On
Sacred Ground: Learning About the Dreaming and Indigenous Beliefs
When developing units of work on this particular topic, the following
learnings need to be considered:
- From the beginning of time, people have wondered at the beauty
and power of nature and at humanity's relationship with it. They
have developed powerful stories or myths to express their understanding
of how life came to be.
- For many thousands of years, Indigenous people used songs and
stories to express their beliefs about the origins and meaning of
life and land forms, the cycles of nature, and the harmony and conflict
among human life and the animal world.
- The Dreaming refers to how Indigenous peoples explain the beginning
and the continuity of life.
- The Dreaming is not fixed in the ancient era of creation. It continues
in the spiritual lives of Indigenous peoples today, and its influence
is embedded in many aspects of everyday living.
- The Dreaming heritage carries special obligations to protect and
preserve the spirit of the land and the life forms that are part
of it. The Dreaming heritage also influences codes of behaviour,
laws, family and social structures, and sacred duties.
- Different Indigenous groups in Australia have their own Dreaming
beliefs, Dreaming stories and Spirit Ancestors.
- The Dreaming is passed on through a rich tradition of song, poetry,
dance, art and storytelling.
The Dreaming Stories (Sometimes called Creation Stories)
- The Dreaming stories tell of aspects of Indigenous lifestyles
and law. They explain the creation of the land, the animals and
the people. The Dreaming stories are a powerful way of educating
young children about rules for living, the natural environment and
the spiritual world.
- Some Dreaming stories are steeped in ritual and sacred ceremonies,
while others are "campfire" stories for entertainment and/or moral
instruction.
- Not all Dreaming stories are told in a complete or near complete
sequence. Many Indigenous people learn them over time, in the course
of experience.
- Some Dreaming stories are restricted. They are controlled by a
few in the community, usually an elder or elders, who are the only
people to tell or hear them, or perform associated rituals.
- Dreaming stories vary from region to region, and different versions
of the same story will exist because of differences in emphases
and interpretation amongst Indigenous groups.
Spirit Ancestors
- When the earth was barely formed the great Spirit Ancestors made
epic journeys across the land creating rivers, trees and rocks and
naming plants and animals as sacred species for their descendants.
The Spirit Ancestors taught Indigenous peoples how to live in harmony
with nature and how to behave towards one another, thus setting
the pattern of Indigenous cultures and identities.
- The Great Spirit Ancestors existed in human and natural forms
and they were known by many different names, according to the beliefs
of different regional groups.
- The Rainbow Serpent is the most frequently mentioned Spirit Ancestor
who features in many different ways throughout Australia. In South-Eastern
Australia, many Koorie people believe that Bunjil, the eaglehawk,
made the mountains and the rivers: it was he that created the men
and animals and taught them how to behave.
- The Spirit Ancestors were endowed with supernatural powers of
travel, endurance and knowledge, and they brought into being the
full natural order to a previously unformed landscape.
- The Spirit Ancestors have never died, but they have left behind
them their life essence or spirit as a power for people to live
by.
- Indigenous peoples, as descendants of the Spirit Ancestors, have
custodial responsibilities for maintaining the Dreaming and for
passing on the heritage of story, law and sacred ceremony.
The Landscape and Sacred Sites
- Land is central to Indigenous people's beliefs, identity and cultural
values.
- Many Indigenous people have a deep and instinctive sense of reverence
towards the whole of the landscape. The land and environment are
"mother", and it is mother earth which creates, nurtures, shelters
and sustains Indigenous people.
- Many Indigenous people have a fervent sense of belonging to the
soil of their birthplace.
- Indigenous people's cultural and spiritual identification with
their place of birth or ancestry (their country) is often inclusive
of particular places of significance such as paths of Spirit Ancestors,
places where ceremonies are held, birth and burial sites, lands
used for hunting, fishing and gathering.
- Sacred sites for Indigenous peoples may be land formations - including
rocks, waterholes, rivers or lakes - where something significant
happened in the Dreaming. Spirit Ancestors and Dreaming heroes remain
active in these places, and their powers or spirit can generate
strength, harmony and peace, and alternatively, danger or fear.
Reconciliation
- Indigenous people have a unique perspective to contribute to non-Indigenous
people's understandings of culture, land and spirituality.
- Understanding Indigenous people's attachment to land and recognising
their dispossession are all important elements in healing the past.
- The Church has played a role, and continues to do so, in the process
of Reconciliation with Indigenous people.
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