboriginal people to fight removal applications in court, resulting
in a rapid decline in the number of children being removed. In the 1980s the Aboriginal Child
Placement Principle was adopted. As a matter of priority, it required that Aboriginal children
needing care outside their own families, be placed with indigenous families.
Impact of the Stolen Generations on Aboriginal Spirituality
The impact of removing Aboriginal children from their families is best illustrated by way of two true
personal stories, told by Paul and Karen.
Pauls Story - State Ward No 54321
For eighteen years the state of Victoria referred to me as State Ward No 54321.
I was born in May 1964. My mother and I lived together within an inner suburb of
Melbourne. At the age of five and a half months, both my mother and I became ill. My mother took
me to the Royal Children's Hospital, where I was admitted.
Upon my recovery, the Social Welfare Department of the Royal Children's Hospital
persuaded my mother to board me into St Gabriel's Babies' Home in Balwyn ... just until mum
regained her health. If only mum could've known the secret, deceitful agenda of the state welfare
system that was about to be put into motion - eighteen years of forced separation between a
loving mother and her son.
Early in 1965, I was made a ward of the state. The reason given ... was that, 'Mother is
unable to provide adequate care for her son'.
In February 1967, the County Court of Victoria dispensed with my mother's consent to
adoption. This decision, made under section 67(d) of the Child Welfare Act 1958, was purportedly
based on an 'inability to locate mother'. Only paltry attempts had been made to locate her. For
example, no attempt was made to find her address through the Aboriginal Welfare Board.
I was immediately transferred to Blackburn South Cottages to be assessed for 'suitable
adoptive placement'. When my mother came for one of her visits, she found an empty cot. With
the stroke of a pen, my mother's heart and spirit had been shattered. Later, she was to describe
this to me as one of the 'darkest days of her life'.
Repeated requests about my whereabouts were rejected. All her cries for help fell on deaf
ears by a government that had stolen her son, and ... decided 'they' knew what was best for this
so-called part-Aboriginal boy.
In October 1967 I was placed with a family for adoption. This placement was a dismal
failure, lasting only seven months. This family rejected me, and requested my removal, claiming in
their words that I was unresponsive, dull, and that my so-called deficiencies were unacceptable. In
the medical officer's report on my file there is a comment that Mrs A 'compared him unfavourably
with her friends' children and finds his deficiencies an embarrassment, e.g. at coffee parties'.
Upon removal, I was placed at the Gables Orphanage in Kew, where I was institutionalised
for a further two years. Within these two years, I can clearly remember being withdrawn and
frightened ... not talking to anyone for days on end.
I clearly remember being put in line-ups every fortnight, where prospective foster parents
would view all the children. I was always left behind. I remember people coming to the Gables,
and taking me to their homes on weekends, but I would always be brought back. Apparently I
wasn't quite the child they were looking for.
My dark complexion was a problem.
The Gables knew my dark complexion was a problem, constantly trying to reassure
prospective foster parents that I could be taken as southern European in origin.
In January 1970, I was again placed with a foster family, where I remained until I was 17.
This family had four natural sons of their own. I was the only fostered child.
During this placement, I was acutely aware of my colour, and I knew I was different from the
other members of their family. At no stage was I ever told of my Aboriginality, or my natural mother
or father. When I'd say to my foster family, 'why am I a different colour?' they would laugh at me,
and ... tell me to drink plenty of milk, 'and then you will look more like us'. The other sons would
call me names such as 'their little Abo', and tease me. At the time, I didn't know what this meant,
but it did really hurt, and I'd run into the bedroom crying. They would threaten to hurt me if I told
anyone they said these things.
... Their Little Abo ...
My foster family made me attend the same primary and secondary school that their other
children had all previously attended. Because of this, I was ridiculed and made fun of, by students
and teachers. Everyone knew that I was different from the other family members, and that I
couldn't be their real brother, even though I'd been given the same surname as them. Often I
would run out of class crying and ... hide in the school grounds.
