Australian Aboriginal culture includes a number of practices and ceremonies centred on a belief in theDreamtime and othermythology. Reverence and respect for the land andoral traditions are emphasised. The words "law" and "lore", the latter relating to the customs and stories passed down through the generations, are commonly used interchangeably. Learned from childhood, lore dictates the rules on how to interact with the land,kinship and community.
Over 300languages andother groupings have developed a wide range of individual cultures.Aboriginal art has existed for thousands of years and ranges from ancientrock art to modernwatercolour landscapes. Traditional Aboriginal music developed a number of unique instruments, and contemporary Aboriginal music spans many genres. Aboriginal peoples did not develop a system of writing beforecolonisation, but there was a huge variety of languages, includingsign languages.
Cultural traditions and beliefs as well as historical tellings of actual events are passed down in Aboriginaloral tradition, also known loosely asoral history (although the latter has a more specific definition). Some of the stories are many thousands of years old.In a study published in February 2020, new evidence produced using radiometric dating showed that bothBudj Bim andTower Hill volcanoes erupted at least 34,000 years ago.[1] Significantly, this is a "minimum age constraint for human presence in Victoria", and also could be interpreted as evidence for theGunditjmara oral histories which tell of volcanic eruptions being some of the oldest oral traditions in existence.[2] An axe found underneathvolcanic ash in 1947 was also proof that humans inhabited the region before the eruption of Tower Hill.[1]
Australian Aboriginal art has a history spanning thousands of years. Aboriginal artists continue these traditions using both modern and traditional materials in their artworks. Aboriginal art is the most internationally recognizable form of Australian art. Several styles of Aboriginal art have developed in modern times including the watercolour paintings ofAlbert Namatjira, theHermannsburg School, and the acrylicPapunya Tula "dot art" movement. Painting is a large source of income for some Central Australian communities such as atYuendumu.
Basket weaving has been traditionally practised by the women of many Aboriginal peoples across the continent for centuries.[3][4][5][6]
For many Aboriginal cultures, the night sky is a repository of stories and law.Songlines can be traced through the sky and the land. Stories and songs associated with the sky under many cultural tents.[7]
Aboriginal Australians' oral tradition and spiritual values build on reverence for the land and on a belief in theDreamtime, or Dreaming. The Dreaming is considered to be both the ancient time of creation and the present-day reality of Dreaming. It describes the Aboriginalcosmology, and includes the ancestral stories about the supernatural creator-beings and how they created places. Each story can be called a "Dreaming", with the whole continent criss-crossed by Dreamings or ancestral tracks, also represented bysonglines.[8]
There aremany different groups, each with their own individual culture, belief structure andlanguage.
To Aboriginal people, some places are sacred, owing to their central place in the mythology of the local people.[10]
The words "law" and "lore" are commonly used interchangeably: "law" was introduced by the British, whereas "lore" relates to the customs and stories from the Dreamtime, which has been passed on through countless generations throughsonglines, stories and dance. Learned from childhood, lore dictates the rules on how to interact with the land,kinship and community.[11]
Kurdaitcha (or kurdaitcha man, and also spelledkurdaitcha,gadaidja,cadiche,kadaitcha, orkaradji)[12] is a type ofshaman amongst theArrernte people, anAboriginal group inCentral Australia. The kurdaitcha may be brought in to punish a guilty party by death. The word may also relate to the ritual in which the death is willed by the kurdaitcha man, known also as bone-pointing.
