Aboriginal culture: a rich and timeless tradition
The Aboriginal culture has alot of influence in the country. Despite being one of the factors that bring in tourists to their country, the Aboriginal traditions, custom, rituals and beliefs are remain strong and relevant and has withstood the test of time.
The Indigenous cultures of Australia are the oldest living cultural history in the world, They are believed to have existed since 65,000 years. One of the reasons Aboriginal cultures have survived for so long is their ability to adapt and change over time.
Land is essential to the Aboriginal people. The land is not just soil or rocks or minerals, but a whole environment that sustains and is sustained by people and culture. For Indigenous Australians, the land is the core of all spirituality and this relationship between them and the spirit of the land or 'country' is important to them.
National parks can contain sites of significance for Aboriginal communities, such as rock engravings and artwork. National parks can be significant for Aboriginal people because of Dreaming stories associated with those sites.
In a national effort to 'preserve' the Aboriginal culture, National parks management realize this intrinsic relationship that Aboriginal people have with their 'country'. Thus any sacred sites found in the national parks are usually left undisturbed. Often the land areas have been relatively inaccessible, unsuitable for agriculture, or have been left in its original condition..
Music, song and dance was and is still today a very important part of Aboriginal life and customs. There were songs for every occasion, some of which were expressed in special ceremonies.
In most stories of the Dreaming, the Ancestor spirits came to the earth in human form and as they moved through the land, they created the animals, plants, rocks and other forms of the land that we know today. They also created the relationships between groups and individuals to the land, the animals and other people.
For Aboriginal people all that is sacred is in the land. Knowledge of sacred sites is learned through a process of initiation and gaining an understanding of Aboriginal law. It is, by definition, not public knowledge. This is why the existence of many sites might not be exposed to the outside world unless they are threatened.
Perhaps the most well-known sacred site in Australia is Uluru. Located in the centre of Australia, southwest of Alice Springs, the first European explorers named it Ayers Rock. The caves inside the rock are covered with Aboriginal paintings. In 1985 the Commonwealth Government of Australia returned Uluru to its traditional owners, Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara people (also known as Anangu).
Links:
http://www.australia.com/about/culture.aspx
