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Aboriginals belong to a place, an area of land in Australia where their totemic ancestors were born, lived, and died. This "belonging place" was the territory of land created for their kin group, their clan, and their tribe during the Dreamtime. The sacred symbols of these totemic bloodlines were implanted in the Dreaming stories used by the Elders to teach the wisdom of the ancestors to each new generation. Aboriginals sing their country; and, perform ceremonies for their country, using ochre depictions of the Dreaming images. There is no agreed upon term to identify Aboriginal Australian groups. Generally they lived in small groups called clans, bands, hearth groups, family groups, or sub-tribes. A number of these smaller groups living in the same area of the land, sharing a Dreaming Track, comprised a tribe. There are many different Aboriginal Australia tribes who have their own Dreamtime folklore, customs, languages, and totems; but, there are also many commonalities they share such as: strong kinship and family structures, totems, Elders, skin names, Dreaming, territoriality, ceremonies, songs, storytelling, and strict boundaries between men's and women's business. The land is their life, their mother, their way, their nourishment, and their spiritual connectedness. Dreaming Tracks delineate the area of land created by the Ancestral Spirits where a tribe was created, their belonging place. Starlore was passed down from generation to generation through the teachings and storytelling of the Elders. The positions of the planets and stars were used by the Aboriginal Australians for gathering food; for finding their way from one place to another; and for the timing of rituals and ceremonies.
There were neutral
passageways between tribal lands. Aboriginal law in Australia required
respectful recognition of tribal boundaries. Anyone travelling outside their
territory needed to obtain the permission of the tribes in neighboring
territories to pass through their areas.
Aboriginals traded and bartered with other groups in Australia on a regular basis, holding corroborees where marriages were arranged; information about tribal practices and beliefs was shared; and, new songs were sung. Tribe members carried message sticks with them whenever they crossed the boundaries of another tribe. Engraved with sacred Dreaming symbols, these pieces of bark or wood identified the walker and served as an official request for permission to enter and pass through the belonging place of another tribe. Under Aboriginal law to enter the belonging place of another tribe without their consent was trespassing, which courted hostility and could result in death. The life of an individual Aboriginal, a person of the Dreamtime, was lived according to the guidelines laid down for the ancestors by the creators. By adhering to the traditions and beliefs practiced by the tribe for generations, an individual fulfilled the laws and spiritual expectations of the Ancestral Spirits. At the end of Dreamtime, after the Ancestral Spirits gave form to the land and established community relationships, they changed from human and other forms into animals, stars, hills, and other things, enlivening the landscape with their powers. Storytelling played an important and an integral role in everyday Aboriginal Australia life. It was used to educate children about Aboriginal Australia cultural heritage; to pass on knowledge about Creation, ancestral beings, and places, and, how the land, plants, animals, and humans came into being; to explain Aboriginal Australia spirituality and laws; and to pass on information about the boundaries of tribal lands. Traditionally these Dreaming stories have been passed down by the Elders through song and dance usually around campfires. Complex community and kinship patterns determined the ownership of Dreaming Stories; and, ancient initiatic rite and law protects the conveyance of the ceremonial knowledge and wisdom...Continue on
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