Traditional perspectives

Hands stencil print

The first Australians built a rich and diverse culture. Their laws, spiritual life, religion, relationships between people and their environment was based on guidelines set out in the stories of the Dreaming.

Attributions

Eagle Reach NSW
Courtesy Paul Tacon

Uluru

The Lore gives guidelines for all aspects of life. Many geographical features visible today are seen by Aboriginal people as sacred areas that must be respected as confirmation of their creation beliefs.

Attributions

Courtesy Tourism NT

Wandjina, Namarali Cave

The movements of the ancestral beings clearly defined group boundaries and created the features of the land.

Attributions

Courtesy Mowanjum Artists

Goanna Dreaming (Eagle Reach), Mimi Spirits (Kakadu)

The Dreaming laid down the lore; laws of life, the roles of men and women, personal conduct, relationships and marriage.

Attributions

Goanna courtesy Paul Tacon, Mimi Spirits courtesy Kakadu DEH

Aborigines resting by camp fire near the mouth of the Hunter River

Aboriginal people generally lived in small groups comprising several families. Complex social and kinship structures were strictly maintained and observed.

Attributions

nla pic-an2962715-s15-v
Joseph Lycett, Newcastle N.S.W., watercolour 1817
Courtesy National Library of Australia

Djunkgawul - Dhua Moiety

The Djunkgawul were the creators. They created waterholes, flora and fauna. The painting represents a birthing at a dreaming site named Darrawuy. Four birth mats are shown together with symbols showing the hills around.

The ancestors gave humans a moiety, or skin classification, a system that provided Aboriginal people with a means of organising 'appropriate marriage' partners.

Attributions

1975
Courtesy Leicester Galleries

Boomerangs used as clapsticks

Men and women had clearly defined roles and some members of the group had more responsibility than others through ceremonial rites. They ensured that appropriate knowledge was maintained by passing it on to certain younger members.

Attributions

nla.pic-an8765261-2-v
Courtesy Stephen Smith and National Library of Australia

Corroboree around a campfire

Occasionally all the people of a particular community would come together with other groups for social and ceremonial purposes.

Attributions

nla.pic-an2962715-s16-v
Joseph Lycett, watercolour
Courtesy National Library of Australia

Didgeridoo player at the Multicultural Festival in Civic, Canberra

Ceremonies are an integration of song, dance, art and mime which regenerate Aboriginal communities' understanding of expected behaviour, set down in the law by the Ancestors. The ceremonies are Aboriginal life in action, involving the serious business of maintaining the law.

Attributions

la.pic-an12942909-13-v
1996-1997
Courtesy National Library of Australia

Limestone cave

The spiritual significance of sacred sites lies in their connection to the ancestors.

Attributions

Courtesy Jeff Hunter

Wandjina figures

A ceremony is a collective act of the people honouring and celebrating the ancestors and the Dreaming. Songs are sung of the creation, the people's relationship to the Dreaming and their place in the land.

Attributions

Courtesy Department for the Environment and Heritage, Kakadu National Park

Kangaroo dance

Aboriginal dances often mimic the movement of animals or explain how to relate to elements of the environment. The Dreaming stories connect the people to their environment. The law is sung in song and spoken in stories, sung by the ancestors, danced and passed on through kinship.

Attributions

nla.pic-an8765261-11-v
Courtesy Stephen Smith and National Library of Australia

Dilly bag

Aspects of Aboriginal law are veiled in secrecy. The laws and spiritual beliefs were not written down; the knowledge is passed on from one generation to the next in dances, songs, stories, and paintings.

Attributions

A16703
Courtesy South Australian Museum

Warlpiri dance with body paint

Some of the men's ceremonial business is never revealed to women and also some of the sacred ceremonial business of the women's law is never conveyed to men, or the public at large.

Attributions

nla.pic-an8765261-1-v
Courtesy Stephen Smith and National Library of Australia

Rock blade Tungatta midden

Secrecy provides a means of protecting and maintaining knowledge of the law and spirituality in a way that is 'proper' and in accordance with Aboriginal protocols.

Attributions

Courtesy Jeff Hunter

Namondjok

Aboriginal people from different clan groups have different stories associated with Namondjok. For some, he is a Creation Ancestor who now lives in the sky, when he appears as a dark spot in the Milky Way. For others, he is a Creation Ancestor who broke the kinship laws with his 'sister'.

Law travels across the country and communication of it is a complex process of negotiation between custodians.

Attributions

Courtesy Department for the Environment and Heritage, Kakadu National Park

Boomerangs

The maintenance of the oral tradition is strengthened by passing songs and stories through the 'right line' and relationships, and not leaving them open for appropriation or misinterpretation in the public domain.

Attributions

A41578, A41549, A41550
Courtesy South Australian Museum

Warrup drums

Torres Strait Islanders have always been deeply religious. Cultural heroes like the Malo-Bomai Cult and Kuiam were worshipped.

Attributions

#916, #918
Courtesy Anthropology Museum, University of Queensland

19^th century mask

Traditional law varied from island to island and local elders maintained respect for traditional codes of behaviour and religious events. The spirituality of the Islanders was given form through the creation of ritual objects, in particular ceremonial masks.

Attributions

Torres Strait Islander people; Australia, Torres Strait, Mabuiag Island. Turtle and clamshell, wood, feathers, resin, seeds, paint, fiber; W. 25 in. (63.5 cm)

Courtesy Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York)

Deri Headdress and Torres Strait Islander dancer

Dance has emerged as the pre-eminent cultural practice around which religious activities revolve amongst Torres Strait Islanders. Social interaction plays an important role in Islander traditions and feasting and dancing are popular.

Attributions

Courtesy John Green Photography