|
|
|
Traditionally these stories have been passed down by the Elders through song and dance usually around campfires. String Games involving String figure designs often resembled objects that were used in everyday life such as dilly bags and baskets. String figure designs could also represent animals, people or even 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. All Aboriginal tribes told stories regarding the Rainbow Serpent. Although some elements of the Rainbow Serpent Story were known only to initiated members of the tribe, the illustration of the Rainbow Serpent has become public knowledge. Rainbow Serpent Stories were Creation Stories so each of them was descriptive of the creation of the landscape where the storyteller lived. Rainbow Serpent artists often added clan symbols to the body of the Rainbow Serpent, symbolic of the connection between the clan and the land. The Rainbow Serpent was linked with abundant plants and animals, fertility, peace, protection, regenerating rains and watercourses. A female Rainbow Serpent as the original mother creator and a male Rainbow Serpent as the transformer of the land were the two Rainbow Serpents most commonly depicted in Aboriginal art, ceremonies and oral traditions. When the Rainbow Serpent was not respected or laws were transgressed, the Rainbow Serpent could act as a destructive force, bringing floods and storms.
Storytelling and Song often accompanied by dance movements have been a central element of Aboriginal Australian life since the beginning of time. They sang songs and performed ceremonies to ensure the propagation of each species and the fruitfulness of the land. They performed their ritual obligations to the land by singing for the country the songs of the Dreamtime, often accompanied by dance and sometimes sand drawings. Danceman and Songman were respected men who were esteemed by the group because of their specialized song and dance skills. The songman performed songs passed down from his ancestors and also composed songs regarding everyday life. There were songs for every event including: animals, funerals, hunting, landscapes and seasons. The Songman was often asked to perform for other groups where he led others in a chorus. The Danceman specialized in miming the movements of animals and other ceremonial totemic portrayals. Songs could vary in length from several days to several weeks to several months. Although dance techniques varied between tribal groups, most of the dancing was done with lots of foot stomping which is now called shake a leg. There were also arm, foot and body movements that imitated the actions of birds and animals.
Headdresses and body
decorations enhanced the connection between dancer and totemic Dreaming. There
were sacred ritual dances. There were dances for Dreaming events, for rain and
for successful hunts. There were also campfire dances where women, children and
men shared clan totem dances.
Next
Back
|
|
|
Read