The Australian Aborigines' Ways of Life
As of 2011, the Aborigines make up less than 3 percent of Australia's population. Much variation in cultural practice exists between the multiple tribes which currently exist on the continent and on the Torres Islands. However, certain commonalities exist with regards to agricultural practices and spiritual beliefs.
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Art
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Different regions of the Australian continent contain different forms and styles of Aboriginal art. However, unifying trends emerge across the different regions. For instance, much Aboriginal art is characterized by a cross-hatching pattern ('raark' design) made with paint, soil or sand. Much of the artwork portrays animals and ancestral spirits who live in the Dreamtime, a transcendent space central to the Aboriginal cosmology. However, many Aboriginal artists may employ traditionally Western practices in their art as well.
Food and Agriculture
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For the Aborigines, the land offers clothes, food and building materials. Instead of depleting the earth of its resources, Aboriginal agriculture is sustainable and relies mostly on hunting and collecting. Some traditionally eaten items include snakes, fish and tortoises. Fruit and plant tubers are eaten as well. The Aboriginal peoples of the Torres Strait Islands (located between Papua New Guinea and Australia) have grown plants such as bananas, taros, coconuts and yams.
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Music
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For the Aborigines, music was a central aspect of daily life and a method of understanding the world of Dreamtime: a traditional song contains many short verses, each of which illustrates an event or place commonly associated with an ancestor. Some instruments they developed include the didgeridoo, the bullroarer and the gum-leaf. The most famous instrument, the didgeridoo, is a wooden tube blown with the lips, which produces an hypnotic droning sound.
Beliefs
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The Dreamtime is a eternal plane of existence where all beings who once inhabited the earth continue to live immortally. Not only is the Dreamtime a central tenet of their cosmology, but it also structures tribal customs and hierarchies. This plane of existence is accessed through song, dance and worship. Additionally, dreams themselves can be the memory of events which took place during the stage of the Earth's creation.
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References
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