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ACTIVITIES
General Primary Teacher Guideline
Activity
1
The Aboriginal culture is based around the Land, the Law and the
Spirits.
The Land
Aboriginal
people are guardians of the landscape and they believe that the
land is alive. The spirits are in the land and they can appear from
the land and can determine the interactions of the people.
For example, a crow
revisiting one person could be a sign of death, as could a blowfly,
cloud formations or the call of a bird. These acts occur because
the spirits made them happen. They are everlasting and will never
die. They were there yesterday, are here today and will be around
tomorrow. Time is irrelevant.
To destroy the Land
is to destroy the spirits and the people. An Aboriginal person who
has no land and no link with its spirits, is a soul without direction
or purpose. The spirits gave the groups the major responsibility
to care for the land. The
people and the Land are bound to each other, like a family. The
people do not own the Land.
Activity
Students can research the location of Aboriginal archaeological
sites.
Which of these sites are accepted and which are still being debated?
Activity 2
The Aboriginal culture is based around the Land, the Law and the
Spirits.
The Law
The Law is strict. The individual is always subservient to the group.
The group will only survive if each member carries out their prescribed
role and cooperates with the group. Fishing, dance and art are group
governed activities. Fishing is normally done as a group task and
the food caught is shared by the group and allocated in a set order
dependent upon relationships and ceremonial status.
Dance binds the group together. It highlights their dependence
on their spiritual ancestors and on each other when hunting. It
also provides role models for the children's education.
Art is linked to the spiritual side. A group member can only be
an artist if the group accepts the member as being a worthy artist,
as having an understanding of their society's rules and as showing
an unwavering acceptance of the Law. To paint important images such
as spiritual totem poles, or designs or figures, the artist must
have the correct knowledge and have participated in the proper initiation
ceremonies.
Activity
The Law covered everything in life, eg what and when and how much
they could eat, whom they could talk to, whom they could marry and
how they were educated.
Students are to research two different groups and their groups
laws then create their own group and laws and methods for passing
these laws onto the next generations.
Activity 3
The Aboriginal culture is based around the Land, the Law and the
Spirits.
The Spirits
The Dreaming is central to the existence of traditional Aboriginal
people because it determines their values and beliefs and their
relationships with every living creature and every feature of the
landscape. It is intensely personal and each person is linked to
it through an indicidual Dreaming.
Aboriginal language groups each have their own word for this concept.
The Adnyamathanha group call their Dreaming stories 'Muda'. Many
places within the landscape are sacred and cared for my traditional
caretakers.
Aboriginal Dreaming refers to all that is known and all that is
understood. It is central to the existence of traditional Aboriginal
people, their lifestyles and their culture because it determines
their values and beliefs and their relationship with every living
creature and every feature of the landscape. It is the way Aboriginal
people explain the beginning of life and how everything in their
world came into being.
Dreaming Stories
Dreaming stories tell of the deeds and actions of the ancestral
spirits in the Dreaming. They explain to the listener how those
spirits affect him or her individually and as a group. They may
indicate how to behave, places you may or may not go, foods to be
eaten and rules of initiation (knowledge of the Law).
Dreaming stories are the basis of Aboriginal spiritual beliefs,
many of their social rules of behaviour and their Law. Most importantly,
they link the people to their land - the spirit that created them
created the land, animals and all objects within their group area.
The Dreaming gives Aboriginal people a purpose for living.
Activity 4
Dreaming Stories
Read a Dreaming story, discuss it and then answer these questions.
1. Which spirits help and assist the people?
2. Which spirits are feared by the people? Why?
3. Which spirits have little to do with the people?
4. Which places are should not be visited?
5. Which places were created by the spirits?
6. Which ways of behaviour are considered as being good?
7. Which ways of behaviour are considered as being bad?
8. Which ways of behaving will please the spirits?
9. Which ways of behaving will displease the spirits?
Activity 5
Spirits
Research two different spirit types such as these and answer the
questions below.
Flinders Ranges
Aboriginal children are made aware of the spirit world through the
Dreaming Stories.They find out about the Spirit Ancestors who formed
the land and prescribed the rules for living. The presence of the
spirit people still watch today to enforce the law and punish offenders.
For example, Urrakurli, Wakarla and Wildu: An Adnyamathanha Dreaming
Story.
Western Arnhem Land
Mimi are small, thin spirit people who live in the clefts and cracks
in cave walls. These mischievous spirits are always depicted in
active scenes, for example, running, fighting and hunting. They
are normally painted in red ochre, and are fragile and delicate.
Therefore these spirits do not emerge when it is windy nor do they
come out during the day. They are elusive spirits but are considered
good as they teach the acts of lovemaking and hunting to the groups.
