1. GLOBAL INDIGENOUS CASE STUDY: Australian Aborigines

2. The World’s Oldest Culture
Australian aboriginal people are known as the oldest continuing culture in the world, having settled in the country at least 40,000 years ago (some evidence suggests 60,000 years)

3. The Aboriginal Flag

4. The Aboriginal Flag
The flag is divided horizontally into equal halves of black and red, with a yellow circle in the centre.
Black symbolizes Aboriginal people, yellow represents the sun (the constant re-newer of life) and the red represents the earth and people’s relationship to the land
Red also represents ochre, which is used in aboriginal ceremonies
Today, the flag has been adopted by all Aboriginal groups throughout Australia

5. Australian Aboriginal Map
More than 400 distinct Aboriginal groups have been identified across the continent

6. Aboriginal Beliefs: How the World Was Made
Aboriginal people believe that their ancestors were created at the beginning of the world and that their people have always lived in Australia
In the beginning there was no sun; the land was dark, cold and barren – nothing lived or moved
But under the ground the Ancestral beings were sleeping
Stretching and yawning, they broke out from their sleeping places
They saw that there was no light and created the sun to warm the earth

7. Aboriginal Beliefs
Some of the ancestors were men and women, while others were plants and animals, some were even elements
The ancestors moved across the land and their paths created the “dreaming tracks” or “songlines”, which link the whole land and people together
The ancestral beings shaped the land, created mountains, rives, and also made animals, plants, and people
Some changed into objects on earth, which are now sacred

8. Aboriginal Creation Story
As Aborigines today track the songlines and chant the stories, they enter “Dreamtime”, the realm of the ancestors
The Dreamtime is a parallel universe where the ordinary laws of time and space and motion do not apply
Where past, present and future merge into one
To walk the Songlines is to become part of the ongoing creation of the world

9. Walkabouts
A walkabout is a rite of passage, during which a male Aboriginal would go on a journey and live in the wilderness for a period as long as six months
This was typically done between the ages of 10 – 16 and marked the spiritual transition into manhood

10. Funeral Traditions
Traditions vary throughout Australia; in parts of southern and central Australia, people are simply buried
Across much of northern Australia, a person’s funeral has two stages, each accompanied by ritual and ceremony:
First, the corpse is placed on an elevated wooden platform, covered in leaves and branches, and left several months for the flesh to rot away from the bones
Secondy, the bones are collected from the platform, painted with red ochre, and then dispersed in different ways (e.g. – placed in a hollow log, wrapped and left in a cave, or carried by a relative for year or more)

11. Funeral Traditions
Aboriginal people believe that when a person dies, his or her spirit stays close to familiar places
Traditionally, people burned the dead person’s property and house to persuade the spirit to leave
In modern times, the people move out of the house until the elders believe the spirit has left, and then they return

12. Aboriginal Lifestyle
Aboriginal people lived a nomadic, hunter-gatherer life
Men hunted large animals such as kangaroos, and emus
Women hunted smaller game and collected fruits, berries and other plants
On the coast people caught fish and collected shellfish
Made tools such as knives, spears, axes, and shields

13. Boomerangs
A modern symbol of Australia is the boomerang, which was used as a hunting tool
Depictions of boomerangs being thrown at animals such as kangaroos exist on some of the oldest rock art in the world
Traditionally, most boomerangs used by Aboriginal groups in Australia were “non-returning” (did not come back if they missed the target)

14. Smoke Signals
They communicated over long distances using smoke signals
Fresh cut wood made dark smoke, while dry wood made light smoke
Created different shapes to pass messages (e.g. – arrival of visitors or enemies, asking for help)

15. Message Sticks
Messages were also sent using wooden sticks that measured – 30cm long, decorated with dots and lines
Could be understood by people from different parts of Australia, even though they had different languages
A message stick gave its carrier a kind of diplomatic immunity
Guaranteed safe passage and entry into the lands of other tribes, even when entering enemy territory

16. Families and Kinship Rules
Elders are treated with respect because they:
Bridge the past and present and provide guidance for the future
Teach important traditions and pass on skills, knowledge and personal experiences
Aboriginal communities have strong family ties
Children are not just the concern of the biological parents, but the entire community
The raising, care, education and discipline of children are the responsibility of everyone
Aboriginal custom all over Australia bans a person from talking directly to their mother in law

17. Aboriginal Painting
Rocks, bark, sacred objects, and bodies were painted
Traditional designs are made of lines, dots, circles, and swirls
Mixed white clay, red or yellow ochre, charcoal with water to make paint
The internal anatomy of animals is often shown; a style known as “x-ray art”

18. Aboriginal Painting

19. Aboriginal Music and Dance
Music and dance flow through every part of Aboriginal life and bring people into harmony with the spirits of their ancestors
Traditionally it was used to help in birth, healing, and help the spirits of the dead depart
One of the best known Aboriginal instruments is the didgeridoo

20. Aboriginal Music and Dance
The oldest use of the didgeridoo is at least 1500 years ago
Termites hallow out branches of Eucalyptus trees, which were then collected by Aboriginals
Beeswax is added for a mouth piece
Traditionally, only men play the didgeridoo and sing during ceremonial occasions
Both men and women may dance