The expectation that death would result from having a bone pointed at a victim is not without foundation. Other similar rituals that cause death have been recorded around the world.[13] Victims become listless and apathetic, usually refusing food or water with death often occurring within days of being "cursed". When victims survive, it is assumed that the ritual was faulty in its execution. The phenomenon is recognized aspsychosomatic in that death is caused by an emotional response—often fear—to some suggested outside force and is known as "voodoo death". As this term refers to a specific religion, the medical establishment has suggested that "self-willed death", or "bone-pointing syndrome" is more appropriate.[14][15] In Australia, the practice is still common enough that hospitals and nursing staff are trained to manage illness caused by "bad spirits" and bone pointing.[16]
The complete system ofYolngu customary law is the "Madayin", which embodies the rights and responsibilities of the owners of the law, or citizens (rom watangu walal, or simplyrom). Madayin includes the rom, as well as the objects that symbolise the law, oral rules, names and song cycles, and the sacred places that are used to maintain, develop and provide education in the law.[17] Rom can be roughly translated as "law" or "culture", but it embodies more than either of these words.[18]Galarrwuy Yunupingu has describedRom watangu as the overarching law of the land, which is "lasting and alive... my backbone".[19]
It covers ownership of land and waters and the resources within this region; it controls production trade; and includes social, religious and ethical laws. These include laws for conservation and farming of flora and fauna. Observance of Madayin creates a state of balance, peace and true justice, known asMagaya.[17]
Rom includes bush crafts such asbasket-weaving andmat-making, and stories which teach history, hunting, spear-making,gathering food, building shelters and rafts, various rituals, and taking care of others.[20]
"Rom" is a word and concept shared by at least one of the nearby peoples, theAnbarra, who also perform a Rom ceremony.[21][22]
Aboriginal ceremonies have been a part of Aboriginal culture since the beginning, and still play a vital part in society.[23] They are held often, for many different reasons, all of which are based on the spiritual beliefs and cultural practices of the community.[24] They include Dreaming stories, secret events at sacred sites, homecomings, births and deaths.[25] They still play a very important part in the lives and culture of Aboriginal people. They are performed inArnhem Land andCentral Australia with the aim of ensuring a plentiful supply of foods; in many regions they play an important part in educating children, passing on thelore of their people, spiritual beliefs andsurvival skills; some ceremonies are arite of passage foradolescents; other ceremonies are around marriage, death or burial. Most include dance, song,rituals and elaboratebody decoration and/or costume. AncientAboriginal rock art shows ceremonies and traditions that are still continued today.[26]
Ceremonies provide a time and place for everyone in the group and community to work together to ensure the ongoing survival of spiritual and cultural beliefs. Certain stories are individually "owned" by a group, and in some cases dances, body decoration and symbols in a ceremony pass on these stories only within the group, so it is vital that these ceremonies are remembered and performed correctly. Men and women have different roles, and are sometimes appointed as guardians of a sacred site, whose role it is to care for the site and the spiritual beings who live there, achieved partly by performing ceremonies. The terms “men’s business” and “women’s business” are sometimes used; neither have greater spiritual needs or responsibilities than the other, but jointly ensure that sacred practices are passed on. Men often conduct ceremonies, but women are also guardians of special knowledge, hold great spiritual power within a group, and conduct ceremonies. Participation in ceremonies can also be restricted by age, family group, language group, but are sometimes open to all, depending on the purpose of the ceremony.[24]
Right of access to songs and dances pertaining to a specific ceremony belong to a certain defined group (known asmanikay by the Yolngu peoples of north-eastArnhem Land, or clan songs[27]); some may be shared with people outside the community, but some are never shared. There is a wide range of songs, dances, music, body ornamentation, costume, and symbolism, designed to connect the body with the spiritual world of the ancestors. Ceremonies help to sustainAboriginal identity as well as the group'sconnection to country and family.[24]
Thedidgeridoo originated in northern Australia, but is now used throughout the continent.Clapsticks, seedrattles and objects such as rocks or pieces of wood are used; in a few areas, women play a drum made fromgoanna, snake,kangaroo oremu skin.[24]