The foster family would punish me severely for the slightest thing they regarded as
unacceptable or unchristian-like behaviour, even if I didn't eat my dinner or tea. Sometimes I would
be locked in my room for hours. Countless times the foster father would rain blows upon me with
his favourite leather strap. He would continue until I wept uncontrollably, pleading for him to stop.
My mother never gave up trying to locate me. Throughout all these years - from five and a
half months to eighteen years of age, my mother never gave up trying to locate me.
She wrote many letters to the state welfare authorities, pleading with them to give her son
back. Birthday and Christmas cards were sent care of the welfare department. All these letters
were shelved. The State Welfare Department treated my mother like dirt and with utter contempt,
as if she never existed. The department rejected and scoffed at all my mother's cries and pleas for
help. They inflicted a terrible pain of separation, anguish and grief upon a mother who only ever
wanted her son back.
In May 1982, I was requested to attend at the Sunshine Welfare Offices, where they
formerly discharged me from state wardship. It took the senior welfare officer a mere twenty
minutes to come clean and tell me everything that my heart had always wanted to know. He
conveyed to me in a matter-of-fact way that I was of 'Aboriginal descent', that I had a natural
mother, father, three brothers and a sister, who were alive.
Angus
He explained that his department's position was only to protect me and, 'that is why you
were not told these things before'. He placed in front of me 368 pages of my file, together with
letters, photos and birthday cards. He informed me that my surname would change back to my
mother's maiden name of Angus.
The welfare officer scribbled on a piece of paper my mother's current address in case, in his
words, I'd 'ever want to meet her'. I cried tears of relief, guilt and anger. The official conclusion, on
the very last page of my file, reads...
'Paul is a very intelligent, likeable boy, who has made remarkable progress, given the
unfortunate treatment of his mother by the department during his childhood.'
When Paul located his mother at the age of eighteen she was working in a hostel for
Aboriginal children with twenty children under her care. She died six years later at the age of forty-
five.
Karen's Story
I am a part Aboriginal woman, who was adopted out at birth. I was adopted by a white
Australian family and came to live in New Zealand at the age of six months. I grew up not knowing
about my natural mother and father. The only information my adoptive parents had about my birth,
was the surname of my birth mother.
I guess I had quite a good relationship with my adoptive mum, dad and sisters. Though my
adopted mother said I kept to myself a lot, while I was growing up. As I got older I noticed my skin
colouring was different to that of my family. My mother told me I was adopted from Australia and
part Aboriginal. I felt quite lonely especially as I approached my teens. I got teased often about
being Aboriginal and became very withdrawn and mixed up, I really did not know where I
belonged. As a result of this I started having psychiatric problems. I seemed to cope and muddle
along.
I eventually got married to a New Zealander and we have two boys who are now teenagers.
One of our boys is dark like myself and was interested in his heritage. I was unable to tell him
anything, as I didn't know about it myself.
My husband, boys and I had the opportunity to go to Melbourne about seven years ago on
a working holiday for ten weeks. While in Melbourne I went to an Aboriginal health centre and
spoke to a social worker, as I had a copy of my birth certificate with my birth mother's name on it.
The social worker recognised my mother's surname 'Graham', and got in touch with my aunty, who
gave me my mother's phone number.
Graham
I got in touch with my birth mother and made arrangements to meet her. I have a half
brother and sister. My birth mother and father never married, though my father knew my mother
was pregnant with me. My mother did not know where my father was, as they parted before I was
born. My sister decided to call a local Melbourne paper and put our story in the paper on how I had
found them after twenty-nine years.
My father, who was in Melbourne at the time, saw the article and a photo of my mother and
myself in the paper. He recognised my mother and got in touch with her. My mother and I had
been corresponding after we returned to New Zealand. For her own reasons, she would not give
my father my address, so my father went through the social service agency and got in touch with
me two and a half years ago. I have met my birth father, as I had a family wedding in Melbourne
shortly after he made contact with me, so I made arrangements to meet him.
