Abstract
Australian Aboriginal history from over forty thousand years to modern
day has been passed down orally, making it a personal spirituality rather than
a manuscript as in the western tradition. Tribes were fragmented throughout the
regions of this vast continent. The colonization of the continent by white
settlers in the 1800's wiped away many of the tribes, forcing them to create
alliances. The romanticism of Dreamtime, as well as its negation by western
missionaries, elevated this complex tradition. Indeed it was very complex. It
provided knowledge of the land and awareness of spirituality that lead to consideration
of the time before all was incarnated. This work highlights four spectrums of
non-human animals - in environmental interactions, food sources, medicinal uses
and totemic structures.
____________________________________________________________________
Introduction
Aboriginal Dreamtime is more of a spiritual state with a mythological
story telling tradition, than a mainstream religion. There are approximately
five hundred tribes scattered all over Australia, each passing down their stories
of creation. These five hundred are then broadly categorized into two divisions
- inland or coastline. The division is based on environmental considerations as
well as in differences of how life and death are viewed.
Dreamtime describes the landscapes, stars and galaxies, plants animals
and humans before their carnal fruition. The four main precepts of dreamtime
are: the origin of all things, the spiritual influence of ancestors, the
inevitable cycle of birth and death and the power source of life. Dreamtime myths explain why native animals
have their specific characteristics, such as how the kookaburras got its laugh,
why frogs croak, why some birds lay their eggs in the sand and how the Kangaroo
got its tail.
"Coming
from widely divergent sources, it is natural that there should be
inconsistencies and contradictory elements. This is the case in the Creation
myths and the folklore concerning animals when the land was still in the
Dreamtime. From some legends we learn that animals and insects were brought to
life at the touch of Yhi, the sun Goddess, and that Man, the final creation,
was made in the bodily and mental form of Baiame, the Great Spirit (Reed,
1994)."
Even though there is such a naturalistic beauty in this spirituality
it is vital to remember the violent history to which the natives and their land
have been subjected. The indigenous tribes had passed down stories and explored
the land ever since Australia split from Gondwana, reiterating the forty
thousand plus years. This nominal forty thousand years is in accordance with orated
history but current anthropological consensus suggests it is more around the
sixty-five thousand year mark.
To understand the Aboriginal perspective on animals it is important to
understand their human and tribal history. It is not simply an anthropocentric
perspective. It is to contrast the consistent discrediting of indigenous
culture with the superiority of the white man towards the unknown. This allows
us to observe the resultant effects upon the humanity of the indigenous and
their environment. Their forty thousand years of experiencing the land and
passing down expectations to progeny of how to live off the land is beneficial
for the environment and there is little evidence of resource exploitation. On
the other hand, the convicts who arrived from the United Kingdom to New South Wales,
Australia on January 26th 1788 had minimal resources from the First
Fleet, but they did have an expansive exploitative mentality from Mother England.
According to a well-known naturalist named Carl Lumholtz, “It is a
well-known fact that the Australian natives are almost wholly devoid of
religious susceptibilities.”
This value judgment, coming from the mid-nineteen hundreds, shows the
formalities of the western world and places a positive spin on missionary
failures. This statement also underscores the lack of spiritual knowledge of
the western world while simultaneously negating the value of indigenous
practices.
Spiritual totems guide the Aboriginal tribes, manifesting themselves
in animal bodies or retaining their soul form as in the Dreamtime. This spiritual
knowledge could aid the future generations incarnating with their tribulations
and assist in "white man" and indigenous coexistence.
"We
also believed that this would lead to non-aboriginal people developing a better
understanding of our Ngarrindjeri traditions and our relationships to the land,
water, trees, plants, and animals (Grim 2001)."
In
order to try to combat this culture difference, certain tribes have created
cultural centers. Sharing traditions through song, dance and other forms is a
fairly recent innovation. Preservation of oral traditions - stories of the time
before becoming carnal beings -from generation to generation for tens of
thousands of years to teach those who will listen. A lot of these culture
centers are funded by state governments. It must be noted that the national
government of Australia apologized to the tribes as a whole of the malevolent
historical events that took place and the countless "stolen
generations" decimating tribe populations.
"We
do all these things, sharing our culture to develop better understanding, to
help overcome false interpretations and racism toward Ngarrindjeri people, and
to help correct stereotyped history about the European settlement of the land
(Grim 2001)."
Whether
it is the Ngarrindjeri people or the Kakadu people, it is important, from an
outsider perspective, to observe the similarities and differences of each tribe
rather than lump Indigenous Australian Dreamtime into one category. One must
also take into account the romanticized perspective perpetuated by scholars who
do not fully explore the balance through careful multi-dimensional analysis.
