Culture of Australian Aboriginals (Land,dreaming and law)
Law
Native Aboriginals were thought of as savages without law and order until very recently when they were given land rights.Aboriginal Law is mostly derived from dreaming stories, which were taught at an early age so that they were disciplined as they grew older. Punishments of breaking Aboriginal laws were learned from watching people being punished and watching trials, law was settled by an orderly discussion involving most of the language group. If the law breaker could not agree on a punishment in the orderly discussion then the clan elders would be called to settle the discussion and decide a punishment. One Aboriginal law was that you should treat other clans with respect but your real loyalties should lie within the language group you belong to. Aboriginal law covered a lot of things such as what you can eat, how the food was distributed, marriage arrangements, family rules and religious duties. The punishment of crimes was moderated according to how bad the crime was, The punishment varied from feeling ashamed to supernatural punishment to spearing which was when a spear men would spear you through the thigh.
Land
The Aboriginals have there own knowledge of the plants and animals of their land, the aboriginals have kept their connection with the land through storytelling, dance and song. The aboriginal people were semi-nomadic but still moved around within certain borders. These borders were kept with certain landmarks such as a particular rock, a river or a mountain. Many national parks work with Aboriginal people to preserve their land because a lot of national parks hold significant Aboriginal beliefs and connections.
Dreaming
Aboriginal Dreaming is how the Aboriginals explained certain land formations and unlike many people think the Dreaming are not creation myths but formation myths of how the featureless land we know as Australia came to be full of life and valleys and rivers. Every Aboriginal language group has their own dreaming myths. Dreaming Aboriginal societies structures a lot of social concepts and ceremonies that go on on in everyday life. The Dreaming for many aboriginal Australian language groups is a time when beings formed the world and when everything was perfect. Aboriginal Dreamtime can be used as a historical source because some of the stories are true and are passed down from generation to generation by song, dance and stories. The beings that roamed around Australia did all the things that Aboriginals did today like digging for water, fighting with each other and camping. The Aboriginal Dreamtime is the oldest culture in the world and once all of the Dreamtime beings had finished forming Australia they tranOutsformed into objects such as rocks, trees, rivers, stars and bushes.