Australian Aboriginal Religion

Presentation By:

◦ Al-Zuha (B.S-16-46) Introduction (History)

◦ AmnA Tariq (B.S-16-59) Religion (Belifes)

◦ Wajiha Hanif (B.S-16-38) Aboriginal Life (Culture)

◦ Arham Ehsan (B.S-16-22) Conclusion

 Ab-original

The Aborigines of Australia

(Short History)

History
Aim’s of (Pre-Colonial)
today
Presentation Aboriginal Religion

Aboriginal Life(Culture , Clothing , Food ,

Weapons)

Conclusion
 Ab-original
➢Origin:-
◦ The point or place where something begins, arises, or is derived.
‫◦ الص‬
‫◦ اینبد‬
‫◦ رشواعت‬
➢Aborigine:-
◦ Being the first or earliest known of its kind present in a region.
‫◦ وہافرادوجیسکاخصےطخںیمتہبےلہپےسوموجدںیہ‬
‫◦ ےلہپےسآباد‬
‫◦ اخصافراد‬
‫◦ دقمیبادنشے‬
 The Aborigines of Australia
(Short History)
◦ The term aborigines refer to the indigenous (native) people of
Australia.

◦ There are different theories but they are though to have arrived in
Australia from south-eastern Asia some time between 60,000 and
35,000 years ago.

◦ The Aborigines are one of the oldest groups of humans on the planet.

◦ During the first half of the 20th century, many Indigenous Australians
worked as stockmen on sheep stations and cattle stations.
 History
(Pre-Colonial)
◦ Before the settlement of Australia by the Europeans The Aborigines were

Hunter/ gathers and live semi-nomadic lives.

➢Colonialism:-
◦ European Colonialism British colonization of Australia began with the arrival of
the First Fleet in Botany Bay in 1788.

◦ This caused a pandemic of old world diseases such as smallpox.

◦ Smallpox killed around 50% of Australia's Indigenous population in the early

years of British colonization.

◦ British settlement also meant the loss of land and water resources. Rural lands
were converted for sheep and cattle grazing.
 Aboriginal Religion

◦ Aboriginal People do have a religion, but it is different from most other

religions which mean believing in one single creator.

◦ Australian Aboriginal people don’t do that. They have their beliefs,

very strong beliefs, but it’s more like spirituality than a religion.
 Traditional Aboriginal Religion
➢Dreamtime or Dreaming: (About Creation)
◦ Dreamtime is the foundation of Aboriginal religion and culture. It dates back some
65,000 years. It is the story of events that have happened, how the universe came
to be, how human beings were created‫۔‬
◦ Australian Aboriginal people believe that in the beginning of the time, there were
creation beings that rose out of the ground and created landscape
features, plants and animals, Aboriginal people refer to that period of creation as
Dreamtime. The time after that period, which still goes on today, is called Dreaming.
◦ They believe that their ancestors with supernatural powers roamed the country and
left behind impressive rock formations and other natural phenomena which
became sacred places for religious celebrations and spiritual activities. Depending
on where they lived, each community had their own Dreamtime story. They also
used different body paintings during the spiritual celebrations, depending on the
local mythology.
 Traditional Aboriginal Religion
➢ An object of worship:-
◦ As opposed to Christians and believers of many other religions who go to a church
or a Aboriginal People express their beliefs in spiritual rituals. In the old days when
they all lived traditional life, they went to their sacred and they performed spiritual
ceremonies. On those ceremonies they danced, sang, and they painted their
bodies with symbols that had messages. Because they believed that their creator,
the mountain like for example Uluru had a soul, they could communicate to their
creators. and ask the creator to protect them from accidents.
ULLURU
Uluru, or Ayers Rock, is a massive sandstone monolith in the heart
of the Northern Territory’s arid "Red Centre". The nearest large
town is Alice Springs, 450km away. Uluru is sacred to indigenous
Australians and is thought to have started forming around 550
million years ago. It’s within Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, which
also includes the 36 red-rock domes of the Kata Tjuta (colloquially
“The Olgas”) formation
Dance performance
 Traditional Aboriginal Religion

➢Belfies About Death:-

◦ Some Aboriginal people believe that if the rituals are not done correctly, the spirit
can return to cause mischief.
◦ Aboriginal groups buried their loved ones in two stages:
1. They would leave them on an elevated platform outside for several months. Then,
once only the bones were left, they would take them and paint them with red
ochre.
2. The painted bones could then be buried, placed in a significant location in the
natural landscape, or carried with the family as a token of remembrance.
◦ Sorry buisness, Sorry Business is an important period of mourning for Aboriginal
people that involves responsibilities and obligations to attend funerals and
participate in other cultural events, activities or ceremonies.
 Bereavement Protocols:-
The protocols of bereavement can include, but are not limited to the following:
▪ Not using the name of a person who has passed away.(They may use a
substitute name, such as ‘Kumanjayi’, ‘Kwementyaye’ or ‘Kunmanara’, in order
to refer to the person who has died without using their name)
▪ Family members remaining in their houses for a period of time when a death in
the family has occurred;
▪ Restriction on participating in non-bereavement related activities or events
▪ Photographs of a person who died may also be seen as a disturbance to their
spirit. This is why some Aboriginal families will not have photographs of their
loved ones after they die.
 Aboriginal
Culture

◦ Below is some information

about Australian Aboriginal

food, Aboriginal art history,

hunting, tribes, and

Aboriginal religion and

mythology.
 THE ABORIGINES DID NOT HAVE A
WRITTEN LANGUAGE ALL THEIR HISTORY
AND LEARNING WAS PASSED DOWN
BY STORIES AND THROUGH ART.

culture STORYTELLING WAS ONE OF THE OLDER

GENERATION TAUGHT THE YOUNGER.

