Aborigine


 * __ THE ABORIGINES OF AUSTRALIA __****// Inquiry Question: Why do people need creation myths? //**

Hi there! This is Jessica L, and welcome to my wikipage!:) I chose to research on the aborigines of Australia because they have a very interesting, firm, and established system on how the universe, and all forms of life came to be. I hope you gain a better understanding on the Aborigines, their distinctive beliefs, and why I believe people need creation myths after reading this page. Enjoy!:)


 * MAP OF ABORIGINE SETTLEMENT IN 1770s **

This map shows the settlement of aborigines in Australia from 1770. Aborigines are indigenous to Australia, meaning that they are native to the country. This tribal group had lived in the Australian outback ever since the continent was discovered. However, nowadays there are practically no more aborigines left to be seen in Australia.


 * THE CREATION MYTH OF THE ABORIGINES **

Below is a recording of the aboriginal creation myth. The same story is shown underneath for visual guidance. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the story!:)

media type="file" key="Aborigine Creation Myth Recording.m4a" width="300" height="50"

// “When the earth was new-born, it was plain and without any features or life. Waking time and sleeping time were the same. There were only hollows on the surface of the Earth which, one day, would become waterholes. Around the waterholes were the ingredients of life. //

// Underneath the crust of the earth were the stars and the sky, the sun and the moon, as well as all the forms of life, all sleeping. The tiniest details of life were present yet dormant: the head feathers of a cockatoo, the thump of a kangaroo's tail, the gleam of an insect's wing. //

// A time came when time itself split apart, and sleeping time separated from waking time. This moment was called the Dreamtime. At this moment everything started to burst into life. //

// The sun rose through the surface of the Earth and shone warm rays onto the hollows which became waterholes. Under each waterhole lay an Ancestor, an ancient man or woman who had been asleep through the ages. The sun filled the bodies of each Ancestor with light and life, and the Ancestors began to give birth to children. Their children were all the living things of the world, from the tiniest grub wriggling on a eucalyptus leaf to the broadest-singed eagle soaring in the blue sky. //

// Rising from the waterholes, the Ancestors stood up with mud falling from their bodies. As the mud slipped away, the sun opened their eyelids and they saw the creatures they had made from their own bodies. Each Ancestor gazed at his creation in pride and wonderment. Each Ancestor sang out with joy: "I am!". One Ancestor sang "I am kangaroo!" Another sang "I am Cockatoo!" The next sang "I am Honey-Ant!" and the next sang "I am Lizard!" //

// As they sang, naming their own creations, they began to walk. Their footsteps and their music became one, calling all living things into being and weaving them into life with song. The ancestors sang their way all around the world. They sang the rivers to the valleys and the sand into dunes, the trees into leaf and the mountains to rise above the plain. As they walked they left a trail of music. // // Then they were exhausted. They had shown all living things how to live, and they returned into the Earth itself to sleep. And, in honour of their Ancestors, the Aborigines still go Walkabout, retracing the steps and singing the songs that tell the story of life.” //

Aborigines call their creation myth the “dreamtime”. According to them, the word “dreamtime” refers to the "time of the creation of all things". However, there isn’t just *one* story that explains the universe as a whole. The dreamtime talks only about how the universe started. As for how the other things, such as mountains, came to be, the aborigines have an individual story for each. A creation story of ONE particular object/being is known as the “dreaming”. For example, one may say they had “mountain dreaming”, which would mean they know the story of how the mountains formed.
 * DREAMTIME **



This is an image made by aborigines. This particular image represents the aboriginal creation myth shown above. Aborigine art all consist of highly intricate, repetitive patterns, and are all dotted. This particular art style is known as the “aboriginal dot art”. Aborigines express their beliefs of how the universe came to be through their art and music too. In this image, it is illustrating the “dreamtime”, or the time of creation. There is first a confined tunnel of light, containing all the materials of “life”. This continues, until one day it expands, and spiritual beings mould the chaos into the universe. The small images of people on the left side of the image represent things that were created during the “dreamtime”.


 * WHAT IS A MOTIF? **

A **__motif__** is a distinctive feature or dominant idea in a literary composition, like a stereotype.
 * What motif is shown in the aboriginal creation myth? **



Although there are countless different creation myths around the world, most have similar ideas to one another. In the Aboriginal creation myth, it talks about time “splitting itself apart”, and mystical spirits appearing and sorting the mess into what we know as the universe now. This myth would then best support the idea of the “fractionation of things from primordial chaos”. In the beginning, there was nothingness. Everything didn’t make sense, and was all meld together in a confined space. It continued, until one day, time separated into day and night. Spiritual beings moulded the chaos into planets, one of which we know as “earth”. They then made humans, plants, animals, as well as all the other forms of life from the earth. Such all came from a time of disarray and nothingness.


