Dreamtime Stories

From AustraliaWiki

Contents 1 Introduction 2 The Stories

Introduction

In the course of time of thousands of years the Indigenous People created several interpretations of nature phenomenons like the sun, the moon the fire, etc..

Within one fact all the tribes or clans are agreed. The necessity to dream the past, to learn from all the history. Every "thing" hold a story at it's dreamed place. Although the Indigenous People do not talk a lot to the white people, they feature the human ability to communicate to others. But they do it in another way. They deliver the dreams or known history by ancestor in dances, spiritual songs or in rites.

And all the time the collective affinity take center stage of all things since the beginning of the world. Humans, animals, flowers, trees or dead stones, all of them have a collective time. The culture of the Indigenous People was developed of this alliance, a culture never forgot their roots. The results were the formation of tribes, laws, different languages, rockpaintings, dances and songs. It was a continuous culture until 1788. And the Indigenous People tried to hold their culture continuous although constantly persecution, murder or Christianization by the white people. The white people could not destoy the complete culture of the Indigenous People. Far from it! Because of this the tradition to relay their old culture within the dreamtime-stories in dances and songs was expanded.

Dances, that are famous because telling about dreamtime-creatures, about hunting, about love and sexuality, about life in nature and about clans. They tell the stories with more dances sometimes more theatrical and sometime with more songs. The country is in the center! The country is protected and administrated by creatures at the great Rainbow Serpent Wanambis disposition since the premordial time.

Sometimes dancers use make up. Especially while emulating animals, nature or other types in society. Than dances are called "coroborres" and may take place several days. Often the dancers and singers were accompanied on the clapsticks or bumerangs by rhytmical knocking with canes of wood.

Maybe most of the European Didgeridoo (also called Didjeridoo) musicians do not know about the myth fact of this instrument. This long, wooden hole perch symbolise man energy in form of a penis of the ancestors. Because of this woman must not play the Didgeridoo. Real Didgeridoos are build at rigorous rituals while singing songs of the procedure. In the old told code, only allowed music may be played. This include the rituals of helping ill clan-members.

As I told in the chapter The oldest survived culture of the world (Text only available in German!) the wizardry and magic is part of all kinds of Australian religions. Not unworldly but in form of existence. This is a kind of magic that show to help ill people and that show where to find something to eat or dring in the desert.

In Australian courts especial in the Northern Territory it is well known, that the judicature at native peoples are strict and more evenhanded. If someone act against law, he is punished by the tribe. The punishmend by the "white" court is less strict. The court know that the tribes impose stricter punishments.

This ceremonies are part of the indigenous movement to go back to the basics.

I was asked lot of time how all the stories could be saved over such a long time without write it down. I think that we only know a very few stories and legends of the dreamtime. Since 1788 about 250 languages were gone. Together with that languages a lot of stories are lost, too. During the build of the "Wivenhoe Dam" in Queensland the responsible persons were in contact with the native people of Gaiarabau being a part of the Jinibara. The building was planned since 1960 so there was enough time to save holy places of the indigenous people. The last survifed member Willie Mackenzie of the Darwarbada clan in the Caboolture region helped. After his death in 1968 another language died, too. A lot of his stories were not written down.

There exists a second explanation about the competence of the indigenous people to fall into a condition of trance. Did they know drugs before they know the Europeans? There exists some special cases. Pituri is a kind of drug out of a plant called Duboisia hopwoodii. It contains parts of Nicotin and Scopolamin. The last one is responsible for halluzinations. The natives liked it because it results for a short time in a kind of happyness. It also made the daily fight more comfortable. On the other side they could enter the stories of the dreamtime.

It is very unfortunate that the values of the stone age are so much different from those of modern times. A combination seems to be unrealistic. Unimaginable that white people live by laws of the indigenous people. But white people are able to think about Sense of Live or the past or the meaning of nature in "civil modern" life.

But this was not discussed in history in 1788. The British thought they were entitled to annex "uninhabitated country". The navtives got no chance against the British Empire. Anyway the "Empire" had to fight. Due to this fights the old settlers became national heros? Really? Maybe the indigenous people are the real national heros because they survifed the genocide?

The Stories

All the following Dreamtime Stories are only available in German language and they are all linked into the German version of this Wiki:

• The origin of the Earth and Mankind
• The Universe in the legends of the Indigenous People
• Didgeridoo - Legend, Cult and Present
• Legends about Country and People
• Legends about the Animals
• Legends about australian-characteristical items
• The Legends of Vesper and Curlew
• Stories about the genesis of Sun and Rainbow
• Why the crow is black
• How the Kangaroo got a long tail and the Wombat got a plain forehead
• Why the Whale shoot water, why the Starfish got lobe and why the Koala got strong arms
• The legend of the big flood
• How the Koala lost his caudal
• Why the Osprey was pushed to the sea.
• How the mermaids developed
• The legend of the Wallaroo Willy-Wagtail
• Why the Emu got short wings and why the Brolga got a rough voice
• Koobar, the Koala and the water
• Legend of the origination of the sun! - Another story
• Legend of the dying and reborn Earth
• Legend of the secret Drop Bear
• About the origination of the hills
• One Australian Legend
• The Legend of All Father Baiame
• The Dreamtime - How the Sun sorted Earth
• Another legend about Baiame
• The creation of the Murray River of Ngurunderi
• Baiame and Marmoo
• How the names Wagga Wagga and Murrumbidgee originates
• The myths of the People of Pintubi
• The big flood at the natives in the Kimberleys Region
• Frazer Island - The coloured Sands
• The marks of the Rainbow-Snake
• The story of Mulka
• The Artuni Story
• Legend about the origin of the Wilpena Pound and the Flinders Ranges

Copyright Hinweis! Wir danken für die freundliche Unterstützung von Herrn Dr. Dieter Tischendorf, der uns das Textmaterial in deutscher Sprache zur Veröffentlichung hier im Australienwiki zur Verfügung gestellt hat. Eine kleine Übersicht vieler seiner Bücher ist in unserer Linksammlung zu sehen.

Copyright Notice! Special thanks for the friendly assistance of Mr. Dr. Dieter Tischendorf making this information with his textdocuments in German language available. A small list of many of his books is availavle in our link-collection.