Kinship is the connection that is made from one person to another through relations through genetic or blood relations or marriage. Kinship can influence many aspects of a culture, such as behavior, actions, and philosophies. This article will focus on how kinship affects the Australian Aborigines’ social interactions, family structure, and behavior. (Laird, Nowak)The Australian Aboriginal kinship systems are a set of laws within their culture that dictates social behavior and tradition such as marriage and hierarchy of a person according to their descendants. In Aboriginal laws, kinships direct an individual’s obligations to their clan and interactions with other relatives and community members. Some individuals may not be permitted to speak to one another without a third party involved to communicate, this Aboriginal law is set in place to delineate lineage. Because the Australian Aborigines are an oratory civilization, much of their history is not recorded through written language. In order to maintain a record of which two people are able to be married or not, it is important for each individual to know their place in society. (Hunter)Until 1788 Aboriginal people had developed their culture in comparative isolation for millennia. There has been much speculation about the exact population at the time of British arrival. In 1928 Radcliffe-Brown developed an estimate of about 300,000 at the arrival of the Europeans, while Professor Noel Butlin (1983), a geographer and demographer, estimated the population at about one million.
The Essay on Aboriginal Customary Laws And Australian Contemporary Laws
Aboriginal customary laws, before white settlement in 1788, were considered primitive by the British, if considered at all. But Aboriginal laws and customs had lasted hundreds of years, based on traditions such as kinship ties and rituals. These laws were formed by ancestors, spirits, and Aboriginal beliefs, and were passed down the generations by word-of-mouth instead of written down. Being over ...
The First Australians collectively spoke some 600-700 different dialects from at least 250 language groupings. They called themselves by specific Aboriginal names and were associated with particular territories in the land. Throughout the continent there was a characteristically Aboriginal way of life conducted within a common cultural framework but with much diversity. People in one region generally stayed within their own country and identified themselves as a particular group by name, such as Walpiri, Tiwi, Gamilaroi.
Aboriginal people regard the land as a spiritual phenomenon. It is believed that the earth was formed by the world’s creative powers which appeared mysteriously moving over the surface thus shaping the landscape. As Rickard (1988) says: ‘Above all, aboriginal culture was characterized by a fusion of the material and the spiritual’. Each phase in life was marked by ritual and ceremony to highlight the occasion.
Initiation ceremonies were complex, with many stages and rituals, and in some areas circumcision forming part of the ritual. Boys were taken away from the main camp (to be away from the women and girls) for initiation to be conducted by the powerful man of the group. Although less is written about women’s initiation, it was part of the law to signal that girls were of a marriageable age (Brough Smyth 1878).
When the European settlers came to Australia, they did not know the land was already inhabited by a people with a vast culture and heritage pre-established. Many white settlers thought that the Aboriginal way of life was backward and primitive and that it would be good for “Aborigines to learn to live like white people” (Rose, 2011, para. 3).
Aborigines had a mass system across Australia where each clan had broken down the large land into countries, but were not permitted to go outside the other clans’ countries. Having each clan adapted and suitable for the terrain and landscape for gathering food, as well as the animals they hunted allowed them to travel within the country and take care of the land. With time Australian aborigines made changes to adapt to white settlers making it hard to hold on to customs and pass them. Indeed, while European settlers could learn a lot from the native aborigines, they later realized that the aboriginal culture was a way of life that established a culture and heritage adapted to the different types of environment found in Australia.
The Term Paper on Gypsy People In Europe part 1
Gypsy People in Europe Throughout history Gypsy people have been seen as outcasts from mainstream society. It seems that nothing has changed. We have still not learnt to be tolerant of those whose lifestyles are different to our own. For many centuries Gypsies have been romanticized and reviled. Their traditional lifestyle seems to attract and repel the popular imagination in equal measure -- ...
Aboriginal people’s families consist of parents and children aunts and uncles and grandparents. Aboriginal clan’s men find that more than one wife was highly sought after, and if a clan’s man did not have several wives the family would be small making it harder on the family to hunt and gather food in each of their countries. Aboriginal women limited the children so they are able to spend more time with them until they can go off to learn the ways of the elders. Clans felt they were all related making them part of all the clans or tribes. Aborigines have a complex system in relation to their social and marriage laws, based on the grouping of people within their society. To understand the complexities of their social organization, consider it this way: divide it first into three main parts. The first part is the physical structuring of society in terms of numbers – family, horde and tribe. Second, the religious structuring based on beliefs and customs, totems and marriage laws. (Kinship, 2005) These beliefs divide people into sections and subsections, totemic groups and clans. Third, there is also a kinship system that gives a social structuring. The social structuring and kinship system can become very difficult to understand for non-Aboriginal people, but is a natural part of life for Aborigines, and its details vary from tribe to tribe.
There are three main aspects of Aboriginal social structure. The first aspect is the geographical structuring of the society. A tribe of around 500 people is made up of bands of about ten to twenty people each. (Australian, 2012) They join together for day to day hunting and food gathering activities. Each band of people can be called a horde. Within each horde are a number of families.
The Essay on Atomistic View People Culture Social
Many people ask the questions "are we social Beings"? Some find it more relaxing to keep to their selves while others feel comfortable in a more social setting among their peers. This is important because it dictates how we act around people. If someone likes to be alone and keep to his or herself, then they will more then likely have questionable people skills, where as someone who loves to have ...
The second part is the religious and totemic structuring of the society. On a religious level the society in much of Australia is divided into two moieties. Within each moiety are significant animals, plants, or places, which are of a highly religious nature. Each person, as well as belonging to one or the other moiety, is also connected to one or more of these subjects, called totems.
The third part of their social structuring is the relationships between people, otherwise the kinship system. Voluntary controls on fertility for Aborigines were controlled in the form of infanticide. Based on the text infanticide is the killing or the abandonment of new born babies. This practice is usually used when a baby has problem or deformities, which make it hard for the offspring to be taken care of (3.4 Settlement Patterns).
In the United States infanticide would be consider a homicide. In our culture we do have abortions. Some women use abortions for various reason for example health problems, raped, or just plan not ready to be parent.
In Australian Aborigines culture they believe in cross cousin marriage. As described in the text Cross cousins are the children of opposite sex siblings, such as the father’s sister or the mother’s brother. The man in this culture has the right to marry his father sister’s daughter or his mother’s brother’s daughter (3.7 Social Organizations).
In this culture and day and time, we look at marrying cousins as wrong. It is old folk tale that the third cousins are removed but that was some of the older cultures. So now we believe in my family at least that mixing blood so to speak can cause baby deformities. So in our culture cross cousin marriage is prohibited. We also have family reunions to help family members know who their family is.
According to Australian Aboriginal culture, all living things were created by ancient spirit ancestors. These stories of creation are known as the Dream-time, or Dreaming. Dream time according to the Aborigines, describes the creation of the earth. Overall, the Aborigines kinship system reflects everyone’s behavior within the culture. Their behaviors depend on who they are communicating with and are followed throughout a lifetime.
The Essay on Effect of social media on Family time
As human beings we need to socialise and communicate with others. Of all the relations that we have in life, the most precious and strong are the ones with our families. Many a times during adversities when the closest of friends may leave us, our families – parents, siblings, spouses, children etc. are those who stand by us, giving all the support that we need. With the passing of time and ...