We kept in contact with one another, but I feel we will never be able to make up for lost
time, as my birth parents live in Australia and I am in New Zealand.
I still feel confused about where I belong, it has been very emotional and the result of this
caused me to have a complete nervous breakdown. I am on medication daily and am seeing a
counsellor to help me come to terms and accept the situation where I am at right now and to sort
out some confused feelings. My adoptive family really don't want to know too much about my birth
family, which also makes it hard.
I feel that I should be entitled to some financial compensation for travel purposes to enable us to
do this.
Studying the Impact
Emotional and Psychological Stress
Both Paul and Karen tell of their personal anguish and suffering as a result of being forcibly
removed from their families. It could be described as:
being treated as a commodity
feeling rejected
being moved from place to place
being discriminated against and bullied
loss of self-esteem and self-identity
suffering physical abuse
feeling of not belonging anywhere.
Apparent from their stories as adults, is the emotional and psychological stress caused by
the deceit and lies that often accompanied forced removals. But an insight is also provided into the
impact on Aboriginal spirituality. As Paul explains
... during this placement, I was acutely aware of my colour, and I knew I was different from
the other members of their family. At no stage was I ever told of my Aboriginality, or my natural
mother or father.
Loss of Connection to the Dreaming
Significant also is the loss of important cultural and spiritual links with family and country.
By losing their connection to the land, these children lost their connection to the Dreaming - the
heart of Aboriginal spirituality.
Kinship ties were broken as children were removed from their immediate and extended
families. Having lost the framework that governed their relationships with their immediate and
extended family, the clan and the land, Aboriginal people searched for a new place in a 'foreign'
culture, often losing their self-identity in the process.
These kinship ties are important to Aboriginal people, because they embody the laws
handed down to them by their ancestral beings. Often these kinship ties can never be fully
restored, as the following observation suggests.
After [twenty-seven years], Lois was finally re-united with her mother. She proudly
introduced Lois to everyone in town, but carefully steered her away from the camp where she was
living, realising that Lois had been brought up differently and not wanting Lois to see the poor
conditions she was living in. Later, Lois brought her mother south to meet the other four children
she had lost, long ago.
Influence on Future Generations
Unfortunately, the spiritual impact of forced removal is passed on to families who lost their
children, as well as to future generations, i.e. children of the Stolen Generation. They too have lost
an important part of their spiritual heritage. As Karen explains
... one of our boys is dark like myself and was interested in his heritage. I was unable to tell him
anything, as I didn't know about it myself.
Separated from their elders, children like Karen missed out on traditional knowledge,
language, rituals and symbols essential to the Dreaming. As a result they are unable to pass on
their spiritual heritage to their children.
Kinship Roles and Responsibilities
Forced removal of Aboriginal children from their families created gaps in kinship structures.
Traditional parenting roles together with socialising and nurturing responsibilities were taken away
from members of the Stolen Generations. Their spirituality became diminished.
The National Apology
On February 13, 2008, a significant and defining event took place in Australia's history. The
following is part of a press release.
Australia has formally apologised to the Stolen Generations with Prime Minister Kevin Rudd
reading a speech in Federal Parliament this morning.
The apology was read at 9am to the minute, as the first action of the second sitting day of
the forty-second Parliament of Australia.
Both Mr Rudd and Indigenous Affairs Minister, Jenny Macklin, received a standing ovation
as they entered the Great Hall before the Prime Minister delivered the speech.
The reading of the 361-word apology was completed by 9.30am and was watched by
hundreds of parliamentarians, former prime ministers and representatives of the indigenous
community.
Former prime ministers Paul Keating, Bob Hawke, Gough Whitlam and Malcolm Fraser and
Sir William Deane were all seated on the floor of the Parliament as well as seventeen people
representing the stolen generation.
Source Material
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's Speech to Parliament
I move:
That today we honour the indigenous peoples of this land, the oldest continuing cultures in
human history. We reflect on their past mistreatment. We reflect in particular on the mistreatment
of those who were stolen generations - this blemished chapter in our nation's history.