Animal native foods includekangaroo,emu,witchetty grubs andcrocodile, and plant foods include fruits such asquandong,kutjera, spices such aslemon myrtle and vegetables such aswarrigal greens,bananas and various native yams. Since the 1970s, there has been recognition of the nutritional and gourmet value of native foods by non-Indigenous Australians, and thebushfood industry has grown enormously.[42]
Pituri is a mixture of leaves and wood ash traditionally chewed as astimulant (or, after extended use, adepressant) byAboriginal Australians widely across the continent. Leaves are gathered from any of several species of native tobacco (Nicotiana) or from at least one distinct population of the speciesDuboisia hopwoodii. Various species ofAcacia,Grevillea andEucalyptus are burned to produce the ash. Traditional healers (known asNgangkari in the Western jester areas ofCentral Australia) are highly respected men and women who not only acted as healers or doctors, but also generally served as custodians of important Dreaming stories.[43]
Cultural burning, identified by Australian archaeologistRhys Jones in 1969, is the practice of regularly and systematically burning patches of vegetation used in Central to Northern Australia to facilitate hunting, to reduce the frequency of major bush-fires, and to change the composition ofplant andanimalspecies in an area. This "fire-stick farming", or "burning off", reduces the fuel-load for a potential major bush fire, while fertilising the ground and increasing the number of young plants, providing additional food forkangaroos and other fauna hunted for meat. It is regarded as good husbandry and "looking after the land" by Aboriginal people of theNorthern Territory.[44]
The Australian Aboriginal languages consist of around 290–363[45] languages belonging to an estimated 28language families andisolates, spoken byAboriginal Australians of mainland Australia and a few nearby islands.[46] The relationships between these languages are not clear at present. Many Australian Aboriginal cultures have or traditionally had amanually coded language, asigned counterpart of their oral language. This appears to be connected with variousspeech taboos between certain kin or at particular times, such as during a mourning period for women or during initiation ceremonies for men.
Avoidance speech inAustralian Aboriginal languages is closely tied to elaborate tribal kinship systems in which certain relatives are consideredtaboo. Avoidance relations differ from tribe to tribe in terms of strictness and to whom they apply. Typically, there is an avoidance relationship between a man and his mother-in-law, usually between a woman and her father-in-law, and sometimes between any person and their same-sex parent-in-law. For some tribes, avoidance relationships are extended to other family members, such as the mother-in-law's brother inWarlpiri orcross-cousins inDyirbal. All relations areclassificatory – more people may fall into the "mother-in-law" category than just a man's wife's mother.[47]
Australian Aboriginal English (AAE) is a dialect ofAustralian English used by a large section of theIndigenous Australian (Aboriginal Australian andTorres Strait Islander) population.Australian Kriol is anEnglish-basedcreole language that developed from apidgin used in the early days ofEuropean colonisation. The pidgin died out in most parts of the country, except in theNorthern Territory, which has maintained a vibrant use of the language, spoken by about 30,000 people. It is distinct fromTorres Strait Creole.
At the point of the first colonisation,Indigenous Australians had not developed a system of writing, so the first literary accounts of Aboriginal people come from the journals of early European explorers, which contain descriptions of first contact.[48]
A letter to GovernorArthur Phillip written byBennelong in 1796 is the first known work written in English by an Aboriginal person.[49]
While his father,James Unaipon (c. 1835–1907), contributed to accounts ofNgarrindjeri mythology written by the missionaryGeorge Taplin inSouth Australia,[50]David Unaipon (1872–1967) provided the first accounts ofAboriginal mythology written by an Aboriginal person,Legendary Tales of the Australian Aborigines (1924–25), and was the first Aboriginal author to be published.
TheYirrkala bark petitions of 1963 are the first traditional Aboriginal document recognised by theAustralian Parliament.[51]
Oodgeroo Noonuccal (1920–1993) was a famous Aboriginal poet, writer and rights activist credited with publishing the first Aboriginal book of verse:We Are Going (1964).[52]
Sally Morgan's 1987 memoirMy Place brought Indigenous stories to wider notice.
Leading Aboriginal activistsMarcia Langton (First Australians documentary TV series, 2008) andNoel Pearson (Up from the Mission, 2009) are contemporary contributors to Australian non-fiction. Other voices ofIndigenous Australians include theplaywrightJack Davis andKevin Gilbert.
