Different Aboriginal groups have a common characteristic and that is that they have a similar belief system which is called the ? Dreaming?. The dreaming may be well known as a religious system but it does not always convey its true eminence. However it does convey a sense of enlightenment through visions and dreams. The dreaming provides a strong bondage between The Aboriginal people and their land and identity. In the Indigenous community, Aboriginal people learned about their environment before they were able to identify the characteristics of animals, plants, sources of food and water, useful materials and the weather.
The stories that they tell provide them with a map of their environment and information such as trade routes and resources. With the knowledge they had due to their access to information about their land led them to know how to travel successfully around the Australian landscape which then enhanced their imagination that helped them compose more dreamtime stories. The Aboriginal people are introduced to the spiritual world through the dreaming stories which are important teachings that make up their identity.
The Aboriginal people travelled the same routes through the lands that their ancestors once used, these are called the dreaming trails. This strengthens their communication with the ancestors and are able to build on their relationship with their land and identity. In the painting Wakirlpirri Jukurrpa also known as the ? Snake Vine Dreaming? by Liddy Walker Napanagka the relationship between the Aboriginal people and their land is evident. This is known because of the representation of certain lines and colours in the painting.
The Essay on Royal Commission Aboriginal Land People
Native title Native title, is the name given by the high court to indigenous property rights recognised by the court in the mabo judgement (3 june 1992). The mabo judgement overthrew the legal fiction of Terra Nullius-that the land of Australia had belonged to no one when the british arrived in 1788. Land rights The aboriginal land rights (northern territory) act 1976, was passed by the Australian ...
The curved black lines represent the forests of snake vine trees leading to the central lake depicted in the lower half of the painting. Referring back to the Aboriginal ? ag the colour black represents the Aboriginal people, this shows that there is a bondage between the people and their land as all the lines meet in the centre. In the painting description given it is known that it also represents the travels of the women of the Napangardi and the Napanagka communities towards the central meeting place where they share their experiences and ancestral stories.
Through this, one can make out that the land brings the Aboriginal communities together where they share their experiences and communicate freely, this enables them to enhance their understanding of each others identity. Talking about ancestral stories can build their knowledge about the Dreaming, through this artwork Aboriginal peoples beliefs, identity and connection with their land is conveyed clearly. The colours that are mostly used in this artwork come from the Aboriginal ? ag.
The red represents the earth and the spiritual relationship with the land, the colour red is used as the main colour in the background. This reveals that the Aboriginal people are coming together on their sacred land also known as their mother land. Linking back to the history of the Indigenous Australians and the Europeans it is clear that they are attached to their land and way of living as they are to their belief which is the dreaming. They do not like words such as “mythology”, “legends” or “fables” being used to describe the Dreaming.
It is fair to say that the Dreaming is equivalent to other religions in the world. Different Aboriginal groups have various names for the Dreaming, the stories and characters also vary even though they may share many of the same beliefs, the messages and the characters in stories are different. This painting is based on the people of Yuedumiu,Central Australia it also introduces the seeds of Wakirlpirri or the Dogwood tree which is a very useful tree that grows on the sides of the creek beds and hear Mulga trees. The snake vine is an important resource that the women being revealed by Walker use to make ? ope? for carrying baskets and also for binding around the head to relieve headaches. This builds a connection between the Aboriginal people and land as the women are creating something out of an organic compound to make useful resources for the Aboriginal community. Many organic colours are used in the artwork which symbolises the land that is extremely important to the Aboriginal people as it carries their identity and who they truly are as individuals. The Dreaming also connects them other land as it allows them to have a relationship with the land.
The Essay on The American Dream One People Life
Brandy Barefoot. Williams English 112-21-31-02 The American Perspective The basic idea of the American Dream generally has stayed the same throughout time, although the majority of Americans seem to take the Dream for granted. The first settlers arrived to the New World in search of a treasure: life, liberty, and freedom. This treasure was and still is the American Dream. Now people from all over ...
Certain events from the dreaming are reenacted in paintings, the painting subject and content are determined differently due to the level of knowledge they have which increases with age and initiation (meaning: formal admission into a society the ceremony of admission).
The importance of having a full explanatory about the dreaming in the artwork is because the Dreaming is the centre of the Aboriginal religion and life, it is the past, the present and the future. To Aboriginal people the land is not just soil or rick or minerals but the whole environment which is related and linked by the Dreaming.
The women of the Napangardi and the Napanagka communities gather seeds as mentioned previously because they re? ect a constant awareness that they are in the presence of dreaming wherever they hunt, travel or gather food. Aboriginal people are part of the land and it is part of them. Another painting that will be used to explain the relation between the dreaming, identity and the land is the painting ? Gaygar the Mother Duck? by Peter Muraay Djeripi Mulchay. The reason that I have chosen this piece of artwork because it is powerful as the meaning is deep and connects with the three aspects above.
The story behind the painting is very important and it adds more to the artwork than what meets the eye. It is about the birth of a mother duck and a father water rat, the platypus is rejected from his birth and considered different. His mother travels east with him until they ? nd a place of safety and acceptance in the Blue Mountain ranges. In the artwork the Narran Lake was a lovely place to live in according to the Dreaming. This relates to the land because the mothers had unconditional love for their children and had to depart from their country.
The Essay on Land Aboriginal Aboriginals People
The 1960 s meant change for a lot of oppressed people, including the Australian aboriginals. A strong influence for this change came from the USA, but the change was only seen on the surface, as the USA wanted the rest of the world to believe The Ku Klux Klan still continued to direct violence against black Americans, particularly in the southern states. But in 1954 the US Supreme court ruled ...
Peace and acceptance is not always evident in Aboriginal communities but where ever they escape to the land accepts them and provides from them. The identity of the platypus which symbolises the children is considered different, this enhances an individuals awareness that the Aboriginal people are not the same even though hey share the same belief which is in the dreaming. The lake in the painting is large starting from the top and ending at the bottom. The top of the painting is more of a sky with hand prints on the corners, this shows use that the mother is guiding her children as well as the land.
The Dreaming connects to this painting because animals such as the duck, water rat and platypus represent real Aboriginal people and their story. The Dreaming is an unseen spirit world that gives life and reality to the visible world. It is experienced in stories, paintings rituals and symbols. In this painting symbols are used, the white paint on the edges of the artwork shows that there is a spirit mentoring the land. To sum the above, it is known that through artworks the Aboriginal peoples identity, land and dreaming and have a connection as each one supports the other to have a stable relationship between the Aboriginal community.