The time has now come for the nation to turn a new page in Australia's history by righting
the wrongs of the past and so moving forward with confidence to the future.
We apologise for the laws and policies of successive parliaments and governments that
have inflicted profound grief, suffering and loss on these our fellow Australians. We apologise
especially for the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families, their
communities and their country. For the pain, suffering and hurt of these stolen generations, their
descendants and for their families left behind, we say sorry. To the mothers and the fathers, the
brothers and the sisters, for the breaking up of families and communities, we say sorry. And for the
indignity and degradation thus inflicted on a proud people and a proud culture, we say sorry.
We the parliament of Australia respectfully request that this apology be received in the spirit
in which it is offered as part of the healing of the nation ...
... Mr Speaker, today the parliament has come together to right a great wrong. We have
come together to deal with the past so that we might fully embrace the future. We have had
sufficient audacity of faith to advance a pathway to that future, with arms extended rather than with
fists still clenched.
So let us seize the day. Let it not become a moment of mere sentimental reflection. Let us
take it with both hands and allow this day, this day of national reconciliation, to become one of
those rare moments in which we might just be able to transform the way in which the nation thinks
about itself, whereby the injustice administered to the stolen generations in the name of these, our
parliaments, causes all of us to reappraise, at the deepest level of our beliefs, the real possibility of
reconciliation writ large: reconciliation across all indigenous Australia; reconciliation across the
entire history of the often bloody encounter between those who emerged from the Dreamtime a
thousand generations ago and those who, like me, came across the seas only yesterday;
reconciliation which opens up whole new possibilities for the future.
It is for the nation to bring the first two centuries of our settled history to a close, as we
begin a new chapter. We embrace with pride, admiration and awe these great and ancient cultures
we are truly blessed to have among us cultures that provide a unique, uninterrupted human thread
linking our Australian continent to the most ancient prehistory of our planet.
Growing from this new respect, we see our indigenous brothers and sisters with fresh eyes,
with new eyes, and we have our minds wide open as to how we might tackle, together, the great
practical challenges that Indigenous Australia faces in the future.
Let us turn this page together: indigenous and non-indigenous Australians, government and
opposition, Commonwealth and State, and write this new chapter in our nation's story together.
First Australians, First Fleeters, and those who first took the oath of allegiance just a few
weeks ago, let's grasp this opportunity to craft a new future for this great land: Australia. I
commend the motion to the House.
Part Eleven: Land Rights - Reclaiming the Dreaming
Focus:
In Australia, the land rights movement is the struggle to reclaim the lands and Dreaming from
which Aboriginal people have been dispossessed, making the movement both political and
spiritual.
Aspects of native title have been addressed legally by the Mabo judgment, Native Title Act 1993
and Wik decision.
Considerable work remains in reclaiming Aboriginal land and sovereignty and until then the
Dreaming can never fully be reclaimed.
Important Words
Colonisers people who help found a colony
Common Law system of law in which judges' decisions are informed by decisions in cases
previously settled, i.e. by following a precedent or similar case; also called 'case law'
Mabo Judgment High Court ruling that native title exists where Aboriginal people have
maintained an ongoing connection with their country, according to their traditions and customs;
overturned terra nullius
Native Title rights and interests possessed by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples
under traditional laws and customs and recognised by Australian common law
Native Title Act 1993 part of the Commonwealth Government response to Mabo judgment
Right of Extinguishment use of common law provisions to extinguish native title in relation to
pastoral leases
Wik Decision High Court ruling that pastoral leases did not give pastoralists exclusive
possession of land and did not necessarily extinguish all native title rights and interests
Native Title
Context
The story of Aboriginal land rights is the history of Australia since first European settlement
in 1788, and in this context, the Land Rights movement is both political and spiritual. While neither
side declared war on one another, settlement by colonisers was by no means peaceful as they
were determined to acquire land even by force.
