What is Aboriginal Dreamtime? Is Dreamtime a religion?

1. Dreamtime is a place beyond time and space in which the past, present, and future exist wholly as one. Tribes-people could enter this alternate universe through dreams or various states of altered consciousness, as well as death, Dreamtime being considered the final destination before reincarnation. ABORIGINAL DREAMTIME Task 1: Answer the questions on paper What is Aboriginal Dreamtime? Is Dreamtime a religion? What themes and topics are included within Aboriginal Dreamings? Why are the Dreamtime stories told? Read the page by Aunty Beryl Carmichael first. "Dreaming" is also used to refer to an individual's or group's set of beliefs. For instance, an indigenous Australian might say that he or she has Kangaroo Dreaming, or Shark Dreaming, or Honey Ant Dreaming, or any combination of Dreamings pertinent to their country. This is because in "Dreamtime" an individuals entire ancestry exists as one, culminating in the idea that all worldly knowledge is accumulated through one's ancestors. Many Indigenous Australians also refer to the Creation time as "The Dreaming". The Dreamtime laid down the patterns of life for the Aboriginal people Task 2: Read the Dreamtime stories and create an Aboriginal style artwork to depict the story. Think about the symbols, patterns and colours you can use. Dreaming stories vary throughout Australia, with variations on the same theme. For example, the story of how the sun was made is different in New South Wales and in Western Australia. Stories cover many themes and topics, as there are stories about creation of sacred places, land, people, animals and plants, law and custom. It is a complex network of knowledge, faith, and practices that derive from stories of creation. It pervades and informs all spiritual and physical aspects of an indigenous Australian's life. H/W – Due N.L. Present all work neatly on a double page in your SKB.

2. ‘Why the stories are told’ by Aunty Beryl Carmichael My name is Beryl Carmichael and my traditional name is Yungha-dhu. I belong to the Ngiyaampaa people, come from the Ngiyaampaa nation and the area we're in now belongs to Eaglehawk and Crow. I'm a storyteller as well and all the stories have been handed down to me by my people. I am now custodian of about twenty-eight stories. The stories are a wonderful and a valuable tool, an education tool in teaching our children. The 'Dreamtime' stories as they are referred to today, we didn't know that there was such names for them. Because when the old people would tell the stories, they'd just refer to them as 'marrathalwarkan' which means long, long time ago, when time first began for our people, as people on this land after creation. We have various sites around in our country, we call them the birthing places of all our stories. And of course, the stories are embedded with the lore that governs this whole land. The air, the land, the environment, the universe, the stars. The stories that we are passing and talking on today, we are hoping that, some way, it will help our people-and our children, our young people in particular-to get a better understanding about the lore that governs our lives today. No matter what we do, there is always guidance there for us and the guidance comes through in the stories. And the direction that we are giving to our young people on how we expect them to grow up. How to listen to the old people, but also, never to be disobedient. We must never be disobedient; we must always obey the instructions of our old people and people in authority; always do the right thing; never be greedy; never be a thief and so on. So all these little things are embedded in the stories to our children. That's why the stories are so powerful as an education tool when we're teaching our young kids. We must always refer back to the stories because they're the ones that's going to give them the guidance that they need today.