Australian Aboriginal Beliefs and Spiritualities
Nature of the Dreaming
During the last Ice Age, approximately 40 000 years ago, the Australian continent was
joined by a land bridge to New Guinea. Tasmania was also connected to the mainland
because the sea level was considerably lower than it is today. Archaeological evidence
suggests that Aboriginal groups crossed via the land bridge onto the continent,
establishing numerous campsites. By 20 000 years BCE, Aboriginal campsites were
spread extensively throughout mainland Australia and Tasmania, with these early
inhabitants becoming isolated as the land bridges disappeared with the rise of the
sea levels at the end of the last Ice Age.
Although this view of Aboriginal migration has received support from some western
scholars, it has been widely refuted by the Aboriginal people who lay claim to the land from
the Dreaming, from the time of creation. Bearing testimony to their early occupation of the
land, is archaeological evidence in the form of artefacts, charcoal from campsites and
deposits from kitchen middens and although there were no written records, such evidence
verifies the extent of their habitation and confirms the hunting, gathering and fishing modes
of survival.
Significant archaeological sites include Lake Mungo in south western New South Wales
and Keilor in Victoria both revealing human remains dating 30 000 years ago for the
former site and a probable 45 000 years for the latter. The survival of these people
required intimate knowledge and understanding of the environment and a capacity to
interpret and adapt to the changing nature of the environment. More than likely, the
Aboriginal people moved from coastal locations to the inland via waterways, all the time
adapting to the many environmental changes which were taking place on the continent.
These first inhabitants followed a nomadic lifestyle, moving in bands or groups
within generally well-defined geographic areas, hunting and gathering what was
essential for their survival. Traditionally the males were the hunters and the females
the gatherers, their tools and implements being fashioned from products from their
environment. Coastal groups used fish bone to improve their tools and some made
dug out canoes to improve the opportunities of the hunt. Each group was deeply in
tune with their environment, with the migration of birds, the nature of the seasons
and when particular plants and/or animals would be available to enhance the food
supply. Members of each group shared a common language and observed common
cultural practices, some of these being in the form of creative and artistic expressions.
Thus Aboriginal art forms an integral part of the rich fabric of Aboriginal culture and
although there was no written language, the complex cultural and spiritual knowledge
was preserved and transferred from one generation to the next. The mediums of
transfer of cultural knowledge involved oral tradition, the performance of complex and
intricate ritual practices, song and poems, chanted or sung, and rich art forms which
capture, record and present the essence of Aboriginal Spirituality. The corroboree is
one example of the intricacies of Aboriginal ceremonies involving rhythmic chants, the
use of traditional instruments and symbolic dance. The bullroarer was also quite often
used, the swinging of the specially carved piece of wood attached to a length of twine
creating a roaring sound, hence the name. The sound is regarded by many as a call
from the Great Creation Spirit summoning his people.
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Aboriginal art, in particular, is sacred with many sacred symbols and images being
passed on from one generation to another through artistic expression. It is this wealth
and richness of Aboriginal rock, cave, wood and bark paintings which provide a glimpse
into Aboriginal belief systems and reflect their affinity and oneness with the land. The
Aboriginal relationship with the environment is one of belonging, not one of ownership.
Thus Aboriginal groups maintain a spiritual and ritual responsibility for particular areas
of land and the sacred sites of those areas.
Diagram of the Dreaming.
The Dreaming as the basis of all aspects of life in traditional Aboriginal Societies.
From An Introduction to Aboriginal Societies by W.H. Edwards, 1988.
Although there are many different Aboriginal belief systems and differences in
language, art forms and ritual practices between Aboriginal groups, there have emerged
significant homogeneous and fundamental elements of belief. First the bond with the
land, and second the place of the Dreaming in their belief structures.
For the Aboriginal people, the Dreaming represents the beginning of life and nature,
the beginning of all patterns and cycles associated with the environment and the
creation of the world in its present form. Aboriginal sacred art preserves these sacred
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symbols, patterns and expressions of the Dreaming. In fact, archaeological evidence
suggests that the Dreaming legends are of great antiquity, the evidence including ancient
rock engravings and cave paintings.
Aboriginal Spirituality holds that great Spirit Ancestors existed well before people
and animals were created. It is to these Spirit Ancestors that we owe the creation of
all living things as well as the land and the water bodies with all their intricacies. These
Spirit Ancestors were accorded names by Aboriginal groups, with the names varying
with different locations, but it was the Spirit Ancestors who determined the rules by
which all living creatures should abide. Failure to observe these rules could threaten
the continued existence of all living things, thus care of the land and all natural things
was of prime importance and seen as being essential to the survival of every group.
