Giovanna Spantigati

The word Aborigine comes from latin and means "from the origins". This name has been given by the English colonists to the population they met in Australia during their colonization.

Australia. The Australian aborigines are a still existing ethnic group, even though dramatically reduced by the English colonization at the end of 1700. The aborigines have been living in Australia for at least 60 thousand years. They have been contaminated by the contact with Europeans, and this decimated them since they didn't have the right antibodies even for simple illnesses like cold and flu. Furthermore, English people have always tried to change their lives "westernizing" them and not reckoning their identity and the fact that they were owners of the land they had been living in. This uprooting coming from a different culture forced them to face huge identity crisis, alcohol, depression and even diabetes (because their body does not recognize and bears a different kind of food).

THE STOLEN GENERATION

During the past centuries and for many years, the Australian government used to take aboriginal children with light-colored skin away from their families pretending they would give them a college education. The truth is they wanted to send them away from black aboriginals in order to wipe their origins. Girls, after education, were instead employed as servants for white people and boys employed in hard and uncomfortable jobs. Recently the Australian government has tried at least to make up for its mistakes apologizing officially. Yet, the aborigines are still fighting for their rights and for their land. They don't want the Australian government to ruin their land for economic interests. This is in brief the aboriginal story.
Every people have their story, their culture, their characteristics, but I would like to explain why aborigines are so special to me.


DREAMTIME

The aboriginal story and culture has always been orally transmitted and their origins have always been very strong. They go back to the "Dreamtime", a time in which the world was populated by totemic and metaphysical beings depicted as animal-shaped creatures. While walking or hunting they left their marks taking the forms of mountains, rivers and any other object in nature. For this reason the aborigines strongly believe that every place on their earth is sacred and they fix a strong connection between every living being and every place. The peculiarity of the Dreamtime is that it is not fixed in the world's historical past; it is a "time" in a parallel dimension. It is accessible to them just through their dreams when they can communicate with their spirits and decode the meaning of premonitions.


WE DON'T OWN THE LAND, THE LAND OWNS US

This strong tie with nature is the origin of the deep respect for every living being and thing on earth. The wellness of the hearth itself depends on the correct balance between every being and consequently of human beings too. The aborigines say: "We don't own the land, the land owns us". Gratitude and love towards the earth and its creatures has given birth to the concept of "Oneness". We are all one and part of one. The aboriginal peoples have never been in war with each other, they had precise laws to respect - inherited from "The dreamtime"- and they perfectly knew that every man needed other men to live. The aborigines instinctively have always known what quantum physics has recently discovered. The quantum physics states that we are energy, we are all part of the same energy and energy itself spreads all around.

That's the reason why they developed their senses to use the power of thought and the reading of thought. They knew that, through training and practices their mind could sweep to other dimensions. The aborigines suffer because they have been deprived of their lands and culture, but what frightens them most is the destruction made by man. Man has destroyed the world abusing nature and all this will turn against man himself. To live in tune and harmony with ourselves we must start to respect what surrounds us. I added some videos with clear explanations by the aborigines about their way of seeing life. I also wanted to add some videos about "The Dreamtime" because the sweetness and musicality of these stories deeply fascinates me.


DIDGERIDOO

Didgeridoo is a typical Australian instrument which must be played using a special breathing technique of circular breathing. Traditional didgeridoos were made from eucalyptus (especially in North Australia) dug by termites in its inner parts. Once the naturally hollowed out wood is retrieved, the bark is taken off, the ends trimmed, and the exterior is shaped, it is decorated with traditional paintings about the aboriginal mythology. The vibrations of the didgeridoo can touch emotions and energy both of the players and the listeners. All around the world every year there are events and festivals to share aboriginal music. Music, for aborigines, is also a way to get to their culture.

And in silence and humility I want to listen and learn…

BOOKS:
My place -Sally Morgan
Aboriginal Men of High Degree A.P. Elkin
The songlines - Bruce Chatwin



FILMOGRAPHY:
The stolen generation
Where the green ants dream
Carabina Quigley
Walkabout
10 canoes
The last wave