What Means Healing for Aboriginal People and Communities in Australia - Essay Example

The Running Head: Critical analysis paper   Your name:   Course name:             Professors’ name: Date: Healing In reference to Aboriginal people and communities in Australia, “Healing” is a term which is widely used, and there is no single meaning that is given to the term healing. According to aboriginal people healing tend to restore a balance between the environment and the people (Healy, 2008), to an aboriginal person, healing is a way of living; a way of approaching life. One of the common beliefs is that healing usually takes time and sometimes is found to be intense, second, the relationship that is there between a healer and an individual is important, these people also believe ceremonies will offer guidance to healing, healing was recognized by the aboriginal communities, and it was passed from aboriginal elders, there were some practices which shaped the aboriginal healing, for example men rested before going hunting, even women rested during their menstruation period (Healy, 2008). Another practice which was widely followed in aboriginal communities was smudging; through it aboriginal people were able to purify their minds and physical surroundings. The land in which plant for healing were found was grabbed away from them by the whites people, thus, they were forced to abandon their traditional practices that used to connect them with Mother Nature. In the analyzed book: “Elders – Wisdom from Australia’s Leaders” Djarla Dulumunmun don’t believe reconciliation between the aboriginal people and the whites cannot happen, because there have never been any partnership between the aboriginal people and non-indigenous people. Taking care of environment is very important to aboriginal values and beliefs; they believe that people to fit into environment, rather than outside the environment; whereas white’s philosophy has placed people above the natural world. Aboriginal people also believe all good things have already taken place; this ideology is different from those people coming from the west of development and progression. As such, the culture of aboriginal will not allow manipulation and destruction or altering the natural environment to suit the needs of human beings, such as farming or lumbering; which is in opposition to the Western idea of development and progression. To aboriginal person, the bush-land or environment- is a part of his/her lifestyle but for white, environment or land is something to conquer and destroy (Healy, 2008),. Aboriginal Land In aboriginal people the concept of land ownership in the community is different from the white understanding of land tenure (Western Australia. Aboriginal Affairs Department, 1986). The western ideology see land as an economic resource which can be made good use of, in term of it development and resources extractions which are found on it. The aboriginal people believed each member of the community occupied precisely the same territory that had been created by their ancestors, this was called dreamtime events. The land in aboriginal people was an economic resource because they use to get their food from the land; as a hunter and gatherer society. According to aboriginal dreamtime stories, aboriginal people were taught and at same time they believe each individual in the community had a personal relationship with their land and all the things that are contained in it; both plants and animals (Western Australia. Aboriginal Affairs Department, 1986). Culture is key to aboriginal people; land is culture to aboriginal people, when aboriginal people take care of their land when their culture has been taken care of, therefore, culture is is the key to care for the aboriginal land. When aboriginal people are able to take care of their land (Western Australia. Aboriginal Affairs Department, 1986), it strengthens their culture and well-being in the society. That is the reason why so many aboriginal people got sick when they were removed from their traditional land by the white settlers in Australia. When an aboriginal person tries to educate a non-indigenous person about, what land means to the aboriginal people, they often are “hit with this hurtful phrase “the land belong to all the people and not the aboriginal people alone” and this to them is one of the most hurtful comments they have to endure in aboriginal life. Destruction of land or things that are found into it is like cutting the hearts of aboriginal people. Aboriginal people deeply dependent upon their beliefs, land and their inner life for identification of the community and strength. When something disrupts their belief- land- it usually makes them vulnerable. To an aboriginal, land was spiritual, but also economic resources, their source of livelihood came from the land (Western Australia. Aboriginal Affairs Department, 1986). Aboriginal Hunting and gathering The aboriginal people in Australia their main occupation was hunting wild animals and gathering wild foods and fruits. Typically, everyone in aboriginal community had a role to play. The women collected plants and small animals for food, and the responsibility for me was to hunt large birds and animals such as ostrich and kangaroo for meat. For example, the aboriginal communities that were found in deserts hunted for large kangaroos and emus, while those that were found at the coastal areas ate sea foods and large marine animals like turtles and whales. Aboriginal people were very clever animal trackers, they had this skills that would enable them to tell where animal had passed recently when they out in hunting, also one of the features about their hunting skills was that men used to hunt in groups when they had to kill large animals, for example they used boomerangs- hunting tools- to damage the knees of large animals such as kangaroos. Aboriginal people were very sustainable and well aware that some resources cannot last a lifetime if too much hunting took place or hunting in the wrong seasons (Western Australia. Aboriginal Affairs Department,1986). However, with the coming of white people, mass killing of whales for their meat and oil and destruction of forest was not pleasing to aboriginal people. Some of the settlers displaced aboriginal people from their land; this was difficult for them because, their source of livelihood was destroyed. A combination of nomadic lifestyle and hot climatic climate made it difficult for aboriginal people to build substantial houses, which were easily destroyed by white settlers because they were made from locally available materials. Aboriginal Family The aboriginal family structures are still cohesive forces which binds the people in the community together in all region of Australia (Browne, 1985). Family in aboriginal communities is part of culture and it usually provides psychological and emotional support to all the people belonging to a family. Although to a non indigenous person it a concern, they would prefer aboriginal people to follow Australia preference to nuclear families with few responsibilities (Browne, 1985). Aboriginal people don’t call their family members by names, they usually use terms such as brothers, aunt or cousin. In contrast to Australia mainstream society, aboriginal people will place great value in sense of belonging to a family; which it gives them a sense of belonging to their people. In aboriginal families (Browne, 1985), children upbringing is the responsibility of the entire extended family and not only will their biological parents and this include their care discipline and education. A strong family tie that is there in aboriginal families has enabled them to pass their cultural beliefs from one generation to another generation. They believe without strong family ties, children will lose their cultural beliefs and identity. Every older person in aboriginal community has a important role to play in contemporary aboriginal families, they are often seen to be the key decision makers. They are also responsible in teaching important skills and customs of aboriginal to children also pass on knowledge and share personal stories (Browne, 1985). Aboriginal Lore Law Traditional laws in aboriginal people were vital aspect of every community’s life, the people learned their laws from those dreamtime stories that informed people on what is accepted and what is not accepted in the community, together with the punishment offenders will received when they break any law that is there in the community. The aboriginal people took their various laws seriously because they were considered to have originated from their ancestors and therefore they were considered to be law makers or an important aspect of aboriginal life. The lore that were found in aboriginal people were compatible to ten commandments, also taught and guided the aboriginal people to survive. Although to a non indigenous person it a concern, they would prefer aboriginal people to follow Australia laws that were followed by people in the mainstream society. Reference List Browne, R. (1985). An aboriginal family. Sydney: Lerner Publications Co. Healy, J. (2008). Aboriginal people of Australia. Michigan: Pellegrini Publisher. Toohey, J. (1984). Aboriginal land. Sydney: Lerner Publications Co. University of New South Wales. Aboriginal Law Centre. (2003). Australian indigenous law reporter, Volume 8. Sydney: Prospect Pub. University of New South Wales. ( 1997). Aboriginal Law Research Unit, University of New South Wales. Aboriginal Law Centre. Sydney: Aboriginal Law Research Unit Publisher. Western Australia. Aboriginal Affairs Department. (1986). Aboriginal land: a briefing paper to aboriginal organizations concerning the arrangements between the Western Australian Government and the Commonwealth Government relating to aboriginal land. Sydney: Government Printer Read More