The knowledge of the details of the Dreaming and the roles of the spirits and their
creations was owned by individual groups and held in trust by the elders. It was the
responsibility of these trusted elder, group members to ensure that the Dreaming
stories and rituals associated with the Dreaming were accurately remembered and
passed on in dance and oral tradition – story, song, poem – and in art.
Transmission of cultural details involved both men and women. Both were
responsible for ensuring the perpetuation of special ritual knowledge and stories
associated with the Dreaming as well as rules and responsibilities pertaining to
the group. These people were also entrusted with the care and responsibility of
sacred, ritual objects and the role of guardians of the sacred sites where rituals were
performed.
Aboriginal rock art of the Gagudju people.
An example of Gagadju X-Ray art.
It was the responsibility of the guardians to ensure that the site was cared for
properly so that the particular spirit would continue to live there. Thus the group
organisation and the roles and responsibilities of every group member have been
integrally related to the land and the spirits of the Dreaming with most aspects of daily
life being carefully regulated and explained through religious stories and ceremonies.
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Questions
1. Explain what you understand by the Dreaming.
2. In what way or ways do Dreaming stories regulate the role of the individual
in society?
3. How have the stories and rituals of the Dreaming been passed on from
one generation to another?
4. What has been the role of the Elders of the group in the transmission of
sacred cultural knowledge?
5. List examples of Aboriginal art forms. Comment briefly on the significance
of these art forms to Aboriginal ceremonial and ritual practices.
Other regulating elements were kinship groupings. These played a very important
part in Aboriginal culture, determining marriage partners, affiliations and bonding
within the group. Men and women were permitted to marry only partners from different
moieties or kinship halves with arranged marriages being a fairly common practice. The
practice of betrothal was very carefully regulated in accordance with kinship groupings,
thus providing safeguards against inter-marriage between people of close bloodlines.
In Aboriginal society, the bond between the individual and the group is very strong,
with relationships being clearly defined along kinship lines, and titles by which
individuals are known, being given according to kinship relationships. It is for this
reason, the events in any one person’s life are regarded as an integral part of the
lives of all those who are kin.
An individual was identified by a personal totem which was associated with the mother’s
realisation of pregnancy, thus within any group, individual members could have any part of
nature as their totem, an animal, a plant, but the outcome remained that everyone was
inextricably part of their environment and returned to their totem on death.
While the Dreaming affords a detailed account of the creation, it also provides
Aboriginal communities with detailed structures of rights and responsibilities, sound
and complex codes of morality and social relationships and Aboriginal law all of
these elements being absolutely relevant to the past, the present and the future. The
observance of all that is passed on from the Dreaming is essential for the survival of
all living things and spirits from the Dreaming continue to occupy their special sacred
areas. Their ongoing presence means that they can provide guidance and direction to
those entrusted with the Dreaming knowledge for the specific Aboriginal community.
Dreaming stories show the Spirit Ancestors in both human and animal form with the
Rainbow Serpent being one of the most well known.
As indicated previously, each Aboriginal group had its own distinct Dreaming, identifying
the land for which the group was responsible and the sacred elements and aspects within
the land area. Unlike the European notion of ownership, Aboriginal groups did not regard
these areas of land as parcels which were owned or belonging to the group. Each group
assumed responsibility for the land, for ensuring that what was passed on in the Dreaming
was maintained and for preserving the sacred elements of nature which were created by
the Spirit Ancestors. For some groups a sacred site might include waterholes, for
others, trees or special rock formations, other plants and animals were also sacred
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and their preservation was inextricably tied to the continuation of the group. Uluru is
an example of a well known sacred site. The Spirit Ancestors occupied and were part
of these sacred sites. Elders and initiated members of the group would perform sacred
ceremonies at these sites, but women too, performed their own sacred rituals and men
were excluded. While the Dreaming of each group is discrete, they are all closely linked,
with Aboriginal groups respecting the Dreaming of others, the ongoing presence of the
spirits and the boundaries which separated each group. Aboriginal groups did not seek
to occupy the land of others.
Group Research task
Select one story from the Dreaming.
1. Create a group PowerPoint show to present to the class
2. Briefly outline the story
3. What does this Dreaming story tell us about the Spirit Ancestors?
4. How does this story provide an explanation of the world in its present form?
5. What does the story tell us about the Spirit Ancestors and their affinity with the
environment?
6. Discuss the importance of the Dreaming for the Aboriginal people.
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