ART INCLUDED CAVE, AND BARK

PAINTINGS, DOT AND BODY PAINTINGS.
ABORIGINALS USED SYMBOLS TO
REPRESENT NATURAL SURROUNDINGS.
 ◦ Aboriginal people are far from the same people.
Australia is a large country with
different climate vegetation and animals so
depending on where in Australia they lived, they

Different had very different culture and lifestyle. There were

hundreds of different communities scattered
around Australian countryside, they wore

Tribes and different clothing depending on the climate, and

they spoke at least 250 different languages.

◦ The northern tribes for example, like Tiwi people

Aboriginal had much more contact with Indonesians than

had the isolated outback tribes, or south-eastern
tribes like Koorie people, and their culture was

Clothing very different. In colder climate like Tasmania

they’d build semi-permanent villages, while in dry
climate like inland Australia they’d have to be
nomadic to find the food.
 Aboriginal
Hunting and
Weapons
◦ Within each community they lived in family groups
called clans. Kinship was the main principle in their
society. The land was owned by the family group
and they lived on hunting and gathering. Men
killed larger animals using weapons like spears
and boomerangs and women collected smaller
animals and plants. If you visit some of their
cultural parks, they show you how to throw a
boomerang.
◦ They used throwing weapons such as spears, and
boomerangs to hunt prey, and gathered wild
plants as food
 Australian
Aboriginal
Food

◦ Australian Aboriginal
food were very clever at
spearing dugongs and
catching turtles and they
had learned to drug
waterholes where
emus came to drink. They
also had an incredible
knowledge about
Australian plants that are
often poisonous, and
what they couldn't eat
they turned into bush
medicine.
 Aboriginal Art and
Mythology
◦ They were very creative people (and still are) and expressed
their everyday life and religion in arts song and dance. Their
spiritual songs often tell about Dreamtime's ancestors and are
accompanied by their famous musical instrument, the
Aboriginal didgeridoo. They use the dance to communicate
with their ancestors, and often their dance presents how
Australian animals move, like hopping kangaroos and
crawling turtles. Their art history also includes some
excellent examples on rocks and in the many caves in
Australia. Like the songs and dance, the rock paintings reflect
their religion and everyday life, and today you can see all
kinds of paintings in Australia, like Aboriginal animal art, dot
paintings, and paintings on Aboriginal weapons.
 There were also many other kinds of
ceremonies:
◦ Family ceremonies;
Children entered the adulthood and
burial ceremonies when people
Different deceased.
◦ Seasonal cermonies to 'ensure' there was
Kinds of enough plant and animal food resources
available for the coming season.
◦ Larg ceremonies (people from different
Ceremonies tribes got together and travelled long
distances. Those large ceremonies were
usually put on during the times of food
abundance.)
Aboriginal flag
◦ This flag was first flown on 12 July 1971 in Adelaide’s Victoria
Square on National Aborigines Day, and was then used at the
Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra from late 1972. Whilst
continuing to hold intellectual property rights to the design,
Thomas’ design came to be known as the symbol of the
Australian Aboriginal people.
◦ The symbolic meaning of the flag colours (as stated by Harold
Thomas) is: Black – represents the Aboriginal people of Australia.
Yellow circle – represents the Sun, the giver of life and protector.
Red – represents the red earth, the red ochre used in
ceremonies and Aboriginal peoples' spiritual relation to the land.
 ◦ Many Aboriginal People have also
changed their beliefs since the
European invasion (‫)حملہ‬. Early
missionaries forced them to learn the

Aboriginal
Bible, so there are some Aboriginal
People who are Christians. There are

Religion
even some Muslims, even though they
are much fewer than Christians. But

Today
most Aboriginal People haven't given up
their original beliefs, they still believe in
their own creation story, although
probably in a new perspective.
Aboriginal Religion key points

◦ Aborigines are the indigenous people of Australia.

◦ Organised into separate tribes , 40 distinct languages.

◦ No temples, gods, pricsts or sacrifices.

◦ ‘Dreaming’ is basis of all Aboriginal religion.

 References
◦ Australian aboriginal religion by Ronald M.Berndt
◦ On Aboriginal Religion
◦ By W. E. H. Stanner
◦ The World of the First Australians: Aboriginal Traditional Life : Past and present
◦ By Ronald Murray Berndt, Catherine Helen Berndt
◦ http://www.gondwananet.com/aboriginal-religion.html
◦ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigenous_Australians#Aboriginal_Australians
◦ http://www.aboriginalculture.com.au/introduction3.html
◦ https://www.aboriginal-art-australia.com/aboriginal-art-library/aboriginal-
dreamtime/
◦ https://theculturetrip.com/pacific/australia/articles/the-history-of-the-australian-
aboriginal-flag/
◦

◦ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Aboriginal_Flag
◦ https://www.funeralzone.co.uk/blog/death-around-the-world-australia
◦ https://www.commonground.org.au/learn/death-and-sorry-business