2 Unit Religion – Aboriginal Spirituality.

What does Terra Nullius mean? From at least 60,000 B. C. , Australia was inhabited just now by old and Torres nonch Is get d avoucher quite a little with handed-down, social and knowledge domain rights. To the Aborigines the knock down was everything to them and is nigh(a)ly think to their Dreaming stories. Dreaming is the belief organisation which explains how the genetic organisms moved across the fetch and created life and significant geographic features. In consideration, the indigenous Australians atomic number 18 a companionship with a close relationship with the vote out, and through the take down they maintain the spiritual links to the ancestral beings.The place down is sacred, and for m either(prenominal) thousand years, immemorial quite a little lived in consonance on their belt down. After the arrival of the British colonies in 1788, Australia was decl ard Terra Nullius, which is a Latin term meaning land be broads to no one. As a result of this , Captain Cook, the British captain of the offset printing fleet of ships to acquire at Australias shore, claimed that all of the east coast of Australia belonged to Britain. The to a lower placelying pedigree was that central hoi polloi were so low on scale of kind- sumed development that their look ats were discounted.Because old the great unwashed did not farm the land, shape permanent houses on it or use it in early(a) acquainted(predicate) ways, the British decreed that they did not go for rights everywhere the land nor did they confuse any proof of land ownership. other reason was that there was no identifiable hierarchy or political order which the British disposal could recognise or negotiate with. Once European settlement began, indigene rights to traditional lands was disregarded and the aborigine hatful of the Sydney region were almost obliterate by introduced diseases and, to a lesser extent, armed force.First cont good turns were relatively peaceful but Aboriginal sight and their floriculture was strange to the Europeans as well as their plants and fleshlys. Consequently, Terra Nullius continued on for over 200 years. gauge 1 Eddie Mabo Figure 1 Eddie Mabo Who was Eddie Mabo? Eddie Koiki Mabo (seen in figure 1) was born on 29 June 1936, in the community of Las on Mer, known as Murray Island in the Torres Strait. His birth observe was Eddie Koiki Sambo however he was raised by his Uncle Benny Mabo through a prevalent Island adoption. During this time, the concept of terra nullius was legislation.When Eddie was growing up, life for the people of the Torres Strait Islands was strictly regulated with police forces made by the Queensland Government. However, the Meriam people strived to maintain persistence with the past and continued to live a traditional lifestyle ground on fishing, gardening and customary laws of inheritance. At the age of 16, Eddie was exiled from Murray Island for breaking customary Island law, and he set off for the mainland where a new life was delay for him. Through university, Eddie read a speech in front of people rough his peoples belief ab expose the land ownership.A attorney heard him and asked if he would like to argue with the Australian political sympathies about the right for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders to have land rights. After this, Eddie Mabo was prospering in addressing the concept of indispensable rubric to the Australian governing on behalf of Murray Island people. He is known for his billet in campaigning for original land rights and for his role in a landmark decision of the spicy solicit of Australia which neglected the intelligent doctrine of terra nullius land belong to nobody, which characterized Australian law with regards to land and style of respect.Eddie died in 21 January 1992 and was unable to see the native title given to them. What were the Mabo case and the high tap decisions? In the 1970s, the Queensland Government took over Aboriginal land and was unsympathetic to the concept of land rights or any idea of native title to the land. On the 20th of May 1982, Eddie Koiki Mabo and quaternity other Torres Strait Islanders challenged terra Nullius and began their legal claim for ownership to the Supreme judicature of Queensland of heir lands on the island of Mer in the Torres Strait since their people had lived on the islands long before the arrival of the white settlement. Eventually, the supreme move of Queensland dismissed the case. Later, other challenge to the concept of terra Nullius was witnessed when Mabo and the four other islanders took the case to the High lawcourt of Australia. They requested that the court decl are that their traditional land ownership and rights to the land and seas of the Mer Islands had not been eliminate. Furthermore, they claimed that the Crowns authority over the islands was subject to the land rights of the Murray Islanders.It was not until 3 June 1992 that Mab o case No. 2 was decided. By then, 10 years after the case opened, Eddie Mabo had died. By a majority, six out of one of the judges agreed that the Meriam people did have traditional ownership of their land. The judges held that British possession had not eliminated their title and that the Meriam people are entitled as to possession, command, use and enjoyment of the