This work will only skim the surface of this subtradition's
perspective on animals by toeing through the tribe's innate survival techniques
in the environment and practicalities as well as a woven theme of totemic
structures.
Animals in Medicine
When non-aboriginals settled on the island continent of Australia,
they brought with them diseases unknown to the natives. Smallpox was one of the
more prevalent diseases and as a result many individuals passed away because of
unknown treatment. Another devastating aspect was the introduction of invasive
species that have destroyed native fauna. These invasive species (a whole
different debate) both flora and fauna also encompassed humans. These humans would
have had a lot of sick individuals from the voyage to this new world and
affected their native counterparts. This potent combination of non-indigenous
humans, flora and fauna would have had a deleterious impact on potential food
sources. This problem would have affected the health of both the indigenous and
convict immigrants.
It must be noted that according to a study in 2007, indigenous health
reports comparing North America, Australia and New Zealand, Australia rated the
lowest.
"Much
of the disease among Indigenous Australians is preventable being the result of
poverty, overcrowding, poor sanitation, low levels of education, poor nutrition
and poor access to accurate diagnosis and treatment (Mackay 2007)."
The average age of Indigenous Australians is seventeen years less than
non-Aboriginals based on literacy rates and lack of western medicinal care. Several
charities have focused on supplying children with literacy backpacks and other
educational tools to help their life expectancy. Staying true to tradition and
tribal methods, the tribe makes sure that their children are taught their way
and not become too westernized. Of course this is a heavy generalization as
there are some of the five hundred tribes that do implement a literacy
structure in order for survival of their clans. As in many human endeavors,
there are purists who sacrifice the common good at the altar of belief.
The particular regional tribe covered in this paper is located near
Kakadu National Park.
Kakadu is a western mispronunciation of Gagadju, a former language found
in this region of the Northern Territory. Rock formations and wetlands in the
Kakadu National Park are said to be caused by the Rainbow serpent, a spirit of
the Dreamtime who came at the beginning of time in the form of a snake and
flooded the lands only to be sent up back to the sky. As a result, prismatic
crystals are found in this region and are used by the medicine-man, known as
Margi, of the clan.
"Prismatic
crystals, in the form of granite, are honored by Aboriginals as sacred and
powerful stones. Allowing for increased protection and abundance, granite has
been used to strengthen the hair and relieve ailments associated with the face
and head. It is important to note that the Rainbow Serpent of the Dreamtime
laid her eggs of granite. This myth further extends the inextricable link
between the animal of creation, the animals and clans of the present
environment to their medicinal wellness (Clarke, 2008)."
Another example of animals in medicine is the calling of totemic
structures (more on this subject later) to heal the body ailments and addiction
problems. One of the most prevalent problems facing the entire Australian
Aboriginal community is alcoholism. Alcohol, before the settlers, was a weak
potion made from plants in the local area such as Pandanus plant (prominent in
Northern Territory, what the Kakadu tribe would drink), honey (from either
honey pot ants or from bees, depending on geographic range), coconut
(north-eastern) and certain types of eucalyptus gum trees (southern Australian
states and Tasmania). The introduction of white settlers introduced stronger
forms of alcohol and, essentially indentured servitude in return.
"Many
Aboriginal labourers were paid in alcohol or tobacco (if their wages were not
stolen). In the early 1800s a favourite spectator sport of white people in
Sydney was to ply Aboriginal men with alcohol and encourage them to fight each
other, often to the death (Korf 2014)."
Recent statistics of this problem- seventeen percent of the indigenous
population binge drink and forty-eight percent of mothers drink while pregnant.[2] Some
tribes are more susceptible to alcoholism whereas others are finding ways to
mend this insidious disorder. Even though alcoholism is often portrayed as a
prevalence in indigenous communities (even in Native North American cultures),
it is actually a misconception. Most corroboree dances, song circles, cane toad
races and other Aboriginal events are alcohol-free events, much unlike non-aboriginal
events. The unfortunate twist to this misconception is that even though many
Aborigines do not drink, those that do drink excessively. In this case, excess
is upward of 12 drinks in one sitting, multiple times per week. Therefore those
that do drink excessively need intervention before an alcohol-related death
occurs. Intervention through spiritual totemic structures is an example of the
reliance of humans on nonhuman animals beyond sustenance.
"The men also talk about their
spirit totems, animals like turtles, fish and wallabies. One goal of the
Healing Program is to help Aboriginals find their personal spirit totem.
