Aboriginal Land, Dreaming and Law
By Kaitlyn Briden
Indigenous Australians, also known as aboriginals, believed that their dreams where spiritual connections with their gods. There are many stories based on these dreams in aboriginal culture. They believed these dreams contained messages from their gods. Their gods were seen as creatures that looked like native Australian animals, which behaved as humans. They also believed that these gods made and shaped the earth. Because dreams were seen as spiritual connections, they became a central part of life, and many things were based on them, such as the way that they treat the land, their traditions, their celebrations and their laws.
Most aboriginal laws are based on dreams, which have been passed down from generation to generation among the aborigines by things like gathering around the fire at night while an elder would story tell, paintings things such as dreams portraying laws, singing songs, playing music, and dancing in a way that would tell stories. These dreams portrayed things such as punishments for those who broke laws and how things like marriage, family rules, social structure, what foods should be eaten, how food should be shared and most importantly, how they should act towards the land.
Baime Cave
The most important thing that the aboriginals are taught is how they should respect the land. From a very young age, aboriginals are taught how they should act towards the land, and how it should be treated. This is one of the first things that the learn, because the aboriginals believe that the land is the core of all spirituality, the land is essential to there well being, that the spirits inhabited certain places, and that they are all one with the land. They treated the land very well. They did not see it as just rocks, plants, animals and soil, but as a whole in which everything depended on each other, so they lived efficiently, and made sure that the never took more than they needed, and left enough of whatever they where taking, so that it would not run out.
Some Aboriginal Sacred Sites
- The Pinnacles
- Baiame’s Cave
- Flinders Ranges
- Wilpena Pound
- The Blue Mountains
- Uluru
- Ban Ban Springs
- Kakadu National Park
- Willandra Lakes Region
- Murujuga
- Baiame’s Cave
- Flinders Ranges
- Wilpena Pound
- The Blue Mountains
- Uluru
- Ban Ban Springs
- Kakadu National Park
- Willandra Lakes Region
- Murujuga
An English Interpretation of the Aboriginal Dreamtime story, the Rainbow Serpent
(an extract from Australian Lesson Activities- Literacy, Dreamtime Stories- The Rainbow Serpent)