Religion And Belief Systems In Australia Post 1945 Flashcards
Aboriginal spirituality is determined by the Dreaming through…?
- Kinship - Ceremonial life - Obligations to the land and people
Finish the sentence…
The Dreaming is a term used to label all knowledge in Aboriginal societies and is communicated through art, ?** , dance, **?** , ritual and **? systems.
The Dreaming is a term used to label all knowledge in Aboriginal societies and is communicated through art, song, dance, story, ritual and kinship systems.
What is kinship?
Kinship is determined by both family relationships and a person’s totem and is thus a connection with the ancestor spirits, land and Dreaming.
What is Ceremonial life?
A sacred site is the land upon which particular event in the Dreaming took place. Ceremonies and rituals are linked to Dreaming Stories which are linked to the land, as the land is a resting place for ancestral spirit beings.
What does ‘obligations to the land and people’ refer to?
The land acts as a dwelling place for ancestral beings; the land and all forms of life are sacred and must be preserved for future individuals. Indigenous people label the land as the mother of people.
The continuing effect of dispossession on Aboriginal spiritualities are discussed in relation to…
- ?
- ?
- ?
- Separation from the land
- Separation from kinship groups
- The Stolen Generations
Discuss the continuing effect of dispossession on Aboriginal spiritualities in relation to separation from the land.
The loss of land amounts to a loss of identity and the burden of not being able to fulfil ritual responsibilities. The loss of language has made it impossible to pass on beliefs in a traditional way.
Discuss the continuing effect of dispossession on Aboriginal spiritualities in relation to separation from kinship groups.
The separation of families has destroyed the kinship system and has led to a loss of identity. The breaking up of families and removal from traditional lands had enormous detrimental impacts on the maintenance of traditional beliefs. Land, language, totems, kinship and ceremonies were all significantly affected.
Discuss the continuing effect of dispossession on Aboriginal spiritualities in relation to the Stolen Generations.
The term ‘Stolen Generation’ refers to the Aboriginal children who were removed from their homes between 1900 and 1972 by the Government in an attempt to assimilate these children into European society. Many Aboriginal children suffered maltreatment, sexual exploitation, inhumane working conditions and degrading forms of humiliation in their “adopted” homes. The prohibition of traditional Aboriginal practices meant that land, language, totems, kinship and ceremonies were all detrimentally affected.
Outline the importance of the Native Title for the Land Rights movement.
Native Title is an issue very important for the Land Rights Movement as well as for Aboriginal Spirituality. It is a relatively recent concept within the law of Australia that recognises the rights of indigenous peoples in relation to the areas of land and water belonging to their particular ancestral tribes.
Outline the importance of Mabo for the Land Rights movement.
In 1982, Eddie Mabo took the gov to court, stating they wantedlegal recognition of the land because their families had lived there since ‘time immemorial’. Although they lost their case in the Queensland Supreme Court, they appealed to the High Court of Australia and on 3 June 1992 and received a favourable outcome Eighteen months later. In response to the Mabo decision, the Federal Parliament passed the Native Title Act (1993).
Outline the importance of Wik for the Land Rights movement.
In 1996, the Wik people of Cape York in Northern Queensland brought a case to the High Court arguing their right to Native Title on local pastoral land. The High Court ruled in their favour and decided that Native Title rights and the rights of the pastoral leaseholders could exist simultaneously.
Refer to the importance of the Dreaming for the Land Rights movement.
The aims of the land rights movement were to seek recognition of the land-centred nature of the dreaming; and it seeks to make it possible for Indigenous Australians to once again live out the Dreaming, fulfilling their ritual obligations and expressing their identity.
Outline the changing patterns of religious adherence from 1945 to the present using census data.
Australia saw a rise in Catholic migrants between 1945 to the 1960s (post WW2) from Southern European countries - from 20% to 24%
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Orthodoxy rose from 0.2% to 1.6% of the population due to the migration of Greece and Eastern European countries.
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Abolition of the White Australia Policy 1972 allowed Middle Eastern immigrants escaping war, increasing population of Islam to 0.3%
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1980s saw significant decline in Anglicanism as Catholicism became the largest Christian denomination due to decreased migration from Great Britain.
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From the 1990s to 2011, Australia saw an increase in Orthodoxy as a result of migration from further Eastern European countries. Chinese migration from Hong Kong and Mainland China brought diversity in protestant Christianity.
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Today’s data illustrates an increase in secularism, denominational switching and New Age Religions.
Account for the present religious landscape in Australia in relation to Christianity as the major religious tradition.
The 2011 census revealed that Christianity is still the largest religious tradition accounting for 61.1% of the population. However, there has been a significant decline in the percentage of people affiliated with Christianity. This is largely due to increasing secularisation, dissatisfaction with traditional religious movements, aging membership, and a lack of migrant intake. Of all the Christian denominations the Anglican, Uniting and Presbyterian churches have been most acutely affected by this decline.