Calling on animal spirits is definitely out of vogue in Western culture. As the
writer notes, 'That does not translate easily to a Western mindset focused on
client outcomes and objectives (Fitzgerald 2011)."
There is another example in the book Secrets of Aboriginal Healing:
A Physicist's Journey with a Remote Australian tribe which explains an
outsider named Gary Holz receiving a diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis. He was
told that there was no cure and decided to engage with the Aboriginal
community. In this book, co-written by his wife Robin, explores using
Aboriginal dreamtime by ways of spiritual totems and reprogramming the
subconscious. They explore the practices of going on a walkabout and
participating in spiritual events. In this manner they engage the thought
patterns of why illnesses happen, and how this relates to the subconscious.
This is an example of externalizing ancient medicine through animal spirits and
reprogramming the psyche to cure trials and tribulations.
Animals in the Environment and Symbolism
An important part of Aboriginal culture is going on a walkabout,
learning about oneself and being present in one’s role in the environment. This
is similar to various North American Indian tribes in their Vision Quests. Much
of the walkabout is focused on observation of animals, learning familiarity
with surroundings, communicating with the creator and one’s predecessors who
may be either spirit or non-human animal in form. This knowledge is used to
understand one’s role and expected behaviors in the clan. The outcomes enable
one to hunt animals for sustenance, ensuring that those animals are not
ancestors (more in "food sources and uses"). The duration of the
walkabout is varied and the legends become a guide for the individual to
survive and expand their understanding of their environment.
"When you go on the walkabout as a
young Aboriginal child, you mimic the trajectories of the primordial ancestors
in walking the Songlines. When you walk those trajectories, those sacred
itineraries of the time when the primordial Ancestors walked and sang, and the
song sang the world into existence, you were involved both in an act of
remembrance but also in an act of creation. Because the world at your feet both
exists and yet, by definition, is waiting to be born. We tried to describe this
other universe as the Dreaming or Dreamtime, but that turns out to be a very
crude and misguided simile. That universe is not an abstraction. It’s literally
another world (Davis 2004)."
The interior Australian continent is arid. Much of the weather
patterns were explained by animal manifested spirits being slighted or the
natural predator-prey relationship. Also explained by nonhuman animal spiritual
relationships are natural environment features. Natural features such as Ayers
Rock or Uluru are analogous to sacred temples. These elements were formed by
spirits and therefore, any spectator must revere this work simply by
observance. Disturbing an already fragmented spirituality and environment is
just as irreverent as was the conversion process in the beginning of
Australia's formation. A mythological example of specific features is "a
distinctive patch of ochre on a hillside in the Flinders Range was all that
remained of an emu hounded to its death by a pack of Dreamtime dogs (Allan
2009)."
Many, if not all, Aborigines orally pass down generational stories of
their totem animal's origins and the earthly patterns. These are often as a
result of the ritualistic dreamtime walkabout.
Celestial stories also indicate animal involvement. In the particular
story of Why Kookaburra Laughs At
Dawn, the sun, moon and stars are being formed but need an indicator
when the sun’s revolutions occur. Upon creation, the beings on earth needed an
alarm clock to wake up from their dreaming. The creator spirits Punjel and
Baiame heard a kookaburra (translated from gogobera which means "the
laughing jackass") laugh and asked the bird to announce the start of each
new day to which he happily obliged.
"Baiame
had begun his acts of creation, but had not yet determined what form his people
would take. These animals he had made were his first experiments... Baiame
preferred to remain in his home in the Milky Way which he shares with another
powerful spirit, whose name was Punjel...The huge animals of the darkness have
had their day. Now it is time to people this world of mine with little animals,
small birds and reptiles, even tiny insects that we can scarcely see, and to
put silvery fish into the rivers and lakes...kookaburra, before the sky fire is
lit each morning Baiame will hang a star in the eastern sky (Reed 1994)."
One of the ways aborigines pay homage to the environment is by
painting the land and the animals they have encountered. Western paintings of
the landscape describe the individual components comprising the segment of land
and give the spectator a snapshot moment. Aboriginal paintings
"contain
stories rooted in Dreamtime mythology. On others, they are stylized
navigational aids to food sources, or spiritual maps pertaining to sacred
sites, and sometimes even dispense moral guidance and entertainment. Always,
they express the imprint of the land on the native psyche (Bachman 1994)."
There is a deeply profound connection between the surroundings and other
living beings. As a result, this gives a big picture effect rather than a
candid glimmer into someone's life. In the indigenous worldview, the
environment is an inclusive, self-regulating entity that responds according to
the emotions and spirituality projected upon it.
