The Nitty Gritty About the Aborigines and Their Culture

For a long time we have marveled at their breath taking arts, their marvelous life style and mythology but the aborigines have still remained mystery to many despite the fascination. The arts of Aboriginal has become more and more popular these days and it is not cheap if you want to buy one. As time passes more and more pieces about their arrival, existence and beliefs are becoming more and more relevant and what is even more intriguing is the fact that even as more of the facts are being dug up about them, they are still as mystery and just as fascinating. However, to help wipe a bit of the cloud of dust that surrounds the aboriginal culture, here are some of the facts and information about them and their existence.

The earliest time that the aborigines were recorded to move into the continent of Australia was about 4,000 years before 1788 when the Europeans made their first landing in Botany Bay. From the late 1700s the tribe was by far the majority counting for around 300,000 of the population but over the years their numbers have dwindled and since the 1990s, they have become a minority that is struggling to save and claim rights to their ancestry lands. As if that is not enough, the aborigines have had a spiteful relationship with the European inhabitants due to the bad treatment of their ancestors during the colonial period. Currently, the Aborigines of Australia suffer more or less the same problems that plague the Native Americans in America.

Aboriginal's culture

 

The one thing that helps people understand the aboriginal culture best is their folklore which they refer to as the dream time. This is a mythology that has been passed down through generations and is considered to be the utter truth about their existence, their evolution and the evolution of the world and its components. In the dreamtime, there are many myths that describe the creation of virtually everything that includes one about the sun. The myth describes how the spirits would gather wood to light up a fire during the day with the help of a bird known as the Kookaburra. To date, in aboriginal culture, it is a strict rule that no one can imitate the bird’s call since it could get angry and fail to wake the spirits in the morning to light up the fire (sun) which would mean that the world would be dark. Another intriguing aspect of the aborigines and their culture is their religion. Unlike what other cultures and communities consider humans being at the top of the chain, the aborigines believe that all of the creation is equal. Furthermore, they believe is thing called totems. These are symbols from nature like birds. These help the clans to identify themselves with the totem. Therefore if a certain clan identifies itself with say a certain bird, then they are part and parcel of its character. If it’s peaceful then so is the clan. Additionally, the religious world of the aborigines is filled with ghosts of the dead and spirits who play a pivotal role in the control of certain aspects like the sun and rainbow.

Studying the Aboriginal culture is not only intriguing but also very interesting and educative. Even though this culture is slowly dying out, it has been kept alive by their form of art which will be around even after the population and its culture has been wiped out.