Aboriginal Australia contains a large number of tribal divisions and language groups, and, corresponding to this, a wide variety of diversity exists within cultural practices. There are some similarities between cultures however. Language(s) Several hundred Indigenous Australian languages (many extinct or nearly so), Australian English, Australian Aboriginal English, Torres Strait Creole, Kriol Religion(s) Primarily Christian, with minorities of other religions including various forms of Traditional belief systems based around the Dreamtime Related ethnic groups see List of Indigenous Australian group... This List of Indigenous Australian group names contains names and collective designations which have been applied, either formerly or in the past, to groups of Indigenous Australians. ... The Australian Aboriginal languages are a Australia, and the rest are descended linguistically from them. ...

Practices and ceremonies

• A Bora is an initiation ceremony in which young boys are transformed into men.
• A Corroboree it is a ceremonial meeting for Australian Aboriginal people.
• Fire-stick farming, identified by Australian archeologist Rhys Jones in 1969, is the practice of regularly and systematically burning patches of vegetation to facilitate hunting, to reduce the frequency of major bush-fires, and to change the composition of plant and animal species in an area. "Burning-off", as it is often called, reduces the fuel-load for a potential major bush fire, while fertilising the ground and increasing the number of young plants, thus providing additional food for kangaroos and other fauna who are hunted for meat. It is regarded as good husbandry and "Looking after the Land" by Indigenous people.^[1]
• A Smoking ceremony is a cleansing ritual performed on special occasions.
• Tjurunga or churinga are objects of religious significance by Central Australian Aboriginal Arrernte (Aranda, Arundta) groups.
• Walkabout refers to the belief of non-Indigenous Australians that Aboriginal people were prone to "go walkabout" (a pidgin or perhaps quasi-pidgin expression) meaning that they would stop doing their jobs and wander through the bush for weeks at a time. The reality is that Aboriginal people were usually fulfilling ceremonial, spiritual, or family obligations, but could generally not convey this to white station owners, either due to its taboo nature, or the sheer clash of the two cultures which generally left misunderstanding on both sides. The term is nowadays usually regarded as derogatory or even offensive.

A Bora is the name given both to an initiation ceremony of Indigenous Australians, and to the site on which the initiation is performed. ... A Corroboree is a ceremonial meeting of Australian Aborigines. ... Fire-stick farming is a term coined by Australian archeologist Rhys Jones in 1969 to describe the practice of Indigenous Australians where fire was used regularly to burn vegetation to facilitate hunting and to change the composition of plant and animal species in an area. ... For other uses, see Plant (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Animal (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Species (disambiguation). ... // Tjurunga defined Figure 1: A stone tjurunga Tjurunga or churinga was a term applied to objects of religious significance by Central Australian Aboriginal Arrente (Aranda, Arundta) groups. ... // Walkabout is an English language expression with several meanings: Walkabout is an Australian pidgin (or perhaps quasi-pidgin) term referring to the belief that Australian Aborigines go walkabout at the age of thirteen in the wilderness for six months as a rite of passage. ...

Belief Systems

Main articles: Australian Aboriginal mythology, Dreamtime, and Dreaming

In the world's oldest continent the creative epoch known as the Dreamtime stretches back into a remote era in history when the creator ancestors known as the First Peoples travelled across the great southern land of Bandaiyan (Australia), creating and naming as they went.^[2] This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... opens chapter nine of The Dreaming Universe (1994) entitled The Dreamtime with a quote from The Last Wave, a film by Peter Weir: Aboriginals believe in two forms of time. ... Dreaming is a common term among Indigenous Australians for a personal, or group, creation story and for the mythological time of creation, as well as for the places where the creation spirits now lie dormant in the land. ... opens chapter nine of The Dreaming Universe (1994) entitled The Dreamtime with a quote from The Last Wave, a film by Peter Weir: Aboriginals believe in two forms of time. ...