 * ANSWERING THE INQUIRY QUESTION… **

Every culture in the world holds some sort of belief as to how the universe came to be. Cultures each respect their beliefs so genuinely, that they actually fight over which one is correct. Brutal killings over cultures with controversies in their beliefs are a common sight in history books. But really, why does it matter? Why are creation myths so important? This short essay below shows my response to the question.


 * Why do people need creation myths? **

Creation myths serve an extremely important role in peoples’ psychological minds. Humans crave certainty, because uncertainty is a frightening emotion. We like to know what’s going on, and when we have no idea, we become frightened or nervous.. By knowing why and how we’re here, people can live with more self-confidence, and with less doubt. Believing in spiritual beings also helps comfort people to believe they can escape what seems like a dead end path in their life.

“It is as though we are causation-greedy, preferring a bad explanation to none at all” (Julian Baggini, March 28 2006). It makes one nervous and scared when there is something lurking in the darkness that they cannot identify. By being perhaps the most intellectual, dominant creature on this planet, it strikes us as unnerving when there’s something beyond our control, things we cannot interpret. For example, the aboriginal creation myth gives an explanation as to how the universe was first created. By knowing something, we are more confident. By understanding how the universe came to be, we do not need to question our own existence, but instead live it as purposefully as we can.

“Humans like to twist the truth into what they want it to be” (Clay Dillow, June 22 2009). We like to believe that we’re here for a sole purpose we’re not just like any other living being on this earth. However, we really aren’t so different. Creatures function without questioning why they’re doing so. We, however, don’t see a point in their actions. We don’t want to seem as “pointless” as them, so we believe we are here for higher purposes. However, when people come to a point in life where they encounter something to their disfavour, they deny such truths. Thus, they hope on “beings”, mystical beings that they believe watch them, and take care of them. In the aboriginal creation myths, such beings that help us under times of despair exist too.

In conclusion, creation myths are an impeccable part of a person’s life because it helps us explain the unexplainable. Humans dislike being shrouded by uncertainty, so creation myths are made to take away the uncertainty. At the same time, myths provide us reassurance that a “being” controls the things we cannot control on this earth. Therefore, creation myths are important because they provide us self-comfort and certainty in our lives.


 * Annotations of Two Resources **

Crystalink. "Australian Dreamtime - Crystalinks." //Crystalinks Home Page//. Web. 8 Dec. 2010. .

A. This source talks about the aborigine’s beliefs in how the world functions, and how everything came to be. B. This source proved useful because it helped me gain a deeper understanding toward how the aborigines viewed the universe as a whole. The source, however, isn’t so reliable since it doesn’t show the author/editor’s name, nor the corporation the helped with the creation of the website. C. From this source, I learnt that the “dreamtime” has more than just the beginning part. The dreamtime refers to **any** story related to how an object came to be, rather than just the creation of the world. Thus, this source was very helpful because it cleared my initial misunderstanding of the definition of “dreamtime”.

 Painsley Year 8 RE Resources. "Aborigine Creation Story." //Internet for Learning - Virtual Web Server Host//. Web. 9 Dec. 2010. .

A. This website shows the creation myth of the aborigines, told in simple diction. B. This source has simple diction and is concise and easy to understand. However, the source is rather unreliable, as it doesn’t give the author’s name, editor name, not even the corporation’s name. It only mentions that this website was made by Grade 8 students during class. C. This source was useful in helping me understand the creation myth of the aborigines. The ending paragraphs, mentioning “the song of life”, gave me an idea as to why this creation myth is important to the aborigines, which proved helpful in answering my inquiry question, “Why do people need creation myths?”.


 * Bibliography **

Applegrove. "People Need Creation Myths." //Democratic Underground//. 20 June 2008. Web. 9 Dec. 2010. .

Baggini, Julian. "Why Do We Have Creation Myths?" //Latest News, Comment and Reviews from the Guardian | Guardian.co.uk//. 28 Mar. 2006. Web. 6 Dec. 2010. .

Dillow, Clay. "Corporate Creation Myths, and Why We Need Them | Fast Company." //FastCompany.com - Where Ideas and People Meet | Fast Company//. 22 June 2009. Web. 9 Dec. 2010. .