lands of the Murray Islands. This decision has wiped the concept of terra nullius and awarded the indigenous Australians with the aborigine Title.Consequently, the term Native title is still in population and contributed to allow the Indigenous Australians to maintain a continuous spiritual and heathen connection to the land. Therefore, this decision was important because it recognised that Australia was inhabited By the Indigenous Australians long before the White settlement and hold the native title. What is the Native title cultivate (1993) Commonwealth? Native title is a legal term which recognises the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to the use and occupation of lands with which they have maintained a continuing, traditional connections.Eventually, in the 1970s the Queensland government began to remove the land rights of people of Murray Island in the Torres Strait. One of the Meriam people, Eddie Mabo, took the Queensland Government to court to prevent this from happening. Sadly, this case failed. Moreover, Mabo and some other people took the case to the high court of Australia. The high court decided in favour of the Meriam people and recognised the principle of Native title. Ultimately, during this historical event, Eddie Mabo was dead. In 1993, The Keating Labor government passed the Native Title Act.This Act accepted the notion of Native title in law and overly recognised the rights of owners of freehold property. Nevertheless, pastoralists and taprs were still concerned, and numerous people striked land from the government. The legislation aimed to codif y the Mabo decision and implemented strategies to allay the process of granting native title. However, it had not resolved the question of whether the granting of pastoral lease extinguished Native title. In this case, the High court argued that native title could co-exist with the rights of leaseholders.However, the pastoralists and the mining companies who lease lands were still concerned that the court was too ofttimes in favour of native title. In 1997, native title act passed by the Howard government. This act stated that Native title and leasehold rights could co-exist and in any conflict, the rights or the leaseholders would come first. What was the Wik Decision (1996) commonwealth? The Native title Act of 1993 had not resolved the question of whether the granting of a pastoral lease extinguished Native title.In 1993, the Wik people on Cape York in Queensland made a claim for land on Cape York Peninsula which taked two sizeable Pastoral leases. The federal court upheld th e Native Title Act 1993 a pull inst the Wik people, with an argument that Aboriginal Australians had no control over land that has been leased. This case was notwithstanding taken to the High court of Australia. In December 1996, the high court ruled that the granting of a pastoral lease had not in particular extinguished native title. With reference to a letter from 1848 in which a British secretary of state for colonies wrote to governor ofNSW which stated that the leaseholders had to negotiate with the traditional owners to allow them introduction. Pastoralists viewed the Wik decision with great concerns, for they had always believed that they had full and sole rights to allot their leases. After the Wik decision, Pastoralists would have to negotiate with any group who could prove native title right. Unfortunately, the pastoralists and miners increased the pressure on government because they were not contented with the Wik decision and the idea that Indigenous Australians ha d rights to leased land.After a debate on this issue, the Howard government passed an amendment to the 1993 Native title Act. This change reduced the rights of indigenous Australians under the act and removed(p) their right to negotiate with pastoralists and miners. This new law, made it rugged for Aboriginal Australians to make land rights claims Outline the importance of the Dreaming for the land rights movement? The Dreaming for Australian Indigenous people (sometimes referred to as the Dreamtime or Dreamtimes) refers to when the Ancestral Beings moved across the land and created life and significant geographic features.The land rights are of critical importance in relation to Aboriginal spirituality, because the dreaming is inextricably attached with the land. Since the Dreaming is closely connected to the land, the land rights movement is an important movement in helping Aboriginal people re-establish spiritual links with their sacred land which was lost as a result of the European settlement. The dreaming is essential to the land rights movement because of many reasons such(prenominal) as To the Aborigines, the dreaming is the central role which land occupies in Aboriginal spirituality, as land is the path through which the dreaming is undergo and communicated.Without the land, the dreaming cannot be communicated because it is from the land that the stories of ancestor spirits in the dreaming flow. It is through their intimate connection to the land that the foundational concept which lies at the heart of Aboriginal spirituality, that is, the dreaming can be nettleed. The land therefore, acts as the bring forth for the Aboriginal people, and that since it is, the identity of every Aboriginal person is closely think