Indigenous Australians' oral tradition and spiritual values are based upon reverence for the land and a belief in this Dreamtime. The Dreaming is at once both the ancient time of creation and the present day reality of Dreaming. There were a great many different groups, each with their own individual culture, belief structure, and language. These cultures overlapped to a greater or lesser extent, and evolved over time. The Rainbow Serpent is a major Ancestral being for many Aboriginal people across Australia, whereas Baiame or Bunjil are regarded as the primary creator-spirits in South-East Australia. Dingo Dreaming is a significant Ancestor in the interior regions of Bandiyan as Dingo formed the songlines that cross the continent from north to south and east to west.^[3] The Yowie and Bunyip are also well known Ancestral beings. Oral tradition or oral culture is a way of transmitting history, literature or law from one generation to the next in a civilization without a writing system. ... opens chapter nine of The Dreaming Universe (1994) entitled The Dreamtime with a quote from The Last Wave, a film by Peter Weir: Aboriginals believe in two forms of time. ... The Rainbow Serpent/Snake is a major mythological being for Aboriginal people across Australia, although the creation stories associated with it are best known from northern Australia. ... In Aboriginal mythology, Baiame was the ancestor and patron god of the Kamilaroi. ... In Australian aboriginal mythology, specifically Kulin including Wurundjeri and Bunurong, Bunjil is the supreme god, represented as an eagle. ... Yowie can refer to either of two mythical creatures of Australian folklore: The name has been applied to an Australian cryptid analogous to the American bigfoot. ... The bunyip (usually translated as devil or spirit[1]) is a mythical creature from Australian folklore. ...

One version of the Dreaming story runs as follows:

The whole world was asleep. Although not in a literal way, it would have seemed like it. Everything was quiet, nothing moved, nothing grew. The animals slept under the earth. One day the rainbow snake woke up and crawled to the surface of the earth. She pushed everything aside that was in her way. She wandered through the whole country and when she was tired she coiled up and slept. So she left her tracks. After she had been everywhere she went back and called the frogs. When they came out their tubby stomachs were full of water. The rainbow snake tickled them and the frogs laughed. The water poured out of their mouths and filled the tracks of the rainbow snake. That's how rivers and lakes were created. Then grass and trees began to grow and the earth filled with life.^{[citation needed]}

In principle, census information could tell us how widespread are traditional Aboriginal beliefs compared to (for example) Christianity, but the results may be misleading because the census form does not include traditional Aboriginal beliefs as a religion. For example, the 2001 census form listed Catholic, Anglican (Church of England), Uniting Church, Presbyterian, Lutheran, Islam, Greek Orthodox, Baptist, "No religion", "Other - please specify", and Buddhism.^[4] The following census information is therefore likely to over-represent the listed beliefs compared to traditional Aboriginal beliefs.

The 1996 census reported that almost 72 percent of Aborigines practiced some form of Christianity, and 16 percent listed no religion. The 2001 census contained no comparable updated data.^[5] In the 1991 census, almost 74% identified with Christianity, up from 67% at the 1986 census. The form of the question changed in the 1991 census, and as the religion question is optional to answer, reducing the percentage of people who did not answer.^[6]

The Aboriginal population also has a small but rapidly growing number of muslims.^[7] This Islamic community has also seen high profile members such as the boxer, Anthony Mundine ^[8] See Islam in Australia. Islam in Australia is the second largest minority religion after Buddhism. ...

Music

A didgeridoo, or yidaki

Main article: Australian Aboriginal music

Aborigines developed unique instruments and folk styles. The didgeridoo is commonly considered the national instrument of Australian Aborigines, and it is claimed to be the world's oldest wind instrument. However, it was traditionally only played by Arnhem Land people, such as the Yolngu, and then only by the men. It has possibly been used by the people of the Kakadu region for 1500 years. Clapping sticks are probably the more ubiquitous musical instrument, especially because they help maintain the rhythm for the song. More recently, Aboriginal musicians have branched into rock and roll, hip hop and reggae. One of the most well known modern bands is Yothu Yindi playing in a style which has been called Aboriginal rock. Didgeridoo, copied from French Wikipedia Securiger 11:52, 30 Dec 2003 (UTC) © fr:Utilisateur:Aoineko File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Didgeridoo, copied from French Wikipedia Securiger 11:52, 30 Dec 2003 (UTC) © fr:Utilisateur:Aoineko File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... A didgeridoo. ... Ŵú Australian Aborigines are the native peoples of Australia. ... A didgeridoo. ... Arnhem Land is an area of 97,000 km² in the north-eastern corner of the Northern Territory, Australia. ... For Yolngu language see Yolngu Matha. ... Kakadu National Park is in the Northern Territory of Australia, 171 km east of Darwin. ... Yothu Yindi (Yolngu for child and mother. ... Aboriginal rock is a rather nebulous term for a style of music which mixes traditional rock music elements (guitar, drums, bass etc) with the instrumentation of Indigenous Australians (Didjeridu, clap-sticks etc). ...

