SOR DOT POINTS
1. Contemporary Aboriginal Spirituality
* Discuss how Aboriginal Spirituality is determined by the Dreaming.
* The Dreaming is a term referring to Aboriginal spiritual beliefs about creation and existence.
* According to Aboriginal belief, all life as it is today - human, animal and plant is part of one vast unchanging network of relationships which can be traced to the ancestral spirit beings of the Dreaming.
* Kinship
* Def: Is highly sophisticated networks of relationships governing interactions between members of Aboriginal language groups.
* It is based not only on familial relations but also on relationships from one's totem.
* Kinship ties govern the day to day life of the Aboriginal people - whom an individual is permitted to talk to and marry, to determining what are an individual's responsibility is to other members in the clan.
* Kinship ties also assign the responsibility to communicate the knowledge of the Dreaming from elders to the younger generation.
* This process of learning the Dreaming is a life-long pursuit.
* Obligations to the Land
* The land is of paramount importance to Aboriginal spirituality.
* Aboriginal people have regarded the land as their mother and hence have worked to deepen their understanding and appreciation of the land.
* The Dreaming is inextricably connected to the land, as the land is the physical medium through which the Dreaming is lived and communicated.
* The land provides the foundation for Aboriginal beliefs, traditions, rituals and laws because the stories of the Dreaming are embedded in the land.
* At of many formal public events in Australia an acknowledgement of the traditional owners of the land indicates this significant link between the indigenous people and the areas in which they have lived.
* Sacred sites or ritual estate have a special significance for particular Aboriginal groups as they are connected with...