Aboriginal People and the Land - Crackerjack Education · 2017-10-22 · Aboriginal People and the...
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© Blake Education and Crackerjack Education Aboriginal People and the Land • At the core of Aboriginal people’s cultural heritage is the land. Land is vital to the well-being of both Torres Strait Islanders and Aboriginal people. It is a complete environment that sustains and is sustained by Indigenous people and culture. It is the core of all spirituality. This is because it includes the places of their Dreaming spirits. • Aboriginal people know the land does not belong to them — they belong to it. The hills, mountains, valleys, rivers and deserts were all inherited by them from their ancestors. The land is shared with their entire kinship group and any future generations. • In ancient times, it was unthinkable to sell or trade your kinship or tribal lands. Why would you give up land that your very survival depends on, or give up the place your Dreaming is kept for you? • Aboriginal people nearly always stayed within the boundaries of their own land. It was the place the ancestors were buried, and it was where their Elders had shown them the secrets of the earth. • They did not know the stories of other language groups, and it was the stories and language that showed each person where their country started and ended. CARING FOR COUNTRY • For Indigenous Australians, the phrase ‘caring for country’ means a deep spiritual attachment to the land, to creation beings, plants and animals, to the source of rules for living and stories, to dance, songs and art. Indigenous Protected Areas create jobs for Indigenous men and women doing what they want to do — working and looking after their land in a healthy environment. 1 • Indigenous Protected Areas [cultural sites, etc.] help Indigenous communities continue their cultural traditions while caring for country and promoting community well-being. Many Indigenous Protected Areas are also in regions of high unemployment, so the rangers and managers become role models for their communities. Indigenous rangers are also engaging with on-the-job training programs in literacy and numeracy, law enforcement, coxswain’s licence, business administration and Indigenous leadership. 2 TRADITIONAL OWNERS Statutory definition of the term ‘traditional owner’: The term ‘traditional owner’ seems to have come into common use following the passage of the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 (Cth), which established mechanisms through which Aboriginal people could claim unalienated Crown Land in the Northern Territory on the basis that they are the ‘traditional Aboriginal owners’ of the land. 3 ABORIGINAL & TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER PROTOCOLS
Transcript of Aboriginal People and the Land - Crackerjack Education · 2017-10-22 · Aboriginal People and the...
© Blake Education and Crackerjack Education
Aboriginal People and the Land• At the core of Aboriginal people’s cultural
heritage is the land. Land is vital to the well-being of both Torres Strait Islanders and Aboriginal people. It is a complete environment that sustains and is sustained by Indigenous people and culture. It is the core of all spirituality. This is because it includes the places of their Dreaming spirits.
• Aboriginal people know the land does not belong to them — they belong to it. The hills, mountains, valleys, rivers and deserts were all inherited by them from their ancestors. The land is shared with their entire kinship group and any future generations.
• In ancient times, it was unthinkable to sell or trade your kinship or tribal lands. Why would you give up land that your very survival depends on, or give up the place your Dreaming is kept for you?
• Aboriginal people nearly always stayed within the boundaries of their own land. It was the place the ancestors were buried, and it was where their Elders had shown them the secrets of the earth.
• They did not know the stories of other language groups, and it was the stories and language that showed each person where their country started and ended.
CARING FOR COUNTRY
• For Indigenous Australians, the phrase ‘caring for country’ means a deep spiritual attachment to the land, to creation beings, plants and animals, to the source of rules for living and stories, to dance, songs and art. Indigenous Protected Areas create jobs for Indigenous men and women doing what they want to do — working and looking after their land in a healthy environment.1
• Indigenous Protected Areas [cultural sites, etc.] help Indigenous communities continue their cultural traditions while caring for country and promoting community well-being. Many Indigenous Protected Areas are also in regions of high unemployment, so the rangers and managers become role models for their communities. Indigenous rangers are also engaging with on-the-job training programs in literacy and numeracy, law enforcement, coxswain’s licence, business administration and Indigenous leadership.2
TRADITIONAL OWNERS
Statutory definition of the term ‘traditional owner’:
The term ‘traditional owner’ seems to have come into common use following the passage of the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 (Cth), which established mechanisms through which Aboriginal people could claim unalienated Crown Land in the Northern Territory on the basis that they are the ‘traditional Aboriginal owners’ of the land.3
ABORIGINAL & TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER PROTOCOLS
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The definition of ‘traditional Aboriginal owners’ in the Act is
... a local descent group of Aboriginals who:
(a) have common spiritual affiliations to a site on the land, being affiliations that place the group under a primary spiritual responsibility for that site and for the land; and
(b) are entitled by Aboriginal tradition to forage as of right over that land.4
Traditional owners are recognised as members of the ‘tribal’ groups whose lands lie within the region [with identified boundaries]; that is, they are accepted as belonging to one of the relevant ‘families’, primarily though socially validated genealogical connections. They are the ones who can legitimately ‘talk for country’, and thus should be consulted about its use.5
REFERENCES
1. Gubbi Gubbi. “Traditional Owners from the Dawn of Time”. Definition of Traditional vs Historic. Accessed May 1, 2017. http://www.gubbigubbi.com/.
2. Department of Environment. “Cultural and Social Benefits”. Accessed May 9, 2017. http://155.187.2.69/indigenous/ipa/cultural.html.
3. Ibid.
4. National Native Title Tribunal. Broader Native Title Settlements and the Meaning of the Term ‘Traditional Owners’. Conference Paper. June 3, 2009. Accessed May 1, 2017. https://aiatsis.gov.au/sites/default/files/products/report/broder-native-title-settlements-and-the- meaning-term-traditional-owner-davidedelman.pdf.
5. Ibid.
Cultural Definitions by Aboriginal Communities’ Traditional Owners
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Try and learn these traditional Aboriginal symbols and patterns. How many can you remember?
Learning Aboriginal Art Symbols
Adult person and child
Mountains
Stars
Forest
Sitting down place
Clouds
Man
Rain
Moon
Water drying up
Campsite
Sun
Long journey
River
Dried up waterhole/ Bad drinking water
Group of women
Short journey
Waterholes
Smoke
Foodstop — Not much food
Foodstop — Plenty of food
Big Small