Art

Main article: Australian Aboriginal art

Australia has a long tradition of Aboriginal art which is thousands of years old. Modern Aboriginal artists continue the tradition using modern materials in their artworks. Aboriginal art is the most internationally recognisable form of Australian art. Several styles of Aboriginal art have developed in modern times including the watercolour paintings of Albert Namatjira; the Hermannsburg School, and the acrylic Papunya Tula "dot art" movement. Painting is a large source of income for some Central Australian communities such as at Yuendumu today. Aboriginal hollow log tomb Aboriginal art is art done by Australian Aborigines, covering art that pre-dates European colonisation as well as contemporary art by Aborigines based on traditional culture. ... Namatjira outside Government House, Sydney, circa 1947. ... The Hermannsburg School is an art movement, or art style, which began at the Hermannsburg mission in the 1930s. ... Papunya Tula, or Papunya Tula Artists Pty Ltd, is an artists cooperative, formed in 1972 to market the paintings of a group of Aboriginal Australian men who had begun painting traditional designs using western art materials at the Papunya settlement, 240 km northwest of Alice Springs in Central Australia in... Yuendumu (22°15′ S 131°47′ E) is a town in the Northern Territory in Australia. ...

Astronomy

Main article: Australian Aboriginal Astronomy

A depiction of the [Emu] in the sky, which is an Australian Aboriginal constellation consisting of dark clouds rather than of stars. The time of year in which the Emu in the sky stands upright in the evening marks the time when emu eggs are ready to be collected.

For many Aboriginal cultures, the night sky is a central repository of stories and law. Songlines can be traced through the sky as well as through the land, and the stories and songs associated with the sky underpin many cultural tenets. This cultural astronomy is said to predate the origins of European or Asian astronomy, so that Indigenous Australians have been called the world's first astronomers....x Many of the Australian Aboriginal cultures have a strong element of astronomy. ... Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ... Songlines - the British based world music magazine featuring the greatest artists in the current music scene on the web at [Songlines http://www. ... Language(s) Several hundred Indigenous Australian languages (many extinct or nearly so), Australian English, Australian Aboriginal English, Torres Strait Creole, Kriol Religion(s) Primarily Christian, with minorities of other religions including various forms of Traditional belief systems based around the Dreamtime Related ethnic groups see List of Indigenous Australian group...

Traditional recreation

An Indigenous community Aussie Rules game.

