Australian Aboriginal Traditions

[Tamrin]

FIRST AUSTRALIANS

7 Part Series - Commencing this Sunday, 12 October 2008, 8:30 pm on SBS TV

[Review Excerpt - Linked Above]

SBS TV series "First Australians" took six years to make and it chronicles the birth of our nation and the collision of two worlds from an Indigenous perspective. You'll also travel to the Top End to one of Australia's most remote Aboriginal communities and meet local band, Yilila.

"First Australians" starts on SBS TV on Sunday 12th of October and will make history when it does. Darren Dale is the Co-Producer of the seven part series which looks at Austrlaian history through the perspective of the country's first nations people.

[Tamrin]

Aboriginal kinship

[Web Page - Department of Indigenous Affairs - Linked Above]

Within the European-Australian structure “kinship” is determined purely by marriage and descent. This type of kinship is predominantly made up by the ‘nuclear families’, which is established by marriage and consists of mother, father and children. The normal expectation is that the nuclear family will establish their home away from their parents.

As opposed to the nuclear family structure existing in the Western lifestyle, the Aboriginal family is very much focussed on the extended arrangement. People not directly related by blood ties are often covered by the kinship term or label.

A great emphasis is placed on sharing which is conducted according to the kinship relationship. By following the rules of sharing, people gained respect and trust. Sharing within the Aboriginal lifestyle allowed people to build up a store of ‘social credit’ both within the local group and with distant trading partners.

The kinship influences whom one could marry and many other aspects of everyday behaviour. Once adulthood is reached the person knows exactly how to behave towards everyone he or she meets, and what type of behaviour is appropriate.

The kinship chart below provides an example for the Pilbara Region Skin Group.

Panaka male marries Karimarra female children will be Purungu [A+B = C]
Karimarra male marries Panaka female children will be Palyirri [B+A = D]
Palyirri male marries Purungu female children will be Karimarra [D+C = B]
Purungu male marries Palyirri female children will be Panaka [C+D = A]

Skin groups regulate this social organisation that involves many family groups. By cultural law as a member of this group you can only marry across (see black arrow’s in diagram).

[Tamrin]

Kinship and Skin Names

[Excerpt - Central Land Council (N.T.) - Linked Above]

The kinship system is a feature of Aboriginal social organisation and family relationships across Central Australia. It is a complex system that determines how people relate to each other and their roles, responsibilities and obligations in relation to one another, ceremonial business and land.

The kinship system determines who marries who, ceremonial relationships, funeral roles and behaviour patterns with other kin. Today the number of 'wrong skin' marriages is increasing, and families are attempting to accommodate the contradictions. However there are some rules which are adhered to, in particular certain 'avoidance relationships', especially that between a mother-in-law and a son-in-law. This relationship requires a social distance, such that they may not be able to be in the same room or car. Be sensitive to the signals that alert one to this situation, for example being told that there is 'no room' in a car or a building when there appears to be sufficient 'space'.

Aspects of this system of social organisation differ between regions. This is seen in the so-called 'skin system', a method of subdividing the society into named categories which are related to one another through the kinship system.

A moiety system (i.e. division into two groups: 'sun side' and 'shade side') exists across the region. Most language groups also use a section or subsection system with either four to eight 'skin names'. An individual gains a 'skin name' upon birth based on the skin names of his or her parents, to indicate the section/subsection that he/she belongs to.

[Tamrin]

Cultural Theft for Fun and Profit

[Excerpt - Review of Mutant Message from Down Under - Linked Above]

The book was a quick read about the experience Ms. Morgan claimed to have had living for four months with a tribe of Aboriginals called the "Real People." She travels barefoot and hatless through the Australian desert while experiencing a personal epiphany as the tribe members teach her about the ills of western society. Yes, you did read that right. Four months in the desert. No hat. No shoes. Pale skinned white woman. Does anyone see a problem here, yet?

If not, maybe you'll see a problem in her description of Aboriginal life, which includes such fascinating things as making dream catchers, tribe members having names like "Female Healer," and communicating primarily through telepathy. Sound like a sick twisted description of a white woman's perception of Native Americans? That's pretty much what it is.

Or maybe you'll see a problem in the "Real People" tribe calling non-tribe members "Mutants." Marlo never pauses to tell us just when the "Real People" decided to study genetics so that they could understand words like "mutant."

Because you see, we don't know if Ms. Morgan actually ever set foot in Australia, because her description of that country is so ridiculously wrong. In her version of Australia, people use quarters to make phone calls (Aussies don't even have a 25 cent piece... and they sure as hell don't call any of their coins quarters) and Australians didn't know what fly screens for windows were until she introduced them to the country in 1986. So, since she had no idea what Australian Aboriginal culture was like, she just kinda...made it up.

Making things up is okay, especially when you are writing fiction. But from the start, Ms. Morgan claimed that what she was writing was emphatically not fiction. In fact, she claimed to be the appointed spokesperson for Australian Aboriginals. Her little privately-published heap of twaddle was picked up by Harper Collins and became a best seller everywhere -- except in Australia...fancy that. And Ms. M began the lecture circuit as the "spokesperson" for Aboriginal concerns.

[Tamrin]

Mornington Island dances with didgeridoo

au.youtube.com/watch?v=S34cTrhOFQA&NR=1

[Tamrin]

Goulburn Island Mamurrung ceremony, 1996

au.youtube.com/watch?v=6oDoeQW0sDE&feature=related

[Tamrin]

Gupapuyngu Funeral Ceremony
in Ramingining, 2008

au.youtube.com/watch?v=F6z5fLYvzIM&NR=1

[Tamrin]

Initiation Ceremony from the Top End

au.youtube.com/watch?v=ogS2x_wsags&feature=related

[Tamrin]

Sept 14, 2008 16:19:36 GMT 10 Tamrin said:

Sorry / Stolen Generations:

[Tamrin]

Australia backs UN on indigenous rights

[Excerpt - Article by Julian Drape, ninemsn.com, 26 March 2009 - Linked above]

The federal government says it will support a UN declaration on indigenous rights which the Howard government voted against in 2007.

Sixteen months after taking power, Labor will make good its election promise to endorse the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin will make the statement of support at Parliament House in Canberra on Friday April 3.

The government says the change of position is an important symbolic step for building trust and re-setting black and white relations in Australia.

The move follows the historic apology to the stolen generations in February last year.

The declaration, which sets out the rights of the world's estimated 370 million indigenous people, is not legally binding.

Earlier this month, human rights group Amnesty International slammed the Rudd government for failing to support the declaration in its first year in office.

Aboriginal leaders have also criticised the delay.

Australia was one of just four countries to vote against the declaration when the UN's General Assembly adopted it in September 2007, along with the United States, New Zealand and Canada.