A Quest For Understanding

Back in 2001, my mom took my dad and I halfway across the world to Australia. We lived there for six months while my mom was on sabbatical. Never one to miss out on an opportunity to see something new, my mom dragged my dad and I around the country to take in all that we possibly could given out ‘short’ amount of time there. (To my mom, you only have spent enough time once you have literally seen every corner of the countryside.) On one of our little excursions, we encountered the Indigenous Australian people, now commonly referred to as the Aborigines. At the time I was only 11 years old, so I didn’t stand to gain very much from this first encounter, I only remember watching them perform a traditional dance and having some of them teach me how to play a Didgeridoo. Now that I am old enough to appreciate it, I want to further my knowledge and understanding of the oldest culture on the earth, the Indigenous Australians. My current knowledge tells me that they are a hunter-gatherer society, living mainly in the bush. The have a belief system consisting not of gods, but of spirits, for which they perform different ceremonies and dances. This of course may not be fact, it’s just what I remember learning during that experience. For this cultural blog, I want to clear up any of my own misconceptions, and learn as much as I can about all facets of an Indigenous life. Unfortunately, I do not currently have the time or budget to return to Australia to re-encounter this People, nor do I know any Aboriginals here in Massachusetts, so the majority of my quest for understanding will be through the works of others.

Image Source: http://student.britannica.com/comptons/art-90561/Australian-Aboriginal-boys-dance-in-a-festival-held-in-northern