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The Stories of the Dreaming about the law and the celestial and terrestrial landscapes are passed down from generation to generation through the process of Custodianship. Since they belong to a clan or a tribe, the Elders appoint a skillful and knowledgeable storyteller as their custodian. These stories teach ways to achieve harmony in relationships with others and within the community; and, emphasize the values of nurturing, sharing, balance, and cooperation. Today, in order to preserve the stories, the custodians are spreading the stories as widely as possible so the children can retain their belongingness and connectedness to the sacred world. Storytelling plays an important and an integral role in everyday Aboriginal Australia life. It is 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. String figure designs often resembled objects that were, and in some parts of Australia still are, used in everyday life such as dilly bags and baskets, or they represented animals and people, or abstract ideas such as the forces of nature. As people played the string game, designs would change quickly from one thing to another. This game was also used to help tell stories. Although the overall themes are the same, Dreaming stories vary throughout Aboriginal Australia. For instance, the story of how birds got their colors in Western Australia is different from the story of how birds got their colors in New South Wales. All Aboriginal tribes tell stories about the Rainbow Serpent. Although some elements of the Rainbow Serpent Story are known only to initiated members of the tribe, the illustration of the Rainbow Serpent has become public knowledge. Rainbow Serpent Stories are Creation Stories so each of them is descriptive of the creation of the landscape where the storyteller lives. Rainbow Serpent artists often add clan symbols to the body of the Rainbow Serpent, symbolic of the connection between the clan and the land. The Rainbow Serpent is linked with fertility, abundant plants and animals, protection, regenerating rains, watercourses, and peace.
A female Rainbow Serpent, as the original mother creator, and, a male Rainbow Serpent, as the transformer of the land, are the two Rainbow Serpents most commonly depicted in Aboriginal ceremonies, art, and oral traditions. When the Rainbow Serpent is not respected or laws are transgressed, the Rainbow Serpent can act as a destructive force, bringing floods and storms. Traditionally these stories have been passed down by the Elders through song and dance usually around campfires. Complex community and kinship patterns determine the ownership of Dreaming Stories; and, ancient initiatic rite and law protects the conveyance of the ceremonial knowledge and wisdom. Paintings of story images and symbols on natural canvases such as rocks depicting tracks, waterholes, stars, rivers, hills, sacred sites, and ceremonial activity can only be done by those authorized by tribal law to do so. Some stories are secret or sacred and can only be told to certain people. If they are told to the wrong person, it is a serious violation of the law. Men have secret sacred stories about initiation grounds that can only be revealed to initiated males. Women have stories unmarried women are not permitted to hear... Go back
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