Aboriginal Self-Determination and Law
Added on 2020-05-04
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Running head: AWABAKAL SELF-DEFINITION AT LOCAL LEVEL 1Awabakal Self-Definition at Local LevelNameInstitution
AWABAKAL SELF-DEFINITION AT LOCAL LEVEL 2AWABAKAL SELF-DEFINITION AT LOCAL LEVELIntroduction Awabakal community in NSW are a cohort of Indigenous individuals of Australia. Theywere united by shared language, firm kinship ties as well lived as skillful hunter-fisher-gatherersin the clans or family groups that were spread along the coastal regions of the modern day MidNorth Coast area of NSW, Australia. The Awabakals traditional border stretches from Wollombi(south) to Lower Hunter River close to Newcastle and Lake Macquarie (north). The Awabakalwas utilized to explicate individuals of the Awaba area (Lake Macquarie-plain/flat surface). TheAwabakal’s alternative name is Awabagal with Awaba being the present name of small town inthe area and they use Awabakal language. They engage in such practices as eaglehawk which ishighly of special importance for the people. The use Koun as a celestial entity that appears likeAboriginal man, yet in fight takes after eagle-hawk. Awabakal cultures has shown a significant different socially, economically andpolitically in Australia. The paper is therefore a discussion how the indigenous cultures of theAwabakal differ significantly with other cultures in Australia in terms of the stamp AwabakalSelf-Definition in NSW. I seek to investigate the extent to which the Awabakal cultures varywith the rest of the cultures in the country (Hayhurst & Giles, 2013). Further, the paperexplicates a clear and precise consistency by synthesizing and illustrating the understanding ofthe Awabakal people’s cultural beliefs and traditions to explain the processes use by them tofight for their self-determination and self-management. This will help in the explanation andidentification of the models and practical strategies Awabakal that will bring about the mostsubstantial outcome or changes for all Aboriginal communities in NSW to attain their true self-determination.
AWABAKAL SELF-DEFINITION AT LOCAL LEVEL 3In essence, the paper presents an in-depth understanding of the Awabakal. Therefore, toeffectively accomplish this essay, I will focus my discussion to distinguishing features betweenthe practices of death and dying for the Australian Awabakal as compared and contrasted to thenon-indigenous Australian. Thus, in short, the paper puts a close eye on the reflection on theAwabakal’s values and beliefs about their self-definition and to showcase closely how suchnoted beliefs impacts on the personal and professional interactions. Further, I will ultimatelyfocus my enquiry on the identification of sources of spiritual, psychological and social supportfor the Awabakal with life constraining illness as well as their respective families to understandthe Awabakal self-definition. The Awabakal Self-DefinitionProcesses Awabakal Use To Fight For Their Self-Determination And Self-ManagementReligion The Awabakal religion has beliefs in gods that created them as wells as the surroundings.The Awabakal greatly believe in religion as well as spirits and are hence highly religious andspirituals people. The Awabakal however, do not worship and pray to one invisible god,particular cohort of Awabakal believe in many various deities. The deities have their imageportrayed in recognizable and tangible forms such as individual landscape feature, a rock artshelter image, plants and animal’s images (Clark & Williamson, 2016). The AustralianAwabakal attaches no belief to the animism. However, there is a likelihood that an Awabakalswill believe on the existence of a deity’s creation behind an outcropping rock. In other words anoutcropping rock is believed to be a representation of a deity from Creation Period. The Awabakals believe that several plants and animals do interchange with human life.This continuous process of interchangeability occurs via re-incarnation of the spirits and soul as
AWABAKAL SELF-DEFINITION AT LOCAL LEVEL 4reflected in the Creation Period where they believe that plants and animals were initially people.Interestingly, there is never a single deity that gives a full representation of the Awabakals asindividual tribes possess a particular deity. Also, the beliefs of the Awabakals overlap in thesimilar manner words do overlap across the language groupings. The Awabakals also believe inthe Totemic Beings, Ancestral Beings and Creation Beings. The Totemic beings lies between asit create many species whereas people perceive themselves to have been drawn from theseabundance species (Dudgeon, Wright, Paradies, Garvey & Walker, 2010). Ceremonial Life The Awabakals practice initiation ceremonies linked to boys and girls transition to theadulthood. The ceremonies are accompanied by singing and dancing, body decoration display aswell ceremonial objects as well as storytelling. Moreover, the Awabakals particularly ArnhemLand and Central Australia hold rituals to ensure Ancestral Beings supply adequate food fromplants and animals. Such rituals are based on singing, dancing and chanting as well as ritualactions aims at invoking the Ancestral Beings to supply rain and adequate food.Health Practices The stringent cultural practices of Awabakal have made it difficult for the Australian tolift the health standards in the country’s indigenous communities. Accordingly, the Awabakalshave persistently suffered from the worsening health crisis based on high mortality rates, low lifeexpectancy and sexuality transmitted disease just to mention a few. The Awabakal smoke,alcoholic and eat unhealthy foods. The Awabakal hold that health and healing can never beisolated and hence, it goes beyond being not being sick but rather integrates mental, emotional,spiritual and cultural health. However, Australia has remained the only place where indigenouswellbeing takes a backward form.
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