Animals as food sources and uses
Anthropologists argue that the first human, non-human animal
interaction on the still forming continent of Australia was probably negative.
Predecessors to Kangaroos, known as the Sthenurinae, around the Pleistocene
era, were larger than modern day fauna. Aboriginal ancestors most likely viewed
these giants as a threat (likewise from the non‑human's awareness), thus it was
"either I kill him or he kills me" mentality.
“…the
coexistence of Aborigines and the megafauna is indicated in late Pleistocene
deposits. Since
the impact of Aboriginal hunting and habitat alteration have been implicated in
the demise of this fauna,
the first relationship between people and kangaroos was probably negative from
the animal’s perspective (Croft 1991).”
Prior to colonization, the Kakadu Aborigines predominantly ate
whatever they could find. There were, like the Abrahamic traditions, exceptions
of what not to eat, especially if it pertained to the animals that represented
their tribes.
“A
wide range of plants and animals were eaten, and insect foods included certain
ants, grubs and beetles, while streams provided fish and eels. Many birds were
eaten, including waterfowl, scrub fowl, the Cassowary and the Jabiru. The
yellow fat of the goanna (a large Australian lizard) was considered a delicacy
(Welch 2014).”
Another factor to take into consideration is their perspective on
introduced animals. There is little recollection of the first time Indigenous
Australians encountered livestock and other animals that the colonists brought
with them. However based on the diet structure of native fauna versus
introduced, it would be quite on par and therefore resource competition would
have been prevalent. Farmsteads set up near billabongs and other watering holes
encroached on native territory, displacing individuals who would have walked
straight through the land. Habitat fragmentation would have also called for
crop and livestock protection and any intruder seen on the premises. This would
have depleted an otherwise bountiful fauna and impacted food resources for
indigenous Australians. The quality of diet would have been (and still
continues to be) dismal in comparison to pre‑colonial days.
In an attempt to adjust to western ways Aborigines set up cattle
ranches. Implementing the new settler’s way of life into the indigenous
lifestyle, they capitalized on the cattle trade. Understanding the environment
and learning about the animals ensured a consistent food supply for both indigenous
and white Australians. It changed the relationship of both aborigines and white
man by creating an economy and co-dependence. Unfortunately, this sometimes manifested
itself in an exploitative way. Nevertheless, Aborigines could keep their
dreamtime traditions and learn some modern skills to survive in this newly
industrializing continent.
Animals were not just used for food, but hides for clothes and
vessels, bones for ritualistic adornments and weaponry, and suchlike. Ensuring
that whatever animal was slaughtered, parts could be salvaged, therefore
utilizing the whole animal rather than simply just the meat and letting all the
rest return to the soil or be wasted. Ochre paints were used mark the body in
tribal adornments for ritualistic dances and song ceremonies. Emu fat now
replaced by vegetable fats or even butter primed skin for these paints.
“People
climbed trees to catch animals and reach native beehives for honey. Wax from
the beehives was used to seal water containers, and as a resin when making
weapons and for decoration. Throughout much of Australia, a small hatchet with
a stone head was used to cut toe holds into trees to assist in climbing....
strong jungle vines are used like ropes to assist climbing trees in search of
both animals and native bee hives’ wax and honey (Welch 2014).”
Totemic structure
"Winjarning
Brothers and the Evil One" provides an example of animal equality from
kangaroos to "...a dingo, a Goanna, a snake, a frilled lizard, a crow, a
magpie, and a wombat... A centipede darted out, and met the same fate. A moth
fluttered upwards and was caught with difficulty (Reed, 1994)."
The story tells of an evil spirit who beguiles and kills a woman. Her
brothers and husband's brothers seek out the evil spirit in human form and
eventually destroy him after the spirit has taken many animal forms.
The clan’s totem highlights another aspect of relationships between
animals and Aboriginals. In the Kakadu, lizards, insects and birds typically
represent clans. These animals are lower in the food chain hierarchy but are the
respected essence of the clan. Animals that are ritually important also have
separate names.
"For
instance two lizards that look quite similar - Gould's Goanna Varanis gouldii
and Sand Goanna V. panoptes are respectively Djani and Garawan. The first is
food for anyone, but the second is only for those who pass 'ceremony tests'.
Animals that have no important stories or are not food items are often lumped
together. For instance small brown wading birds are collectively called
'Kolarawikwik' and medium-sized white or grey birds are all 'Marouk'
(Goodfellow, 2014)."
