Short+Answers+'Contemporary+Aboriginal+Spirtualities'

– separation from the land – separation from kinship groups – the Stolen Generations The indigenous people of Australia who have inhabited Australia for tens of thousands of years crumbled into chaos in the year 1788 when the English settlers settled on Australia. This was the start of interactions that lead to many problems the aborigines face today. Firstly it was the disease that the British brought with them and later it was the government policies that tried to “civilise the indigenous people of Australia”.
 * discuss the continuing effect of dispossession on Aboriginal spiritualities in relation to:

The young age at which these children are taken away has in many of them caused the flow of knowledge from generation to generation to stop and in doing so has stopped thousands of years worth of the complex kinship the children would of grown up to respect and abide by to collapse. These children called the Stolen Generations were placed into institutions that became breeding grounds for abuse, violence and slavery. The abuse was like a domino effect whereby the abuses the stolen generation received; they further more abused themselves with alcohol or petrol sniffing because they had been abused as children themselves. Let us not forget that not only these children suffered but also their loving parents who we can only imagine must have missed them every second.

The continuing effect of dispossession on aboriginal spiritualities can furthermore be noticed on the crime rate at which as of June 2008, an aboriginal adult was 13 times more likely then a non-indigenous to be in Jail. ( [] )

Although there is a glimmer of hope in that many aboriginal communities especially those deep in central Australia has not been affected by this and so the traditions and culture is still being practiced as it has for the pass tens of thousands of years.

–  discuss how Aboriginal spirituality is determined by the Dreaming –  kinship –  ceremonial life –  obligations to the land and people Aboriginal spirituality is not a religion but rather a way of life. A way of life that has evolved over thousands of years to become very broad with no real structure unlike most religions like Catholicism, Islam and Judaism. Although it is very broad it is very effective and is practiced everyday by the Indigenous in ceremonies, kinship, obligations to the land and people. The kinship of an indigenous clan is all interconnected with one another and so this in itself is aboriginal spirituality. The spirituality of feeling belonged to one another, to support one another; something that was missing during the stolen generations where by they the children was still simply a child and did not know. The aboriginal people celebrated many events like boyhood to adulthood, a large gathering, thanking the spirits for the continual of their life un-interrupted and many more with the use of a ceremony. In a ceremony they would paint themselves and dance around a fire filled with happiness. As fire not only give light during night ceremonies but also is symbolic of aboriginal spirituality. The aborigines were nomadic in that they travelled around so that not one area is not exhausted of all resources but can replenish and this act can be seen as obligations to the land whereby they do not damage it but care for it in a way that has been very efficient considering we are now already affecting our own climate. Therefore aboriginal spirituality is not like a religion but a way of life in which it is practiced everyday.