The Djabwurrung and Jardwadjali people of western Victoria once participated in the traditional game of Marn Grook, a type of football played with possum hide. The game is believed by some to have inspired Tom Wills, inventor of the code of Australian rules football, a popular Australian winter sport. Similarities between Marn Grook and Australian football include the unique skill of jumping to catch the ball or high "marking", which results in a free kick. The word "mark" may have originated in "mumarki", which is "an Aboriginal word meaning catch" in a dialect of a Marn Grook playing tribe. Indeed, Aussie Rules has seen many indigenous players at elite football, and have produced some of the most exciting and skillful to play the modern game. Approximately one in ten AFL players are of indigenous origin. The contribution the Aboriginal people have made to the game is recognised by the annual AFL "Dreamtime at the 'G" match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground between Essendon and Richmond football clubs (the colours of the two clubs combine to form the colours of the Aboriginal flag, and many great players have come from these clubs, including Essendon's Michael Long and Richmond's Maurice Rioli). Testifying to this abundance of indigenous talent, the Aboriginal All-Stars are an AFL-level all-Aboriginal football side competes against any one of the Australian Football League's current football teams in pre-season tests. The Clontarf Foundation and football academy is just one organisation aimed at further developing aboriginal football talent. The Tiwi Bombers began playing in the Northern Territory Football League and became the first and only all-aboriginal side to compete in a major Australian competition. Image File history File linksMetadata Aboriginal_football. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Aboriginal_football. ... High marking is a key skill and spectacular attribute of Australian rules football Precise field and goal kicking using the oval shaped ball is the key skill in Australian rules football Australian rules football, also known as Australian football, Aussie rules, or simply football or footy is a code of... Marn Grook (also spelt marngrook) is an Australian Aboriginal ball game, which is claimed to have had an influence on the modern game of Australian rules football, most notably in the spectacular jumping and high marking exhibited by the players of both games. ... Look up Football in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... For other uses, see Possum (disambiguation). ... Thomas Wentworth Wills was an Australian sportsman who is credited along with Henry Harrison as one of the inventors of Australian rules football. ... High marking is a key skill and spectacular attribute of Australian rules football Precise field and goal kicking using the oval shaped ball is the key skill in Australian rules football Australian rules football, also known as Australian football, Aussie rules, or simply football or footy is a code of... “MCG” redirects here. ... Essendons Home and Clash Jumpers Essendon Football Club, nicknamed The Bombers, is an Australian rules football club that is part of the Australian Football League. ... This page is about the Aussie rules club. ... Michael Long (born October 1, 1969 in Darwin, Northern Territory) is a former Australian rules footballer and spokesperson against racism in sport. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... The ATSIC Aboriginal All-Stars are an Australian rules football team composed purely of indigenous Australians. ... This article is about the national league in Australian rules football. ... The Clontarf Foundation is a non-profit foundation developed in the sport of Australian rules football to assist Indigenous Australians and encourage them to pursue careers in sport and prevent them from a life of crime. ... The Tiwi Bombers began as a representative club competing in the Northern Territory Football League 2006/07 season. ... The NTFL is a 7 team Australian rules football semi-professional league operating in Darwin in the Northern Territory. ...

• Aboriginal Football

See the comprehensive study of Aboriginal people in sport: Aborigines in sport by Colin Tatz

• Capturing a dream team - Video of AGE Photographer John Donegan reveals how he created a single portrait of all the AFL's indigenous players.

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Australian Aboriginal culture

• Jindyworobak Movement, a white Australian artistic movement inspired by Aboriginal culture.
• Totem and Taboo by Sigmund Freud

Image File history File links Commons-logo. ... The Jindyworobak Movement was a nationalistic Australian literary movement whose white members sought to promote indigenous Australian ideas and customs, particularly in poetry. ... Totem and Taboo: Resemblances Between the Mental Lives of Savages and Neurotics was a book written by Sigmund Freud published in German as Totem und Tabu: Einige Übereinstimmungen im Seelenleben der Wilden und der Neurotiker in 1913. ... Sigmund Freud (IPA: ), born Sigismund Schlomo Freud (May 6, 1856 – September 23, 1939), was an Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist who founded the psychoanalytic school of psychology. ...

References

1. ^ Kakadu Man, by Big Bill Neidjie, Stephen Davis, and Allan Fox, 1986, ISBN 0-9589458-0-2
2. ^ Andrews, M. (2004) 'The Seven Sisters', Spinifex Press, North Melbourne, p. 424
3. ^ Andrews, M. (2004) 'The Seven Sisters', Spinifex Press, North Melbourne, p. 428
4. ^ 2001 Census form, publsihed by ABS.
5. ^ 2901.0 - Census Dictionary, 1996. Australian Bureau of Statistics.
6. ^ Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. 4102.0 - Australian Social Trends, 1994. Australian Bureau of Statistics (1994-05-27). Retrieved on 2006-11-02.
7. ^ Aborigines turn to Islam. Retrieved on 2007-12-12.
8. ^ Militant Aborigines embrace Islam to seek empowerment. Retrieved on 2007-12-12.