Australian Indigenous Contexts & Education

Running head: Australian Indigenous Contexts & Education
Australian Indigenous Contexts & Education
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Australian Indigenous Contexts & Education
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Getting in touch: a local Aboriginal report
The aboriginal people residing in Australia have a rich and living culture stretching
more than 50,000 years. For thousands of years before the arrival of the Europeans, the
Northern Sydney was occupied by the various Aboriginal clans. They mainly lived along the
foreshores and hunted fish and hunted in the waters and the lands (O'Connor, 2017). They
were self-sufficient and harmonious. With the arrival of Lt James Cook, it started the
beginning of end of the way they lived. Through the European eye, it might appear that the
aboriginals did not have any fixed habitation. However, with the advent of the Europeans, the
aboriginals not only lost their beloved land, but also were susceptible to various diseases. It
has been found that the aboriginal history has been handed down in ways of the dances,
myths, stories and various legends (AITSIS, 2018). In the Sydney metropolitan there are
thousands of sites that can be seen. Some of the Aboriginal groups that can be found are
Anangu, Goorie, Koories, Nunga, Palawah, tiwi, Bininj and Muriwari (AITSIS, 2018).
The Sydney Basin is one of the region, that contains 1000 of aboriginal sites and more
than half of which contained the rock art and the sandstone belt of Sydney, which contains
almost 1500 rock shelters. Aboriginal paintings can be found in the caves and the rocks of the
shelters (Blundell & Woolagoodja, 2012). The rocks contained drawn images of the man,
kangaroos, boomerangs and axes. The Flinders Ranges and Outback are of immense cultural
significance for aboriginal people who have lived there for about 10,000 years. It’s a public
art space which shares important stories about the Aboriginal group Adnyamathanha people.
Arkaroo Rock is of particular significance for the aboriginal art, which features charcoal
images depicting the creation of the Wilpena Pound (Holdaway & Fanning, 2014).
If one travels across Australia, and possess interest about Aboriginal history, then
he/she might get to hear several dreamtime stories about the Aboriginals. It is important that

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all the Australians understand the essential features of the Australians and the special
connection with the land and the commitment to the community and the family, such that one
can walk together on this land and share their pride (Dudgeon et al., 2016). Cultural tradition
and beliefs included oral storytelling of the actual events that are passed down in the
Aboriginal oral tradition. The oral stories and the spiritual values of the aboriginals were
based on the reverence for the land on a belief in the dreamtime. They are passed on from one
generation to the other in the form of folklore, dances, traditional songs and stories. It
included ancestral stories about the supernatural creator (Dudgeon et al., 2016). There are
several places across Australia that are considered as sacred sites as per the mythology of the
Australia. Researches on the aboriginals have informed about several aboriginal ceremonies
that have been part of the Aboriginal cultures since the beginning of the civilization. They
were conducted for several reasons that are mainly based on the spiritual beliefs and the
cultural traditions of the society. They include the stories of the dreamtime, homecomings,
sacred site, births and deaths. The traditional ceremonies are still practiced among the present
aboriginals. The ceremonies might include ceremonies round marriage, or rituals performed
due to the transition to the adolescent period. Most of the ritual that are performed included
dances and songs, or elaborate body arts or decorations. Some of which are even performed
today (Langton, 2018). It can be understood, that the main aim behind these ceremonies is to
bring the entire family together and provide opportunities to the entire family to take part in
the ceremony, which is nearly impossible in most of the nuclear families of Australia. Men
and women in the aboriginal society had distinct roles. Sometimes guardians are being
appointed for the supervision of the sacred site.
One of the notable features of Aboriginal culture and laws are the ideas of Kinship
and the skin names. It is a characteristic feature of the Aboriginal social organisation and the
relationship between the families across Central Australia (Australia.gov.au, 2018). This