There are specific animals that represent a clan within the particular
tribe. If you were to say someone is "scorpion dreaming" or
"taipan dreaming" it is their particular spiritual energy manifested
in that particular animal. These animals have symbolic significance because of
observed powers and characteristics. Take for instance the snake. One can
readily understand injecting venom bringing death to its victim or the act of constricting
symbolizing the impulse nature of creation.
"The
Aborigines used the word djang to describe the spiritual energy that attached
to spots hallowed by their connections with the legendary past, seeking to tap
it through rituals and dances that linked the living to their remote ancestors
(Allan 2009)."
Dreamtime totems are classified into the following
categories-individual, gender, sectional and sub-sectional, clan, local,
moiety, conception, birth, death and combination or multiple. The individual
totem is usually manifested through walkabout as an initiation rite of passage.
An animal spirit resonates with the individual in tune with the environment and
becomes a part of that human. Genders are usually represented with an emblem of
a non‑human animal signifying the difference of the genders and their
solidarity with one another. Sectional and sub-sectional totems are based on
categorization of lineages. Tribes are divided by up to eight sections, based
on matrilineal descents. The sectional and sub‑sectional totems formed on
kinship adopt a certain mutual ritual to represent the bond based on the
particular animal emblem. Examples are mainly birds such as wedge-tailed eagles
and ibis, whereas the more southern clans in the Kakadu tribes have macropods
such as wallabies.[5]
Birth and death are one of the four major bullet points, if you will,
of Dreamtime. Conception and pregnancy is a time allocated before the child is
implanted in the womb. The prospective mother calls upon her totem to envision
her child's destiny and future before conception.
"The
child may appear in conjunction with a natural phenomenon, often one connected
with the father, with his country, or his social unit. This is the child's
conception totem (Monroe 2011)."
The birth totem is often associated with the Rainbow Serpent as he or
she, depending on region, is the symbol of fertility and children. Death, on
the other hand, begs for the totem to be removed from the individual's carnal
bondage. Any ancestral name must not be spoken of again after a passing but
simply the ancestor's totem can remain with the clan.
Conclusion
Many aboriginals have a profound respect for their surroundings. They
intimately understand what it means to be a part of the environment and that
animals have an important place upon this earth. This is something upon which many
western anthropologists have commented. Furthermore, they have noted their
inability to practice or have the knowledge to implement into their own lives.
The tradition of Dreamtime has surpassed its violent history and remained
steadfastly true to ancestral traditions versus converting to western
traditions embodies by the settlers of the early 1800's. There have even been
recent (in the past one hundred years or so) cross-cultural alliances, in
economizing livestock production and improving the lives of the rural
indigenous communities.
The Kakadu tribe believes that their ancestors take the form of an
animal in the next Dreamtime. Their animal totems essentially dictate diet, in
order to not eat a particular ancestor, as well as how to overcome sicknesses
such as a chronic disorder as alcoholism. Certain totems of clans emulate the
characteristics present in tribal members to which they manifest in song and
dance. The connection between deceased family members and their spirits as
manifested in animals underscores the depth of connection between Aborigines
and the wildlife of the Northern Territory.
"The
Margi, or medicine men, of the Kakadu tribe, tell the latter that the bird is a
relative of theirs and that when they hear it twittering the Yalmuru, or
Iwaiyu, of someone, such as their father or father's brother, is close at hand
and will show them where there is game to be captured. The Margi says, You will
not see anything but you will feel it, that is the Iwaiyu, inside you (Spencer,
1914)."
The natural environment features, according to Dreamtime, is because
of spirits and non‑human animals laying dormant in the time before our time. Imagery
of preceding gargantuan megafauna underneath the layers of earth carving
mountains and cliffs into this vast continent.
"According
to Aboriginal mythology, much of the Australian landscape is populated by huge
hibernating beasts, and etched by the marks of their passing (Bachman
1994)."
Whilst this paper only covered certain elements of the Aboriginal
Dreamtime, particularly in the Northern Territory, there are many other facets
and perspectives that warrant deeper discussions. Generalizations of tribes and
romanticizing ideologies suppresses the core essences of these clans and the individuals
comprising them. Lumping the five hundred odd tribes into one, despite some
degree of overlap in mythology, limits the tradition.
Stories get lost in the flames of ignorance and true history never
makes its way into textbooks or public awareness. Clearing up misconceptions
about the indigenous being heavy alcoholics because of their oppression is
another factor to be considered. This, by no means is discrediting of western
culture, but rather diagramming indigenous perspectives on animals by way of
their history.
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