Studies of ReligionStudies of ReligionContemporary Aboriginal SpiritualityContemporary Aboriginal Spirituality

Revision 2008Revision 2008

LectureLectureMs Kristen SharpeMs Kristen Sharpe

Contemporary Aboriginal SpiritualityContemporary Aboriginal Spirituality

3 Units studies in Year 12:– Religion in Australia

• Contemporary Aboriginal Spiritualities

– Christianity• Hildegard• Environmental ethics• Sunday Worship

– Islam• Khadijah• Environmental ethics• The Hajj

Contemporary Aboriginal SpiritualityContemporary Aboriginal Spirituality

Syllabus Dot Points:• Discuss how Aboriginal Spirituality is determined by the

Dreaming;• Discuss the continuing effect of dispossession;• Outline the importance of the Land Rights movement;• Analyse the importance of the Dreaming for the Land

Rights Movement;• Examine the relationship between Aboriginal

Spiritualities and religious traditions in the process of Reconciliation.

Contemporary Aboriginal SpiritualityContemporary Aboriginal Spirituality

Revision from Year 11

• Nature of the Aboriginal Spirituality - Overview– Holistic, interconnected, no separation– Closely associated with nature – land is central– Highly developed social systems– Deeply spiritual – least material minded – ephemeral– Takes many forms – no one Aboriginal nation

• 700+ groups, 400+ language groups

Contemporary Aboriginal SpiritualityContemporary Aboriginal Spirituality

Revision from Year 11

Nature of the DreamingA complex concept of fundamental importance to Aboriginal

culture. The Dreaming is the central concept to understanding life:

the past – how the landscape came into existence; the present – how Aboriginal people are to spend their life

now; and, the future – shows how the earth’s life giving powers are to

be kept for the future.

Contemporary Aboriginal SpiritualityContemporary Aboriginal Spirituality

Revision from Year 11

Nature of the connection with the Land• Land is sacred – the purpose of life - to care for the Land• Humans are indivisibly connected with their ‘country’• Totems – symbols of a specific spirit ancestor in a

particular area of land.

Learning their story of their country, their rights and responsibilities of that story is the purpose of their life – through songs, music, dance, art, symbols, rituals.