Explain the Inextricable Connection of the Dreaming, the Land and Identity, Talking into Account the Diversity of the Dreaming for Abriginal Peoples.

EXPLAIN THE INEXTRICABLE CONNECTION OF THE DREAMING, THE LAND AND IDENTITY, TALKING INTO ACCOUNT THE DIVERSITY OF THE DREAMING FOR ABRIGINAL PEOPLES.

The Aboriginal people’s inextricable connection to the Land and the natural world provides a link between the people and the Dreaming. This untieable connection dictates their way of life, their Laws, their beliefs, their values and the way in which they treat others individually. This connection has lived and grown within every Aboriginal of different tribes for 40 000 years and are known to have the longest cultural history in the world.

The Dreaming “a reality which consists of the present, the past and the future” (D:Aboriginal Spirituality mrachmar_com.htme) is not regarded as myths by Aboriginal people, but rather a set of morals and social bonds that reveal an unbreakable link between humans, ancestral beings and the spiritual world.

“The Dreaming holds all the principals of the Aboriginals living together. To them all things were created by it.”(Thompson, L. 1998, Fighting for survival, The Ngaanyatijarra of the Gibson Desert, Heinemann Library, Melbourne) The vast diversity of about 600 Aboriginal nations within Australia contributes to the varying forms and understandings of the Dreaming. It gives Aboriginal people a meaning towards human life, as well as giving a view of how the physical, spiritual and human elements unify to form an ongoing cycle of life.

The Dreaming stories can and may differ from other Aboriginal groups. An aspect that contributes to the diversity of the Dreaming is language. Each of the Aboriginal nations has their own dialect by which they use to communicate. This means that the language differs amongst the different Aboriginal groups and as a result, there are differences in their Dreaming accounts. Geographical location is also another factor which contributes to the diversity of the Dreaming stories. Since Aboriginals are known to be semi-nomadic people and move around, the groups that are close to each other geographically share many elements of their Dreamtime stories. These may include totems, sacred sites and the recollection of creation stories. Also because of the vast diversity of Aboriginal nations, there are many different ways in which they call their Dreaming, but the principle belief is similar. An example of this is the Ngaanyatjarra people from the Gibson Desert. They call their Dreaming “Tjukurrpa” (Thompson, L. 1998, Fighting for survival, The Ngaanyatijarra of the Gibson Desert, Heinemann Library, Melbourne).

In addition, aboriginal religion is a fundamental factor in which shapes the way Aboriginals act towards each other and towards the Land their Ancestral being gave them. Religion is a means for people to find answers to life’s big questions. With Aboriginal spirituality, the natural and the supernatural world are extremely closely linked. Aboriginals express their spirituality through ceremonies, symbolism, art and the respect towards sacred sites of the Dreaming.

Sacred sites are places where Aboriginals of different nations hold great respect. They may be land, rock formations, and parts of rivers or seas that are linked to the Dreaming stories. They may also be burial grounds, ceremonial meeting places and other significant places such as birthing caves. Some sites are women’s sacred sites, some are men’s and some are for the entire group.

Each group has their own particular Dreaming unique only to that particular group, and are manifested in many ways, but especially through special ritual actions and ceremonies. Those who participate in a ceremony deal directly with their Ancestral Beings and they become their totem spirit. Rituals and ceremonies serve a variety of purposes. They honour their totem spirits and in a way introduce their ancestors and totems to newly initiated members. Nevertheless, the main purpose of ceremonies is to participate in the original acts of the creative spirits and in a way bringing the Dreaming into the “here and now”. Each area has a particular plant or animal which serves as a totem for that group of Aboriginal people; the spirit of the ancestor is heavily associated with the totem. Because of this, the people have a kinship with that spirit and are the spiritual “owners” of that area of land. The people are responsible for that area of land along with the ancestral spirit. Thus their identity is formed.

Alternatively, art is used to express the Dreaming and is used to give a permanent connection between the artist and their country. Symbols are used in Aboriginal art in order to tell a story. Different Aboriginal groups in different areas produce different forms of art; these forms