Week 11 - Representations of Indigenous Spirituality

Indigenous spirituality is far apart from traditional known monotheistic religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. In particular, this divide can be seen between the Aboriginal and Judeo-Christian spiritualities in Australia. Indigenous spirituality is "performative rather than meditative, and relational more than privatistic" (Sutton 2010, p.71). Due to the strong history of Judeo-Christian beliefs from the British settlement made in Australia in the 1870s, Sutton (2010) puts forth that modern Indigenous people have taken on parts of each of these spiritualities in what he calls the New Age. In particular he talks about Wik Presbyterianism, a dual cosmology encompassing traditional Aboriginal beliefs with colonising Presbyterian beliefs (Sutton 2010, p.72). As opposed to the Church, Aboriginal spiritual authority comes from the inside to the outside rather than from the upper to lower hierarchy of the Church (Sutton 2010, p. 72). One of the major differences between traditional religion and Indigenous spirituality is the rejection of strict guidelines and authority. Instead it is about the embodiment of practice, ritual and ascertainable faith (Sutton 2010, p.72). 

In more recent history, there has a been a shift towards New Age Indigenous spirituality which carries with it influences of other religions, Sutton (2010) points out. New Age spirituality shows influences from nature spirituality among other things in a more climate conscious world, "Meta-explanations involving fertility beliefs and notions of the 'earth as mother' have gained great credibility in recent times, throughout Aboriginal Australia as well as internationally" (Jones: Sutton 2010, p. 74). 

Australian History Curriculum Reform: Johnson, S. (2013) The Magic Pudding. Qweekend, p.17.

Sutton also raises the issue that while we describe New Age Aboriginal spirituality, we also need to take care that it is described and accounted accurately; this goes for traditional Aboriginal spirituality as well. Australian history has often mis-represented Indigenous spirituality for lack of knowledge and/or experience. This, in turn, loses the trust of the Indigenous community. Sutton suggests this is because, 

"Many of us experience an aesthetic and ethical revulsion at cavalier shopping-around among traditions as as to create eclectic, fanciful, simplified, often bowdlerised version of indigenous religion, fit for transmission to a mass audience and typically marked by various kinds of factual errors."

In other words, people are often too lazy to go and find out the actual facts and truths of spirituality and in turn make judgements based on false evidence. As a part of this in Australian culture, in the past decade there has been an upheaval of the National Curriculum in order to make History a compulsory subject from Prep to Year 12 (Johnson 2013, p. 16). The fight is going to be difficult as not everyone is going to agree on all points of Australian history, especially those concerning the treatment of Indigenous Australians at the time of settlement. In particular, there is a disparity between the former Howard governments ideal Judeo-Christian white history to that of the left-wing unethical treatment of the Aboriginal community view (Johnson 2013, p.16). 

Australian History Comic: http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/gallery-e6frf7jo-1111120757216?page=12

The collaboration has taken approximately four years in order to gain accurate information from a range of experts to provide a comprehensive work inclusive of every aspect of Australia's history. This is particularly important with regards to Aboriginal spirituality as there can be inaccurate re-inventions of the past, from something that was once complex and multi-layered to something that is dumbed-down (Sutton 2010, p.80). This new curriculum contains sections that are revolutionary towards Aboriginal culture so as to see "the way in which Aborigines have struggled against oppressive conditions and the restrictions of their rights...and that they won freedoms and rights for themselves through some quite monumental struggles (Evans: Johnson 2013, p.20).

This is a great achievement for Indigenous culture and spirituality. Ultimately, "Scholars have a duty of care towards the integrity of those traditions to which they have been introduced by the traditions custodians," (Sutton 2013, p.81) which should never be forgotten for any piece of writing, blogging included. 

References: 

Atchison, M. (2007) First Fleet settlers giving aboriginal man "Sorry IOU" for use in the future.. Herald Sun, [online] 30th November. Available at: http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/gallery-e6frf7jo-1111120757216?page=12 [Accessed: 19th May 2013].

Johnson, S. (2013) The Magic Pudding. Qweekend, p.16-20.

Sutton P. 2010. Aboriginal Spirituality in a New Age. The Australian Journal of Anthropology, 21(1): 71–89. RL.