Writers coming to prominence in the 21st century includeKim Scott,Alexis Wright,Kate Howarth,Tara June Winch,Yvette Holt andAnita Heiss. Indigenous authors who have won Australia'sMiles Franklin Award includeKim Scott, who was joint winner (withThea Astley) in 2000 forBenang and again in 2011 forThat Deadman Dance.Alexis Wright won the award in 2007 for her novelCarpentaria.Melissa Lucashenko won the Miles Franklin Award in 2019 for her novelToo Much Lip.[53]
Aboriginal people have developed uniquemusical instruments and folk styles. Thedidgeridoo is often considered the national instrument of Aboriginal Australians; however, it was traditionally played by peoples of Northern Australia, and only by the men. It has possibly been used by the people of theKakadu region for 1500 years.
Clapping sticks are probably the more ubiquitous musical instrument, especially because they help maintain rhythm. More recently, Aboriginal musicians have branched intorock and roll,hip hop andreggae. Bands such asNo Fixed Address andYothu Yindi were two of the earliest Aboriginal bands to gain a popular following among Australians of all cultures.
In 1997 the State and Federal Governments set up theAboriginal Centre for the Performing Arts (ACPA) to preserve and nurture Aboriginal music and talent across all styles and genres from traditional to contemporary.
Woggabaliri is a traditionalIndigenous Australian "co-operative kicking volley game".[54] The Indigenous in areas of and nearNew South Wales played a ball game called Woggabaliri. The ball was usually made ofpossum fur, and was played in a group of four to six players in circle. It was a co-operative kicking game to see for how long the ball can be kept in the air before it touches the ground.[55]
TheDjab Wurrung andJardwadjali people of westernVictoria once participated in the traditional game ofMarn Grook, a type offootball played withpossum hide. The game is believed by some commentators, includingMartin Flanagan,[56] Jim Poulter andCol Hutchinson, to have inspiredTom Wills, inventor of the code ofAustralian rules football.
Similarity between Marn Grook and Australian football include jumping to catch the ball or high "marking", which results in a free kick. Use of the word "mark" in the game may be influenced by the Marn Grook wordmumarki, meaning "catch".[57] However, this is likely afalse etymology; the term "mark" is traditionally used in Rugby and other games that predate AFL to describe a free kick resulting from a catch,[58] in reference to the player making a mark on the ground from which to take a free kick, rather than continuing to play on.[59]
There are many Indigenous AFL players at professional level, with approximately one in ten players being of Indigenous origin as of 2007[update].[60][61] The contribution of the Aboriginal people to the game is recognized by the annual AFL "Dreamtime at the 'G" match at theMelbourne Cricket Ground betweenEssendon andRichmond football clubs (the colors of the two clubs combine to form the colours of the Aboriginal flag).
Testifying to this abundance of Indigenous talent, theAboriginal All-Stars, an AFL-level all-Aboriginal football side competes against any one of theAustralian Football League's current football teams in pre-season tests. TheClontarf Foundation and football academy is just one organisation aimed at further developing aboriginal football talent. TheTiwi Bombers began playing in theNorthern Territory Football League and became the first all-Aboriginal side to compete in a major Australian competition.
Coreeda is a style offolk wrestling practiced in Australia and is based on Aboriginal combat sports that existed in the pre-colonial period before the 19th century.[62] Combining the movements of the traditional kangaroo dance as a warm up ritual, with a style of wrestling that utilizes a yellow 4.5 meter diameter circle that has black and red borders (similar to theAboriginal flag), Coreeda is often compared to sports as diverse ascapoeira andsumo.[63]
A popular children's game in some parts of Australia isweet weet, or throwing the play stick. The winner throws the weet weet furthest or the most accurately.[64]
The first ROM ceremony, a 'ritual of diplomacy', performed outside Arnhem Land was held when the Anbarra people...presented a Rom to AIATSIS in 1982.
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Indigenous Australian culture travel guide from Wikivoyage