In this context, the Land Rights movement refers to the struggle of Aboriginal people to gain
recognition. It is the struggle to reclaim the land taken from them and be reconnected with the
Dreaming.
The Principle
Native title is a principle of Australian common law that acknowledges Aboriginal people did
not necessarily lose their land and waters at British settlement. Aboriginal right to ownership of
land was recognised by British authorities very early in the life of the colony. As early as 1837, the
report of the British Parliamentary Select Committee on Aboriginal Tribes, (British Settlements)
affirmed that
... the native inhabitants of any land have an incontrovertible right to their own soil however,
which seems not to have been understood.
The principle of terra nullius had been applied to Australia from the very day of first
settlement in 1788 on the basis that Aboriginal people had no laws and customs in relation to the
land. While this assumption was completely untrue, as they had complex systems and laws
relating to ownership and management of the land, it was convenient to ignore this in view of the
growing demand for land by settlers. The principle of terra nullius was affirmed in law by the British
Privy Council in 1889
... which in Cooper v. Stuart, held that Australia in 1788 was, 'a tract of territory practically
unoccupied without settled inhabitants'
The Struggle
Prior to 1992, native title was not recognised at common law in Australia. Aboriginal
people's long and historical struggle to reclaim the land that once belonged to them reflects this
lack of recognition. Until 1992, native title was the basis of the land rights movement in this
country.
Although the doctrine of terra nullius was overturned by the High Court Mabo judgment in
1992, Aboriginal people continue their struggle to reclaim through the land rights movement. From
an Aboriginal perspective this is because the judgment and subsequent legal decisions and
legislation have failed to deliver fully what belongs to them.
The Mabo Case
Basis
In 1982, Eddie Mabo and four other Meriam people of the Murray Islands commenced legal
action in the Australian High Court, seeking recognition in law of their traditional land rights. The
basis of the claim was that the Meriam people's rights to their land had not been extinguished by
Britain's claim to sovereignty, because they have continued to enjoy their land rights after
occupation.
Finding
After ten years of litigation, the High Court finally made its ruling by a majority of six to one.
The judges conceded that the British Crown had acquired sovereignty, but stated that it did not
automatically acquire full ownership of the land, unless it asserted full ownership in such a way
that extinguished Aboriginal people's right to native title.
In other words, Aboriginal people did not lose ownership of their land, unless the Crown
acted in a way that indicated it intended to take ownership of the land. Therefore, vacant crown
land, national parks and possibly some leased land, to which Aboriginal people have traditionally
had access, can be claimed for native title.
Ruling
The High Court ruled that native title exists where Aboriginal people have maintained an
ongoing connection with their country, according to their traditions and customs.
The Meriam people asserted an exclusive right to occupy the Murray Islands and, as a
community, held an interest in the Islands. They have maintained their identity as a people and
they observe customs which are traditionally based ... Of course, in time the laws and customs of
any people will change and the rights and interests of the members of the people among
themselves will change too. But so long as the people remain as an identifiable community, the
members of whom are identified by one another as members of that community living under its
laws and customs, the communal native title survives to be enjoyed by the members according to
the rights and interests to which they are respectively entitled under the traditionally-based laws
and customs, as currently acknowledged and observed. Here, the Meriam people have maintained
their own identity and their own customs. The Murray Islands clearly remain their home country.
Their land disputes have been dealt with over the years by the Island Court in accordance with the
customs of the Meriam people.
Significance
The Mabo judgment is significant in so far as it overturned the fictional notion of terra
nullius. In effect, the High Court admitted the error of common law to fail to recognise native title
and made a ruling to ensure that the legal system could no longer refuse to recognise it.
While the Mabo judgment may be regarded by non-Aboriginal Australians as a landmark
decision, the Aboriginal perspective is very different. At best, it represents a marginal shift in the
way common law views native title.
The result of the High Court reasoning is like having your cake and eating it too. That is,
Australia was able to enjoy the accolades of being acknowledged as a champion of Aboriginal
rights in giving recognition to native title, while retaining ultimate power over native title in the form
of the right of extinguishment. The state holds power to remove a grant of native title. So under
Australian law Aboriginal peoples are guaranteed an unstable relationship to country and one that
always threatens a future homelessness.
