Dreaming and law
In a culture without written language in which to preserve their customs, laws, and knowledge, it was imperative that the Indigenous peoples of Australia find a way to pass on their information to the younger generations, through what is known in English as "Dreaming" [1].
One of the key features of Dreaming was the passing on of stories and oral histories to the younger generations. These stories were often told by the tribes' elders and almost always featured one main creator, such as the Wandjina [2] or Yillimbirri Unguud [3] of the Bunuba and Mowanjum people both from northern Western Australia. Some stories were used to pass on information and customs that were crucial(see fig. B). In this example we see how the Wiradjuri people passed down their vast knowledge of aquaculture (see Land Management) that was crucial to the tribe's survival and growth as a people by allowing them easy access to food so they could focus on other things. Furthermore, Indigenous groups also told stories that connected them to the land. These stories of totem ancestors [4] gave Indigenous people the responsibility of creating a sustainable environment and laws to prevent them from being unsustainable.(see Land Management). After all, engaging in unsustainable practices such as over hunting or habitat destruction could result in the extinction of a plant or animal, meaning the death of another persons ancestral spirits. Other stories gave instructions and laws as to how people must live, such as the sacred rules of Southern Eastern Indigenous Australian life.
Another aspect of the Dreamtime was art, in the many forms and purposes that it came in. One such remarkable form of art developed in Arnhem Land, Northern Territory some hundreds of years ago. Due to its immense practicality, this art form was soon dispersed across all of Australia. We now know it as the X-ray style [4] (see fig. C).This form was used to inform the indigenous peoples of the anatomy of different animals, for hunting, culinary, and educative purposes. This feat is particularly impressive as it displays the vast knowledge on anatomy that Indigenous Australians acquired long before Charles Darwin and Grey's Anatomy. Another form of art that conveyed information was symbolic art[5] (see fig. D). This style, spread all across Australia, was often draw maps of places in order to locate waterholes, sacred sites, animal habitats for hunting, and even shapes discerned in the night sky that corresponded with stories. These were very useful in order to find things such as food and water, but they also helped to mark out sacred places where rituals were to be performed or certain people were not allowed to go, such as the Yilimbirri Spring in Bunuba land where only those who knew the law were permitted to enter.
One of the key features of Dreaming was the passing on of stories and oral histories to the younger generations. These stories were often told by the tribes' elders and almost always featured one main creator, such as the Wandjina [2] or Yillimbirri Unguud [3] of the Bunuba and Mowanjum people both from northern Western Australia. Some stories were used to pass on information and customs that were crucial(see fig. B). In this example we see how the Wiradjuri people passed down their vast knowledge of aquaculture (see Land Management) that was crucial to the tribe's survival and growth as a people by allowing them easy access to food so they could focus on other things. Furthermore, Indigenous groups also told stories that connected them to the land. These stories of totem ancestors [4] gave Indigenous people the responsibility of creating a sustainable environment and laws to prevent them from being unsustainable.(see Land Management). After all, engaging in unsustainable practices such as over hunting or habitat destruction could result in the extinction of a plant or animal, meaning the death of another persons ancestral spirits. Other stories gave instructions and laws as to how people must live, such as the sacred rules of Southern Eastern Indigenous Australian life.
Another aspect of the Dreamtime was art, in the many forms and purposes that it came in. One such remarkable form of art developed in Arnhem Land, Northern Territory some hundreds of years ago. Due to its immense practicality, this art form was soon dispersed across all of Australia. We now know it as the X-ray style [4] (see fig. C).This form was used to inform the indigenous peoples of the anatomy of different animals, for hunting, culinary, and educative purposes. This feat is particularly impressive as it displays the vast knowledge on anatomy that Indigenous Australians acquired long before Charles Darwin and Grey's Anatomy. Another form of art that conveyed information was symbolic art[5] (see fig. D). This style, spread all across Australia, was often draw maps of places in order to locate waterholes, sacred sites, animal habitats for hunting, and even shapes discerned in the night sky that corresponded with stories. These were very useful in order to find things such as food and water, but they also helped to mark out sacred places where rituals were to be performed or certain people were not allowed to go, such as the Yilimbirri Spring in Bunuba land where only those who knew the law were permitted to enter.
Glossary:
Dreaming: the vastly complicated network of ideas and customs of each particular tribe and language group, composed of a collection of stories, songs, ceremonies, dances, and art that were intended to pass on knowledge, rituals and religious beliefs, and laws to the next generations.
Wandjina or Wanjina : the supreme creator of the Mowanjum that were used as a symbol of fertility and rain. Wandjinas are also the subject of the world's oldest continuous sacred painting movement. To learn more about this fascinating movement, visit http://www.creativespirits.info/aboriginalculture/arts/what-are-wandjinas.
Yilimbirri Unguud: the Bunuba term for the rainbow serpent - a recurring image throughout Indigenous Australian that tells of a giant rainbow snake who came shortly after the creation of the Earth when the world was flat. Many stories tell of this rainbow serpent creating deep gorges, rivers, mountains, and valleys in the shape of his body by moving around on the land.
Totem Ancestors: the English term for a common idea amongst Indigenous Australian Lore that tells of the very beginning of time when Australian Indigenous people's ancestors were able to interchange with traditional flora, fauna, and rocks. Each family (see Kinship) had its particular ancestor that they were charged to take care of as it contained the spirit of their ancestors, which would die if there were no more of that particular species or rock.
Symbolic Art: a Indigenous Australian way of communicating knowledge through symbols painted on rock or carved into wood.
Dreaming: the vastly complicated network of ideas and customs of each particular tribe and language group, composed of a collection of stories, songs, ceremonies, dances, and art that were intended to pass on knowledge, rituals and religious beliefs, and laws to the next generations.
Wandjina or Wanjina : the supreme creator of the Mowanjum that were used as a symbol of fertility and rain. Wandjinas are also the subject of the world's oldest continuous sacred painting movement. To learn more about this fascinating movement, visit http://www.creativespirits.info/aboriginalculture/arts/what-are-wandjinas.
Yilimbirri Unguud: the Bunuba term for the rainbow serpent - a recurring image throughout Indigenous Australian that tells of a giant rainbow snake who came shortly after the creation of the Earth when the world was flat. Many stories tell of this rainbow serpent creating deep gorges, rivers, mountains, and valleys in the shape of his body by moving around on the land.
Totem Ancestors: the English term for a common idea amongst Indigenous Australian Lore that tells of the very beginning of time when Australian Indigenous people's ancestors were able to interchange with traditional flora, fauna, and rocks. Each family (see Kinship) had its particular ancestor that they were charged to take care of as it contained the spirit of their ancestors, which would die if there were no more of that particular species or rock.
Symbolic Art: a Indigenous Australian way of communicating knowledge through symbols painted on rock or carved into wood.