to the land. Therefore, the importance of the land rights movement for Aboriginal spirituality should not be underestimated.More importantly, the dreaming stories provide the entire ethical and moral basis by which Aboriginal people li ve on their land and relate to to each one other. It is known that the access to their land is fundamental to the putting into practice of Aboriginal law. This performer underlies the Aboriginal law is the knowledge and ritual relating to sacred sites. These sites need to be cared for and this is done through ritual ceremony. Each person is associate to the spirit ancestor who created the land, and it is this which creates an Aboriginal persons identity.Through the dreaming, Spirit connects each person with particular sacred sites, with the result that each person has a connection with specific places on the land. According to the Aboriginal belief trunk, individuals have clearly defined responsibilities in relation to the land, in particular the bulwark of sacred sites. Sacred sites may be desecrated through grazing, mining, or perhaps contact with site by people without knowledge of the necessity ritual. Access to these sites is critical for the performance of rituals and ce remonies so that the law can be taught to new generations.Another importance of the dreaming is that the dreaming connects each tribe to a totem. A totem is an emblem mainly a plant or an animal that has become a symbol for a group who is believed to be prudent for their existence. The totem unifies the Clan (group) under the leadership of the spirit ancestor and thereby to a fault creates a metaphysical connection with other orders bearing the same totem. Without their access to their totems, the Aboriginal people would lose their identity and prevent the belief outline to be passed on to the next generation. Also, being taken away from a totem can alienate the individual from their clan.The land rights movement can re-establish the access to the totems and belonging to the same clan under the sacred totem. Thus, the dreaming which explains the clans existence by their totem is essential to the land rights movement. For the purpose of land rights and spiritual fulfilment of the land, the Australian History has witnessed many land rights movement. Those include the Yolgnu people of Yirrkala in 1963 and the 1966 Gurindji people. In 1963, the Yolgnu people of Yirrkala sent a typed predication in both their own language and English to the federal sevens because the government had granted a mining company the right to mine auxite without consulting the traditional owners. The paper was fixed to a surrounding bark create which depicted the peoples relationship with the land, and the Yirrkala people were seeking designation of rights to their traditional lands on the Gove Peninsula. This however, was rejected in the court. To not underestimating this land rights movement, it was the first Aboriginal land rights movement and was an important step in the ultimate recognition of indigenous land rights movement.Another Early land rights movement was in 1966, when the Gurindji people began a strike at the British-owned Wave Hill stake in the Northern Territory t o protest about intolerable working conditions and low wages. They set up a camp at Wattie creek and demanded that some of their traditional lands to be restored to them. The protest eventually led to their being granted the rights to Wattie Creek by the Whitlam Government in 1975. The passing by the Fraser Government of the Commonwealth Land Rights Act northern territory, 1976, gave Aboriginal people freehold title to traditional lands in the northern territory.As shown, the land rights movements were based on the belief of the dreaming. This is because the land is closely linked to the dreaming and by restoring land rights again, the Aboriginal community could re-establish the dreaming which involves the land, sacred sites, totems and ancestral beings. How has eviction change Aboriginal spirituality? (seperatio Land, kinship, stolen generation). The Dispossession of the Indigenous Australians has had a major come to on their Spirituality and beliefs, including their connectio n to the land, kinship and explored a major erect which is the stolen multiplication.When the White Settlement began in Australia in 1788, Australia was called terra Nullius meaning that the land belongs to no body. What was unknown to the British settlement is that the land is the home for the Aborigines and those Aborigines have been vitality in this land for more than 50,000 years. In the nineteenth century and oftentimes of the twentieth century the official policy towards Aboriginal Australians was called protectionism. Protectionism is the idea that Aboriginal Australians needed to be separated from the white society and be saved because they were unable to do so.As a result, they were removed from their traditional lands and placed in missions which at that time were controlled by Christian churches. This was a major factor in separating Aboriginal people from their own culture and religions. Since the Aboriginal religion is based on the dreaming which refers to the time where ancestors created the land, the dreaming is closely connected to the land because it is through the land that the stories of the dreaming