At worst, the judgment did little, if anything, to recognise traditional ownership.
Contrary to claims by its opponents, it does not bestow any privileges on Aboriginal people
that no other Australians already enjoy. In fact, it still leaves Aboriginal people at a disadvantage
relative to other Australians as well as to the indigenous peoples in the USA, Canada, and New
Zealand. It is a matter of justice that the judgment is not weakened but strengthened by further
reforms recognising the rights of Aboriginal people to compensation for past injustice, to self
determination, to practice of their religion and to the protection of their cultural and religious
inheritance.
Regardless of the perspective taken, the Mabo judgment did achieve some measure of
justice for Aboriginal people. It opened the way for them to make claims in respect of their
traditional lands.
Native Title Act 1993
The Commonwealth Government responded to the Mabo judgment by passing the Native
Title Act 1993. It was in a difficult position, with much angst and even hysteria among some
interest groups within mainstream Australian society who feared they would or could be
dispossessed of their land.
Developers, miners, pastoralists, tourist operators and the like, needed access to land, as
well as the certainty of maintaining title to it. The Native Title Act sought to balance the interests of
these parties with Aboriginal people's property and cultural rights in five ways.
1. It recognises and protects native title.
2. It provides for the validation of any past grants of land that may otherwise have been invalid
because of the existence of native title.
3. It provides a regime to enable future dealings in native title lands and imposes conditions on
those dealings.
4. It establishes a regime to ascertain where native title exists, who holds it and what it is, and
determine compensation for acts affecting it.
5. It creates a land acquisition fund to meet the needs of dispossessed Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander peoples who would not be able to claim native title.
The Wik Decision
Context
The Wik sub-region is comprised of coastal flood plains and forested inland country drained
by several major westward flowing rivers on the central western side of Cape York. It contains an
Aboriginal land lease held by the Aurukun Shire Council, on which are located the township of
Aurukun itself and a number of outstations that are seasonally occupied by Wik families. The
region is occupied predominantly by the Wik-speaking peoples ... the majority of whom live in
Aurukun and the ... settlements of Pormpuraaw and Napranum, as well as the towns of Coen and
Weipa which lie just outside the region.
Most of Australia's land is under one or other type of lease, but the Mabo judgment steered
clear of addressing specific issues relating to leased land. It was, therefore, uncertain whether the
granting of a lease extinguished native title at common law. This was of particular concern to the
Wik and Thayorre people living on their traditional lands on the Cape York Peninsula, and which
were covered by past and then current pastoral leases.
Pastoral leases are a special form of land title and cover vast areas of land in outback
Australia. They bestow on leaseholders the right to graze cattle and sheep across large areas of
land without being restricted to specific pockets of land for continuous and extended periods. The
Wik and Thayorre people wanted to test in the High Court if pastoral leases extinguished what
they believed to be their native title rights.
High Court Ruling
High court judges drew on historical evidence in reaching a decision. Historical records
confirmed that early colonial legislation granting pastoral leases aimed, at least in part, to put a
stop to the violence perpetrated by settlers on Aboriginal people.
Common law records from that time indicated that pastoral licenses could be revoked if
squatters inflicted harm on Aboriginal people. On this basis, most judges concluded that the
purpose of pastoral leases had never been to exclude traditional Aboriginal hunting and gathering
rights, or to remove Aboriginal people from the land.
Therefore, the High Court ruled that pastoral leases did not give pastoralists exclusive
possession of land and so, did not necessarily extinguish all native title rights and interests. The
High Court further found that native title rights and interests survive when they coexist
harmoniously with the rights of pastoralists. However, where there was any inconsistency between
the two, the rights of the pastoralists would prevail.
