Exploring Aboriginal Culture in Modern Sydney: A First-Hand Experience

The Aboriginal Market Day held on the first Sunday of every month at Bare Island, La Perouse, Sydney, serves as a vibrant platform for promoting Indigenous culture and fostering social inclusion. During a visit in December, attendees can engage with various workshops such as spear making and weaving, and appreciate traditional dance performances and storytelling. This event not only celebrates the rich cultural heritage of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities but also addresses pressing issues like the loss of cultural identity among younger generations. The market facilitates interaction between indigenous people and non-indigenous visitors, enhancing mutual understanding and appreciation. However, the diminishing transfer of knowledge from elders to youth poses a threat to cultural continuity, contributing to social challenges including high suicide rates among Indigenous youth. To preserve this invaluable culture, it is crucial to implement measures such as celebrating Indigenous days across cities, organizing frequent cultural events, developing marketplaces for indigenous goods, and ensuring government intervention in setting up workshops that enable skill transmission. The essay underscores the imperative of sustaining Aboriginal heritage to enrich future generations with its profound values and traditions.

Running head: ABORIGINAL SYDNEY NOW
Aboriginal Sydney Now
Name of the Student:
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Indigenous Market Day
On every first Sunday of the month from 9:30 am 3:30 pm at Bare Island, La Perouse
Sydney Indigenous Market Day is celebrated. When I attended the marketplace on the first
Sunday of December I found out that there were workshops for spear making and weaving. I
could find many stalls that sold goods and articles mostly handmade by the indigenous people of
Sydney. One of the most interesting things about the event was the dance performances. On that
day a midday smoking ceremony and a welcome dance were held. The significance of this day is
that it aims at creating awareness amongst the people about the culture of Aborigines and Torres
islander. The visitors to the market were not just the aboriginal people but non-aborigines were
also seen in the market. The market largely helped me to learn about the culture of aborigines. I
could see many weapons and it left me wondering that how they could have used these weapons.
Apart from that when I visited one of the workshops I saw that the main artisan was making a
spear-like weapon. The dancing skills of Men and women were very good and it was indeed very
surprising to see them dancing without missing any single beat. The significance of this day is
that is aimed at social inclusion of the aboriginal people. The Government of Australia wants that
the non-aborigines know more about the culture of aborigines social interactions are promoted
through this kind of commercial events. As I went to the market I could see people from the non-
indigenous community were also present and they were taking interest in workshops where spear
making and other crafts of the indigenous people were being made. The marketplace was full of
crafts of the indigenous people who were so delighted in selling it to the people. They not only
sold the arts but also told stories about their culture and tradition to the visitors. I could see their
proud faces. The dancing skills of the artists were very good. The artists were not just the youth
but some of them were older. People were also seen performing with grace. As I preceded in the

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market I saw a workshop where an elderly person was showing how spear and other weapons
that were used for hunting were made. I sat there to see how the elderly person engaged himself
in teaching the art. He could make the weapons with ease. It showed that how skilled he was.
As the elders are passing, Aboriginal culture is vanishing and losing the importance of
the younger generations. This is an alarming situation. Knowledge, skills, and experience
acquired over thousands of years are disappearing because of a communication breakdown
between generations. Aboriginal youth today are becoming dispossessed from their cultural
identity. They are confused about their position in society. This has lead to an array of social
problems that includes one of the highest rates of suicide in the world for Aboriginal or Torres
Strait Islander youth. The aboriginal youth are also 19 times more likely to be detained in a
juvenile facility. This enterprise will not only reinvigorate the Aboriginal experience of a visit to
La Perouse but also assist the transfer of knowledge between the generations. The elderly people
and the Government of Australia want to preserve and protect their culture plus wants that the
youth of their community do not remain confused about their cultural identity. When people
from other community visited the market and show interest in their products the aboriginal
people felt proud. It is very important that their culture is preserved so that the coming
generations know about their identity. The present generations also need to know about their
cultural identity.
From my visit to the market, I can to know about many things about the aboriginal
culture. I was earlier unaware of the culture of the aborigines and its significance in the history of
Australia. I came to realize that it is very important for us to save the culture of Aborigine. From
my visit, I realized that the culture of Aborigines is required to be preserved. The issue found out
is that the culture of the aborigines is getting lost. It needs to be preserved. It is a beautiful

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culture and if it is sustainable then the coming generations will witness a culture that is very rich
in values and traditions. A number of actions would be required for preservation of the culture of
indigenous people for sustainability of their culture. Firstly, almost all the cities should celebrate
the indigenous day. Cultural events are required to be carried out more often. Secondly,
marketplaces that sell the goods like weapons, clothes, jewelry, and work of arts and crafts need
to be developed. Thirdly and the most important thing that needs to be done is indigenous people
should pass their skills to their children. They should be confused about their cultural identity
and this would reduce the suicide rates among the torres islander. Government intervention is
very important, local bodies are required to set up workshops where the art and skills of
indigenous people can be passed to all the inhabitants who are interested to learn it.

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Bibliography
Blak Markets - www.blakmarkets.com | Sydney Aboriginal Tours - Catch N Cook Tours -
Aboriginal Awareness Training. (2018). Sydneyaboriginaltours.com.au. Retrieved 6 January
2018, from http://www.sydneyaboriginaltours.com.au/first-hand/
Swim, M. (2018). La Perouse Events - Markets, Sporting Events & more. Sydney.com. Retrieved
6 January 2018, from https://www.sydney.com/destinations/sydney/sydney-east/la-perouse/
events?expired-product=blak-markets