They say one does'nt get the whole picture of Australia, till one makes an effort to get to know some about the aborigines culture
This post is anecdotal, as I heard many friends living in Oz speak about the aborigines
The word 'aboriginal' means the first, or earliest known. These are natives or old inhabtants, not invaders or new dwellers. Australia may well be the home of the first people of the world. The aborigines have a special affinity with the land they live on as they believe their food comes from what is avialble locally and naturally. There are stories too about how they used to draw water - they drained dew and obtained water from certain trees and roots. They were known to even dig and squeeze out frogs, which store water in their body
Australian Aboriginal society has the longest continuous cultural history in the world - dating back to the last ice age - and despite concerted efforts to stamp it out, it's still very much alive.
Aborigines migrated from somewhere in Asia atleast 30,000years ago and have some unifying links back with their roots.Among these are strong spiritual beliefs that tie them to their land, a tribal culture of storytelling and art, a difficult colonial history ... these would sound familiar, very familiar, to an Asian, even today
The Australian PM very recently has apologized to the aborigines for having taken their land and relegated them to the deep interiors. I wonder if they will get speacial previleges and status in Australia ever?
3 comments:
Very informative post. A few pictures of them would have been wonderful.
rgds
Brian
Your post on aborgines is a good one. I picked up the story telling part of the blog and wish to carry it forward.In the unimaginable days before the Internet, back even before the printing press, the storyteller was society's informer, historian, keeper of the record.
Now, the ancient art of spinning a yarn has almost died out, in the face of more electronic communication than most of us can digest.
Is it ? Not really. Surprisingly, in most countries specially in Asia ( and it is reviving in America), where a storytelling revival is in full swing.
That way your observation on aborigines in Oz is very refreshing. And so well said Meenakshi.
One often wonders what is that this rustic way of story telling captivates the audiences so closely.Is it the content, or is it the delivery or is it the environment. We all know its all of the above plus the knack of the story teller to touch the surreal mood of the listeners.Thats why the bestb tales ever told are the ones that resonate in minds than on paper.
Like you said meenakshi, aborginals are one proud custodians of this mythical art.I once heard a tribal group of Andamans narrating a folklore and it still is echoing in my ears.
I agree with Brian, few pictures please.:-)
i never saw any aborigines myself so could not post any pics, but certainly can get from the internet search
their lives are not half as romantic as we make them out to be, infact they are very badly neglected thr!
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