Significance
The Wik decision is like a double-edged sword for Aboriginal people. On the one hand, it
conferred some protection over native title rights by ruling that pastoral leases did not extinguish
native title, and that the two can exist side by side. At least this has given Aboriginal people
access to their traditional lands, even if they coincide with pastoral leases. On the other hand, the
decision affirmed the primary rights of pastoralists in cases where native title and pastoral leases
cannot coexist harmoniously. The Wik decision, therefore, never fully restored the rights that
traditional Aboriginal people had to their lands.
Furthermore, the rights that Aboriginal people gained as a result of the Mabo judgment and
Wik decision were further eroded when the Federal Government enacted its Ten Point Plan in
1997. As far as Aboriginal people are concerned, this was a backward step, because the
legislation included provisions that either extinguished native title or significantly cut back the
statutory rights of native title holders.
The Land Rights Movement - Reclaiming the Dreaming
Two Interconnecting Issues
Britain took sovereignty over Australia without negotiating with and obtaining consent from
Aboriginal people. Historically, there have been instances of cooperative coexistence between
Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians, but the instances are greatly outnumbered by conflicts
arising from forced removal of indigenous people from traditional lands.
These conflicts embrace two interconnected issues.
1. The first issue concerns the physical loss of traditional land and country.
2. The second issue relates to Aboriginal people being stripped of their own sovereignty and it
being replaced with British rule and laws.
Australia's Aboriginal people lost both their traditional lands and the laws and rules
governing their lives and relationships. These losses, even if partial, have significantly impacted on
their capacity to sustain and perpetuate the Dreaming - core of Aboriginal spirituality constantly
renewed in traditional rituals and stories of the Dreaming. It is equivalent to being evicted from
one's home and having to live in someone else's house, under their rules.
Land Rights Movement
In view of this, it is not surprising that European colonisation of Australia has met with fierce
resistance from Aboriginal people and been appropriately termed the land rights movement.
Although not taking on an organised form until 1966, this movement has existed since first
European settlement. In whatever form, the land rights movement in this country, has always been
about reclaiming the Aboriginal right to land and sovereignty - their right to reclaim the Dreaming.
The land rights movement became formalised in 1966 when the Gurindji people conducted
a strike in protest against poor conditions and pay. What was initially a wages and conditions issue
soon became a land rights issue. Nine years later, the Whitlam Government granted the return of
some Gurindji traditional lands.
This was a significant turning point for the land rights movement. It became a national
symbol of Aboriginal people's struggle to reclaim land and sovereignty and reclaim the Dreaming.
Aboriginal Tent Embassy
1.Control of the Northern Territory as a State within the Commonwealth of Australia; the
parliament in the Northern Territory to be predominantly Aboriginal with title and mining rights to all
land within the Territory
2. Legal title and mining rights to all other presently existing reserve lands and settlements
throughout Australia
3. Preservation of all sacred sites throughout Australia
4. Legal title and mining rights to areas in and around all Australian capital cities
5. Compensation money for lands not returnable to take the form of a down-payment of six billion
dollars and an annual percentage of the gross national income
While these demands were rejected, the Tent Embassy became an important symbol of
Aboriginal people's estrangement from the land and was added to the Australian Register of the
National Estate in 1995. Today, it is recognised nationally as a site representing the Aboriginal
struggle to reclaim land and sovereignty.
Mabo and Wik
The Mabo judgment and Wik decision were important wins for the land rights movement,
even though these gains were somewhat eroded by the Howard Government's Ten Point Plan.
Considerable work remains in reclaiming the land and sovereignty enjoyed by Aboriginal people
before European settlement. Until this happens, Aboriginal people can never fully reconnect with
the Dreaming.
Until we give back to the black man just a bit of what was his and give it back without
provisos, without strings to snatch it back, without anything but complete generosity of spirit in
concession for the evil we have done to him - until we do that, we shall remain what we have been
so far: a people without integrity, not a nation, but a community of thieves.
Summary
The Dreaming is an ever-present reality that describes the formation of the world and everything
in it. There are many Aboriginal deities; some are regarded as supreme creator beings, others are
regarded as ancestral beings. Dreaming mythologies of the many different Aboriginal tribes are
variations on a common theme.
