Aboriginies

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Between 1788 and today the relationships between Aboriginal spirituality and Christian tradition have undergone a major development. Initially Christian relations with Aboriginal spirituality was mainly on an anthropological level, if it existed at all. Compassion was shown by men like Lacelot Threlkeld however there was no empathy toward the Aborigines and there was no attempt at understanding them. This came much later and only after great interplay between the two religous schools of thought. As time passed the relationships changed as members of the Christian tradition began to realise and feel responsible for the destruction of the Aboriginal culture. This realisation eventually led to more empathy being shown and to attempts, by members of the chrisitan tradition, to understand the Aborigines way of life. This new found understanding was to bring respect to the Aborigines and has influenced chiristianity, in Australia, to an extent.

Originally European Chrisitans attitude toward was one of arrogance and superiority. Early paintings show the Aborigine as a noble savage; tall, elegant and handsome. Art is a very concise way of describing the rapid deterioration of this initial noble savage view. By the early 1800s the art had changed the way it drew its Aborigine and they now appeared dirty, comical and ape- - like. This reflected European opinion which now saw the Aborigine as a comic savage and had lost its original respect for them.

This religious challenge often forced varied responses from the Aboriginal spiritual community. Believing, at first, that the Whites were spirits returned, the Aborigines greeted them and tried to provide a place for them in society. After this initial attempt at friendship, and when it became obvious that the returned spirits were not freindly the Aboriginis divised means of riding these returned spirits. Similar to their traditional anit-spirital rights these involves creating smoke screens, moving camp, and other rituals. This of course led only to further aggression as the arrogance of the Europeans to the Aboriginal culture meant they did not understand these rites.

Another example of the intial response came form Western Australia. Here the aborignals Noahs Ark type refuge lie in the centre of Australia. This would provide refuge for the Aboriginals as the Whites were drowned. Yet others came upon the belief that the dreaming had ended in 1788 and that their spirits had left to the place in the sky. So great was the religous challenge from the Europeans in certain places that those Aborignies that had been fully intiated, and held knowledge of the culture couldnt be bothered passing on their knowledge of the religion and their culture. Another factor that contributed to this sense of loss was the horrible toll disease played upon the Aboriginals, who had not developed immunities to the most common of European ailments.

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As an oral based culture this meant that the new generation could not become intiated in the spirituality of the dreaming and this knowledge was lost forever. As their religious knowledge was not passed on the Aborigines could no longer live life and survive as had their ancestors. This often meant they became fringe dwellers frowned upon by Europeans. Often there constant prescence at this low level of European culture drew them into drink and they were held in contempt by the rest of society both Aboriginal and European.

Initial attempts to understand Aboriginal spirituality came as mainly an anthropological view. People like Lancelot Threlkeld, a minister in the Lake Macquarie area, believed in Aboriginal rights as a human species, not as an individual culture. He learned the Awabakal tribes language so as to translate the bible for them. The problem was that when he had completed this; disease, violence and other factors had killed most of the tribe. At the Bicentenary celebrations in 188, changing Christian empathy toward Aborigines meant that the bible was published in this almost forgotten language. This provided a way in which the church could celebrate the Bicentenary of the landing of the First Fleet without excluding the Aboriginal community.

As the European Christians began to realize the inpact they were having on the Aboriginal culture they re-assessed some of their actions. Especially within the church and government ideas on the treatment of Aborigines changed. Unfortunately they still had not began to understand or respect Aboriginal spirituality.

Changes in attitude, when they did begin to materialize, came mainly from the mainstream Christian denominations, who were more open to change. The churches began to discuss Aboriginal spirituality and this affected both church and government treatment of them. The stolen generation and its impact on spirituality has forced churches to re-assess their behaviour. They found it to be wanting and so have been forced into a position where they show more empathy, understanding and respect.

Increasingly today Christians are using Aboriginal techniques of sharing their culture for their own purposes. It has meant an emphisis on community that the Aboriginals focused upon and to the individualive they have had to go back to basics. Learning from the Aborigines the Christian churches have realised the importance of story and song.

Christians have also adopted Aboriginal techniques of prosthetisation and have adopted a new focus on iconography. They are taking Christianity to the Aborigines in the Aborigines own language, if you will. This has lead to a revolution of Christianity and now there are Aboriginal ministries, congregations and special religious instruction for those Aborigines who follow Christianity to some degree. Lately there has been a movement toward reconciliation among the churches and church leaders of the religious community of Australia. They have recognised that they have a moral duty to account for actions of the government and church in the past. In 188 Church leaders offered puplic apologies for past church actions as part of a national sorry day. It is obvious that the Christian churches have had their views and opinions drastically changed as now they feel responsible for actions that require apologies. Today the church has a much more empathetic view and wishes to become a servent rather than attempting to push its beliefs upon the aboroginals.

Many Aboriginals have separated their White fella and Black fella business so as to continue their culture in the presence of pressure from European culture. They now see Whites as kin so they can follow their sense of community into normal life. Even Aborigines who live in urban or rural areas allow their lives to be guided by traditional religious principals, beliefs, values and kinship relations. Ethics taught by their belief in the dreaming can often allow them to assimilate easily into western culture and they can become accepted members of the White community. Recognition of their spirituality by Christians have encouraged Aborigines to be proud of themselves.

A lot of Aborigines have interrelated both Christian and Aboriginal spirituality into their own forms of belief, I believe in both ways - our own and the Christian. If we had taken both ways and thought of them seperately, we would have become confused. We believe in the old law and we want to keep it; and we believe in the bible too. So we have selected the good laws from both and put them together. This opinion, of Badangga of Elcho Island, is a case study for the beliefs of many contempory Aborigines who have made a compromise to keep their tradtitional spirituality alive in a world doctered by European Christian culture. They often incorporate Christian stories and traditions into there own spirituality and express these though story, art, song, dance and other religious rites. In this sense Aboriginal spirituality has compromised to overcome the challenge faced by the settlement of Europeans in Australia and has found a place among our society.

However the Aboriginal community still faces drastic social problems and the destruction of their spiritual lives is among the causes of this problem. Many Aboriginals have a sense of hoplessness or feel that there lives are somehow meaningless without this lost culture.

As you can see between 1788 and today Aboriginal spirituality has been greatly afftected by Christian Traditions, which had a very damging affect and almost destroyed the Aborigine way of life. Today, however, efforts are being made by both Christian traditions and within the spiritual community of the Aborigines to come to an understanding and compromise so that both traditions can continue into the future.

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