Importance of Dreamtime Stories in Aboriginal Culture Essay Example
The First Nations people of Australia have been telling Dreamtime stories for about 65,000 years. It is known that Dreamtime stories have a strong cultural meaning and message. Before I begin, we would like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the lands where we meet today, the Yuggera and Turrbal people, and we pay our respect to the Elders both past, present and those emerging. As global citizens, we can collaborate to keep cultural stories and traditions alive through authentic cultural exchanges and experiences because the creation of my children’s book and artwork will keep cultural stories and traditions alive.
The Warlpiri People are a tribe which is located in the Tanami Desert, east of the Northern Territory-Western Australia border is from the First Nations People of Australia. The central concept in Warlpiri religious beliefs is jukurrpa, usually translated as "The Dreaming." The main challenge that the Warlpiri people faced was a massacre from white settlers, miners, and police – and they had to fight for the survival of their respective cultures which made it extremely difficult to keep their cultural stories and traditions alive like the story being retold and transformed.
The traditional story that has been chosen is called “The Jungala Brothers”. The story “The Jungala Brothers” is very significant to the Warlpiri tribe because it resonates with how the Warlpiri people live and the respect that they have for the rules of their culture. The boys’ father is the Blue Tongue Lizard man, the old Lungkata. He asks his two sons to go out hunting and instead of travelling out into the desert to look for game, they kill and roast the old man’s sacred kangaroo. When he returns from ceremonies to find his sons cooking his pet, he becomes enraged and uses his blue tongue to light a magical fire. The boys flee with their two spears, woomeras, stone knives, and headbands, which are all illustrated, and travel as far as South Australia until they notice the flames dying out. They cautiously return home over the black & charred landscape until they reach Warlukurlangu, and it is here that they meet their end and die under the sand as the inferno passes overhead. The thing that the author want’s the readers to take away from the story is that we should all respect rules in indigenous culture . This story is relevant to all because the text is explaining that just as we obey the law and respect people, we should do the same for the rules of First Nations culture.
My chosen proposal to communicate the story “The Jungala Brothers” through different mediums is a children’s book. This ‘transformation’ will be effective in keeping this traditional story alive for future generations because they are easy to understand for all ages. The book will mainly be targeted at young children because if the stories are being told by adults to younger children, they will be able to pass on the story that they have been told and retell the story to generations to come. The children’s book will be distributed in public libraries, school libraries and shops. The thing that I want people to take away from the ideas is that you should always respect the rules of First Nations culture.
The Dreamtime stories are an essential part of the Aboriginal culture. The stories are handed down in many ways, but in this case, it is through storytelling. This way, it makes it easier for very young children to learn and pass down. Therefore, it is very important to try and keep the cultural stories and traditions of First Nations People alive, and we all need to know that all Dreamtime stories have meanings behind them.
