•  Aboriginal  culture  is  the  OLDEST  SURVIVING  CULTURE  in  the  world,  daAng  back  60,000  years.  

•  Stone  age  culture  (no  metal  use  or  wriIen  language,  no  ciAes  or  stone  structures)  remained  unAl  European  colonizaAon  began  in  1788.  

•  Approximately  400  disAnct  tribes,  with  250  disAnct  languages  (600  –  800  dialects)  inhabited  Australia.  

•  Forcibly  evicted  from  their  lands,  Aboriginals  worked  on  ranches  for  no  pay;  approximately  100,000  children  were  removed  from  their  parents  to  be  “educated”  in  ciAes  and  trained  to  become  laborers  and  house  servants  unAl  the  1970s.    

•  Aboriginals  did  not  receive  full  voAng  rights  unAl  1967.  •  The  last  tribe  was  “reseIled”  (removed  from  their  ancestral  lands)  in  1984.  

Young  aboriginal  family,  c.  1935  

Aboriginal  girls  being  “civilized”  at  Momomona  Mission,  c.  1914    

“To  get  an  insight  into  us  –  [the  Warlpiri  people  of  the  Tanami  Desert]  –  it  is  necessary  to  understand  something  about  our  major  religious  belief,  the  Jukurrpa.  The  Jukurrpa  is  an  all-­‐embracing  concept  that  provides  rules  for  living,  a  moral  code,  as  well  as  rules  for  interacAng  with  the  natural  environment.  The  philosophy  behind  it  is  holisAc  –  the  Jukurrpa  provides  for  a  total,  integrated  way  of  life.  It  is  important  to  understand  that,  for  Warlpiri  and  other  Aboriginal  people  living  in  remote  Aboriginal  seIlements,  The  Dreaming  isn’t  something  that  has  been  consigned  to  the  past  but  is  a  lived  daily  reality.  We,  the  Warlpiri  people,  believe  in  the  Jukurrpa  to  this  day.”  

 -­‐  Jeannie  Herbert  Nungarrayi,  member  of  Walpiri    of  Northern  Territory  

Marrkirdi  Jukurrpa  “Wild  Bush  Plum  Dreaming”,  2003,    Molly  Tasman  Napurruria  Warlpiri  

•  “DreamAme”  is  a  very  poor  equivalent  of  the  meaning  of  the  many  words  used  by  the  many  Aboriginal  groups  to  describe  their  belief  system,  including  their  cosmology,  their  land-­‐based  mythology,  their  rules  of  morality,  ethics  and  relaAonships.  It’s  not  just  a  dream.  

•  The  belief  system  of  the  Aboriginal  peoples  layers  myths  and  narraAves  over  the  land  features  they  move  across  every  day.    

•  When  we  non-­‐Aboriginals  enjoy  or  learn  about  Aboriginal  art,  we  are  only  seeing  the  “first  level”  as  deeper  levels  are  restricted  to  the  people  making  the  work.  

•  Dreamings  were  created  by  the  Dreaming  Ancestors  known  as  Creator  Beings,  who  walked  all  over  Australia,  bringing  into  existence  geographic  features  big  and  small,  such  as  hills,  waterholes,  and  springs.  Ancestral  paths  that  crisscross  the  conAnent  in  a  loose  grid-­‐like  paIern  were  also  believed  to  have  been  given  by  the  Creator  Beings.  The  “pathways”,  as  is  typical  in  Aboriginal  culture,  have  more  than  one  meaning  layered  upon  it:  kinship  paIerns,  for  ex.  

•  Each  disAnct  group  has  their  unique  set  of  dreamings,  as  the  land  is  unique.  Nonetheless,  different  dreamings  within  a  group  may  overlap  as  the  same  land  feature  may  be  used  in  different  ways  in  a  story  or  artwork.    

•  In  other  words,  the  artworks    of  the  Aboriginals  serve  as  their  history,  as  their  religion,  as  maps,  and  as  reminders  of  their  place  in  the  world.    

•  Mimi  spirits  are  depicted  here  –  the  first  CreaAon  Ancestors  to  paint  on  rock,  which  they  taught  to  the  residents.    

•  Ubirr,  Kakadu  NaAonal  Park  

•  X-­‐ray  views  are  common  in  art  from  this  region.  

•  Provide  templates  for  all  human  and  non-­‐human  acAvity,  social  behavior,  ethics  and  morality,  whether  the  Dreamings  are  spoken,  painted  or  danced.  

•  In  Aboriginal  history,  things  don’t  happen  in  TIME,  they  happen  in  PLACE.  

•  Encode  maps  of  a  specific  geographic  region,  including  the  locaAon  of  water,  pathways,  and  geographic  features.  

•  These  features  are  ooen  considered  the  result  of  the  acts  of  the  Creator  Beings,  which  is  their  mythology.  

•  Important  informaAon  regarding  micro-­‐environments  is  also  encoded  in  the  Dreaming  narraAves:  certain  plants,  how  to  best  survive  in  a  specific  environment,  which  animals  exist  there,  etc.    

•  NegaAve  stories  of  the  ancestors  gives  the  people  warnings  about  the  vices  of  human  behavior,  including  disobedience,  lust,  greed,  the  ill-­‐treatment  of  women  and  girls,  and  more.  

•  CreaAon  is  seen  as  an  eternal  and  ongoing  process  in  these  narraAves  –  Ameless.  

Ngalyipi  Jukurrpa,  “Bush  Vine  Dreaming”,  Myra  Nungarrayi,  Warlpiri,  2003  

Diarrhoea  Dreaming,  1994,  Ralph  

Nganjmirra,  Kunwinjku  

•  From  Western  Arnheim  land  –  like  work  from  Kakadu  Park,  shows  x-­‐ray  style.  

