Religion Post 1945 Flashcards
Discuss how Aboriginal spirituality is determined by the Dreaming: kinship, ceremonial life, obligations to the land and people.
The land and the people are inextricably linked. Totemism includes the special links and connections that create relationships between Aborginal people and their sacred sites. This enables communications with Ancestral Spirits. Some sites are Secret- Sacred.
The sharing of food and resources is designed to minised weight and maximise benefits for the whole community. This promotes cooperation rather than competition.
Kinship is the sophisticated network of relationships that govern interactions between individuals. There are strict rules and obligations.
There are rites of initiation for boys and girls. This may include circumcision, separation from the girls, the continuation of knowledge and training about sites, and practices. Socialisation with the elders of the group.
Funeral ceremonies censure the spirits of the deceased to be carried back to a specific Ancestral Being’s land. They remember the person’s life and responsibilities. Out of respect, the name will not be used for a few years.
Discuss the continuing effect of dispossession on Aboriginal spiritualities in relation to: separation from the land, separation from kinship groups, the Stolen Generations.
Dispossession is the declaration of terra nullius, or land belonging to no one, although Aboriginal nations had inhibited it for tens of thousands of years. It was a deliberate social construction designed to enable European settlement without compensation. The employment of direct genocidal practices including massacres and mass poisonings of water holes.
Contemporary article: Indigenous language workshops connecting Gunggari people to culture. (ABC - 2021) The architect explains these are important steps toward reviving the culture, and maintaining a connection to the Dreamtime stories and concepts.
The church supported colonialist practices, institutionalising the policy of segregation.
Missionisation was the policy of compelling Aboriginal peoples to reject their own religion and accept Christianity.
Separation: removed from their traditional lands and sacred sites. Forcibly removed to missions and reserves. It destroyed religious links to land, kinship, and their language, culture and practices. They then disguised this as ‘protection’.
Later policies were assimilation and self- determination.
Land and people have a symbiotic relationship. There was a loss of Dreaming stories, and a loss of totemic responsibilities. They were unable to effectively draw on the spiritual power of the Dreaming and ancestor spirits. The role of tribal elders was undermined.
Outline the importance of the following for the Land Rights Movement: Native Title, Mabo, Wik.
Land provides the assurance needed for the continuation of rituals and recemonies.
All relationships within Aboriginal communities are determined through relationships to the land.
In 1972, Aboriginal people established the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra, which became a focal point for the protest against the denial of rights.
In 1970, the Aboriginl Advancement League sent a petition to the Secretary General of the UN to uphold Aboriginal rights to land, but the plea went unheeded.
Mabo v Queensland (1992): continued adherence to terra nullius constituted a perpetuation of injustice. The Native Title Act 1993 is the legislation that recognised the existed of Aboriginal native title. Provisions include a National Native Title Tribunal, which has received over 500 claims from Aboriginal people nationally. But it is hard to prove a continued connection to land.
Wik Peoples v. Queensland: In 1996, the Wik peoples claimed native title over their traditional lands in Queensland. The High Court determined that native title may coexist with pastoral leases, however in conflict, pastoralists’ rights will prevail. It returned some power to the government.
