Aboriginal And Torres Strait Islanders - 1514 Words

An indigenous person is a term used to describe the original inhabitants of a land, the people who were there before any settlers of a different land came and took over. Indigenous people will have generally retained their cultural practices and traditions that will differ greatly from that of the settlers. The term ‘Indigenous person’ is used to describe Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. (Australian Human Rights Commission, n.d.) Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders are the original land owners of Australia, having lived here for more than 40,000. They were free to practice a different way of life and culture before European settlement in the late 1700s. Aboriginal people originally inhabited mainland Australia and the†¦show more content†¦Things like poverty, drug and alcohol use, unemployment and health problems are high among indigenous people because they either don’t trust the systems in place to get help, or because they don’t understand the processes involved in using them. (Learner Guide, n.d) Dreamtime is the beginning, the aboriginal equivalent of the Big Bang theory. According to aboriginal understanding, The Dreamtime is the creation of the world, the time when their Ancestor Beings existed. These Ancestor Beings awakened the dark and silent world by breaking through the earth s crust, causing the sun to rise from the ground and shine light on the earth for the first time. It is believed the Ancestor Beings of Dreamtime were half human in form and resembled creatures or plants. They travelled the earth creating the landscapes of the world on their journeys. They made the aboriginal people, who are the decedents of the dreamtime ancestors, as well as the native animals and creatures of the land. They are also responsible for the moon and the starts, as well as the natural elements, water air and fire. Once they had made all of this, they went back to their sleepy state into the earth. (Aboriginal Art, n.d.) Now, aboriginals continue the Dreamtime with what is referred to as The Dreaming. The Dreaming is practiced in stories, song, dance, artwork