•  Rarrk  –  cross-­‐hatching  paIerns  unique  to  clans  

•  Surface  layer  =  recognize  animal  or  map  

•  Deeper  meanings  for  those  iniAated  into  the  community  

•  Deepest  layer  understood  only  by  the  arAst  and  seniors  in  the  community  

•  Pigments  on  bark  paper  (tradiAonal  style)  

“The  Pintubi  Nine”  1984  Last  nomads  brought  in  from  desert  

Warlimpirrnga  Tjapaltjarri  in    New  York  City  for  His  exhibit  at    Salon  94    

hIps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lMEr1EDurU  

•  New  Guinea  (like  Australia)  has  been  populated  for  60,000  years.    

•  Solomon  Islands  were  first  inhabited  ca.  30,000  years  ago  from  New  Guinea  –  the  first  expansion  of  humans  into  the  Pacific  unAl  the  movement  of  Austronesian-­‐language  speakers  ca.  4000  BCE  

•  Leading  theory  regarding  Polynesian  people  is  that  they  migrated  from  China  to  Taiwan  c.  10,000  BCE.    

•  From  Taiwan  they  spread  to  Philippines  c.  5000  BCE,  New  Guinea,  Fiji,  TahiA,  Hawaii,  New  Zealand  and  finally,  Rapa  Nui  (Easter  Island)  c.  300  –  400  AD  

•  The  people  of  this  culture  are  thought  to  be  the  common  ancestor  of  Polynesia,  Micronesia  and  some  of  Melanisia  

•  C.1600  –  500  BCE  •  More  than  200  sites  

discovered  –  mostly  disAncAve  poIery  shards  

•  Maori  are  part  of  the  Polynesian  cultural  group;  many  similariAes  between  their  history/lifestyle/culture  and  that  of  other  island  naAons.  

•  Central  to  the  culture  is  the  concept  of  mana  and  tapu:  

•  Mana  –  supernatural  power  tha  moves  within  and  through  people,  Ame  and  objects.    

•  Tapu  –  protecAon  through  the  codified  rules  that  govern  social  status,  inherited  roles  (chief,  navigator,  warrior,  etc.),  community  and  presAge.  

•  As  a  result,  geneaology  is  a  criAcal  component  of  everyday  life  because  it  has  such  a  broad  impact.  

•  Found  in  New  Guinea,  Samoa,  Tonga,  TahiA,  Fiji,  and  Hawaii,  among  other  islands.    

•  Known  by  various  names  such  as:  Siapo,  Ngatu,  Ahu,  Kapa,  or  Masi  

•  Made  from  stripped  and  beaten  inner  bark  of  mulberry;  occasionally  from  breadfruit  or  banyan  trees  

•  Formerly  used  for  clothing;  now  used  for  ceremonial  purposes  (birth,  marriage,  etc.)  or  for  purely  decoraAve  funcAon.  

Samoan  siapo  

hIps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRVLQXXb1cY  

•  SeIled  ca.  600  –  800  AD  

•  Small  island  formed  from  3  underwater  volcanoes  (14  x  7  miles)  

•  Nearest  inhabited  neighbor  is  Pitcairn  Island  (1200  miles  away);  nearest  conAnent  is  South  America  (2182  miles)  

•  Polynesian  people  lived  there  (related  to  Maori)  •  Best  known  for  Moai  –  statues  made  of  volcanic  tuff  (type  

of  volcanic  igneous  rock)  that  represent  ancestral  chiefs,  believed  descended  from  gods.  

•  Other  arAfacts  include  wooden  human  figures  and  petroglyphs  

•  TradiAon  of  making  moai  was  already  in  decline  when  Europeans  arrived  in  1722,  and  died  out  by  1800s.  

•  Ecosystem  taxed  by  populaAon  increases,  but  especially    presence  of  Polynesian  rats,  which  helped  deforest  the  island,  and  eliminate  over  30  species  of  plants  and  animals.    

•  Average  height  13  feet,  but  largest  is  70  feet  

•  Commissioned  by  individual  or  group,  then  created  by  expert  team  who  carved  in  quarry,  then  “walked”  statues  to  final  site  

•  All  face  inland,  even  though  located  at  edge  of  coastline  

•  By  mid-­‐1800s,  all  were  in  disrepair;  have  been  restored  by  archaeologists  

•  Some  wear  “hats”  of  Pukao,  a  soo  red  stone;    

•  large  ones  have  bodies  buried  in  the  earth  

hIps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5YR0uqPAI8  

•  Prehistoric  stone  sculpture  c.  1500  BCE    

Possible  Echidna,  leo  and  cassowary  head,  right  

•  Created  between  1500  –  1800  

•  Made  by  Inyai-­‐Ewa  tribe  

•  Each  man  had  a  figure  which  held  his  own  personal  “helping  spirit”  to  aid  him  in  hunts.  

•  These  items  were  collected  by  Michael  C.  Rockefeller…  

•  Son  of  millionaire  and  former  NY  governor  Nelson  Rockefeller  

•  Traveled  to  New  Guinea  to  collect  art  

•  On  final  trip  to  Aswat  people  in  1961,  his  canoe  was  swamped  offshore;  aoer  2  days  clinging  to  it  he  told  his  companion  that  he  could  swim  the  12  miles  to  shore.  

Sawos  ceremonial  board  

•  Rockefeller  was  never  seen  again.  

•  Did  he  drown?  •  Or  was  he  captured  by  the  Aswat  tribe,  who  may  have  killed  him?    

•  And  who  may  have  eaten  him?    

•  Evidence  suggests  the  laIer.