Aboriginal sacred stories of the Dreaming often explained the origin of the universe and
everything in it - they formed the framework by which Aboriginal people made sense of the world.
Aboriginal people never used a written language to pass on Dreaming stories - individuals 'owned'
myths according to their totems, and it was their responsibility to see that the stories were kept
alive and passed on to the proper persons. Aboriginal sacred stories exhibit a common theme as
well as variations.
Australia's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people believe their sacred sites were created
and shaped into their particular forms during the Dreaming and demonstrate imprints and physical
proof of the actions of ancestral beings. Sacred sites are places for ritual and ceremony.
Aboriginal people believe that the power of ancestral spirits is present at these sites, making them
forever sacred.
Symbols and artworks played a central role in communication and Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander people employed a system of symbols that was at once simple and sophisticated.
Traditional art usually depicted the Aboriginal bond with the land and the activities of ancestral
beings, as well as religious beliefs and sacred stories from the Dreaming. Australia's indigenous
people were creative in terms of finding and using appropriate media and readily available
pigments.
To understand the connection of the Dreaming, the land and identity of Aboriginal people, it is
necessary to examine how creation came into being and how it is sustained from an
anthropological point of view. The land and all creation is an embodiment of the living presence of
ancestral beings. Birthplace, ancestor beings, totems, biological heritage and kinship connect
Aboriginal people to the Dreaming and give rise to personal and social identity. Traditional
Aboriginal people's connection to the land through the Dreaming has a profound influence on their
understanding of themselves and the land.
The Dreaming is at the heart of Aboriginal beliefs and spirituality and provides answers to
questions of existence. Sacred sites, symbols and art provide Aboriginal people with connections
to spiritual well-being. The Dreaming provides Aboriginal people with a source of identity and
belonging, as well as explaining why things are the way they are - status quo.
Kinship is the single most important means of organising and regulating social and spiritual
relationships. The classificatory system provides a simple and transparent framework for enforcing
rules and regulations. The highest kinship level is that of the tribe or nation, followed by totemic
groups, clans and moieties. Specific rules relating to marriage vary from tribe to tribe, but
commonly revolve around subdivisions within the tribe known as sections or skin-names.
Ceremonies occupy an important place in Aboriginal life by providing access to the spiritual world
and perpetuating the Dreaming. Many types of rituals continue to be used in traditional Aboriginal
language groups and are usually associated with birth, coming of age, death, and fertility. Sacred
objects, songs, music and dance connect traditional Aboriginal people to the Dreaming.
The Dreaming proposes that all human beings, as well as the land and all it sustains, were
created by ancestral beings during the time of creation. Each person is a custodian of the land and
all it sustains and is responsible for renewing flora and fauna according to customary laws. The
principle of reciprocity is the fundamental principle governing one's obligations to other people
within Aboriginal society and applies to the exchange of goods, services, favours and obligations.
The separation of Aboriginal people from their land, systematic disintegration of the kinship
system, and forced removal of Aboriginal children from their families, have had profound and
devastating effects on Aboriginal spirituality. Aboriginal people are connected to the land both
geographically and spiritually and dispossession is akin to the destruction of their spirituality - the
very means by which they achieve social cohesion and meaning in life. Loss of identity, heritage,
traditions and rituals have separated Aboriginal people from the Dreaming and heart of their
spirituality and forced them to search for a new place in a foreign culture, where many are no
longer able to draw on their rich spiritual heritage to provide the stability and social cohesion
needed to cope with rapid and constant change.
In Australia, the land rights movement is the struggle to reclaim the lands and Dreaming from
which Aboriginal people have been dispossessed, making the movement both political and
spiritual. Aspects of native title have been addressed legally by the Mabo judgment, Native Title
Act 1993 and Wik decision. Considerable work remains in reclaiming Aboriginal land and
sovereignty and until then the Dreaming can never fully be reclaimed