emerge. Many of their rituals and ceremonies were inseparably linked to the land and sacred sites.Consequently, many Aborigines were separated from their spiritualties and beliefs. Another major topic of dispossession from land is when separated people have later time-tested to gain access to their land but have no knowledge of the law and tradition and also no proof of their connection to the land. Therefore, dispossession from land has impacted on the Aborigines because the land plays a major role in their spiritual beliefs. Similarly, separation from phylogenetic relation groups has modified the Aboriginal peoples opportunity to express their religion in traditional songs and dances.The Kinship is a complex system of belonging, relationships and responsibilities within a tribe that are based on the dreaming. Due to the fact that most of Aboriginal tribes had their own language, separation from kinship made it impossible for Aboriginal people to save their own language and dreaming stories of their clan (tribe). It is known that each Aboriginal individual has a responsibility within their clan. Many Aborigines as a result of dispossession lost the opportunity to participate in rituals that would gain them acceptance into the clan.Eventually, Kinship groups had the responsibility for raising and nurturing children even though they were not their biological children. When children were taken away from their clan by the white colonisation, the community lost the responsibility of taking care and nurturing the children and thus, lost the concept of kinship. Another effect of separation from Kinship groups is that the separation prevented individuals from inheriting the traditional parenting skills such as teaching the young their responsibilities and the dreaming stories.Separation from Kinship can also mean isolat ion from the ceremonial life. Ceremonies such as initiations or funerals are of a critical importance because they are a part of the Aboriginal life. Without these ceremonies, a person is disconnected to their kinship and their Aboriginal spirituality. This also limited the spread of their beliefs to the next generations. Hence, Kinship separation has led to the loss of spirituality. The so called Stolen Generations have also affected the Aboriginal spirituality.The term Stolen Generation refers to the children who were removed from their homes among 1900 and 1972 by the Government and Church missionaries in an attempt to view these children into European society. Most of the children who were taken away lost contact with other Aboriginal people, their culture, beliefs and land. In addition, they also lost their own languages. As a result, the stolen generation found it difficult to restore the connection with their own people and culture. The children were only exposed to white c ulture, because they were told that their families had rejected them or they were dead.The contact between the children and families was rarely allowed. This lead to a lack of role models taught the Aboriginal beliefs. both(prenominal) of the stolen Generation could not pass on the dreaming stories of the ancestral beings to their children, irrelevant how they were initially taught with their Aboriginal community. Many of the children were exposed to Christianity in its various forms. The children were taught the Christian religion in Christian missions, which undoubtedly contributed to the destruction of aboriginal culture and spirituality. Thus, the removing of the Aboriginal children had impacted on the Aboriginal spirituality.Therefore, the dispossession from the land, kinship and the stolen Generation has affected the Aboriginal Spirituality. 1 . http//www. aboriginalheritage. org/ archives/history/ 2 . http//www. parliament. nsw. gov. au/prod/web/common. nsf/key/HistoryBe foreEuropeanSettlement 3 . Religion and Belief system in Australia post-1945 4 . http//en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Eddie_Mabo 5 . http//www. racismnoway. com. au/teaching-resources/factsheets/19. hypertext markup language 6 . http//www. racismnoway. com. au/teaching-resources/factsheets/19. tml 7 . http//en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Eddie_Mabo 8 . http//en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Eddie_Mabo 9 . Religion and Belief system in Australia post-1945 10 . Religion and Belief system in Australia post-1945 11 . http//www. aboriginalheritage. org/history/history/ 12 . Religion and Belief system in Australia post-1945 13 . Religion and Belief system in Australia post-1945 14 . www. atns. net. au/agreement. asp viper? EntityID=775 15 . http//www. library. uq. edu. au/fryer/1967_referendum/labour. hypertext mark-up language 16 . http//www. library. uq. edu. u/fryer/1967_referendum/labour. html 17 . http//reconciliaction. org. au/nsw/education-kit/land-rights/ 18 . http//www. library. uq. ed u. au/fryer/1967_referendum/labour. html 19 . http//www. abs. gov. au/Ausstats/emailprotected nsf/Previousproducts/1301. 0Feature%20Article21995? opendocument 20 . http//reconciliaction. org. au/nsw/education-kit/land-rights/ 21 . http//reconciliaction. org. au/nsw/education-kit/land-rights/ 22 . http//www. library. uq. edu. au/fryer/1967_referendum/labour. html 23 . http//www. library. uq. edu. au/fryer/1967_referendum/labour. html