1. Research a Dreaming story and depict it on a display. Use the
spiritual figures in context with their role in the story. 2. Act
out a Dreaming story. Create masks to depict the spirits in the
story.
Activity 6
Crossword Puzzles
(See crosswords)
Activity 7
Language
The Adnyamathanha langauge is called Yura Ngawarla, this language
is still spoken by the Adnyamathanha today. The written form is
still in the process of being documented it has taken so long because
of lack of funding.
Yura Ngawarla is just like any other language around the world
with its complex grammer and sentance structures. Here is a sample
of the language. Click on the words and listen to an Adnyamathanha
pronounce the words!
(Hear words)
Junior to Middle Primary Teacher Guidelines
Activity 8
Language Activities - Junior Primary
Teachers select one image card for each letter in the alphabet or
use an Aboriginal related word to create an acrostic. The flash
images can be used for aiding students in learning the names of
aboriginal related items or issues.
(See images)
Activity 9
Language Activities - Junior to Middle Primary
Select a background and relevant images to form a scene. Describe
the scene and what may have happened before this moment in time
and what could happen after it.
For example:
Bush tucker
Spiritual beliefs
Weapons and tools
Art styles
Culture and music.
(Creekbed scene example)
Activity 10
Language Activities - Middle to Upper Primary
Select image cards that are related to one another and form questions
and activities related to the grouping.
(See images)
Spiritual life and paintings
Suggested images:
Aboriginal people
Burial poles
Hands
Spirits
Echidna
Dreaming stories
Rainbow snake
Art
Corroboree
Zig zig patterns
Hunting
Suggested images:
Aboriginal people
Fishing Corroboree
Spears
Nulla nulla
Kangaroo
Boomerang
Dreaming stories
Women
Aboriginal made
Suggested images:
Homes
Canoes
Nulla nulla
Boomerang
Dilly bag
Coolamon
Didgeridoo
Foods
Suggested images:
Vegetables
Yams
Honey
Ants
Women
Coolamon
Dilly bag
Fishing
Animals
Suggested images:
Echidna
Kangaroo
Lizard
Rainbow snake
Turtle
Frog
Fishing
Galah
Jabiru
Pelican
Tools, weapons and utensils
Suggested images:
Boomerang
Nulla nulla
Spears Fire
Women
Dilly bag
Coolamon
Activity 11
Topics - Middle to Upper Primary
Select one image and research facts and issues related to it, covering
many topics such as craft, art, culture, function, beliefs.
Craft/Art Activity
Create a plan of a campsite in groups
Keep in mind:
- climate
- permanent/semi permanent/temporary site
- materials to be used
- wind direction
- shade
- which group members camp where
- mosquitoes
- water sources.
Create models of different styles of Aboriginal camps
Students collect materials around the school and home (eg mud, branches,
stones, bark, leaves, grass), research different shelters for different
purposes and seasons to create the models.
Activity 12
Teaching and Learning Activities The Flinders Ranges Today(Level:
Upper Primary/Middle Secondary.)
Level: Upper Primary/Middle Secondary.
Outcomes:
Students will:
1. understand the Flinders Ranges today, with particular reference
to the Adnyamathanha people.
2. develop further the skills of applying, synthesising, analysing
and evaluating.
Methodology: Students may work as individuals, or in pairs or
in groups. The activities in this unit are influenced by Benjamin
Bloom's Taxonomy and Howard Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences.
Section A: Knowing and Understanding.
- List activities which are available to visitors in the Flinders
Ranges.
- Group these in categories, so that visitors are able to choose
the ones in which they are most interested.
- Construct a map of the Flinders Ranges which shows:
the main geographical features and landmarks,
the main towns,
the location of Adnyamathanha groups,
the location of Adnyamathanha sacred sites.
- Explain why some sacred sites are closed off from public viewing.
- Why were the Flinders Ranges so named?
Section B: Applying and Synthesising.
- Create a virtual Tourist Centre which respects the environment,
the land and sacred sites.
- Compose a song about the land forms of the Flinders Ranges
and be prepared to perform it for the class.
- Create a poem about an animal of the Flinders Ranges.
- Design three different hiking tracks in terms of route,
length and time taken complete each one. Explain or illustrate
the features you will pass on your journey, for example, Sacred
sites, settler ruins, landmarks, animal habitats…..
- Imagine you are hiking and camping with an Adnyamathanha
guide. In a sudden storm, you have lost all your food and
camping gear and you are three days away from the nearest
homestead. Using Adnyamathanha knowledge, plan the last leg
of your journey.
Activity 13
Teaching and Learning unit for the Adnyamathanha People.(Level:
Middle Secondary/Senior Secondary.)
Outcomes: Students will: 1. understand traditional Adnyamathanha
society, the impact of European settlement and issues facing the
Adnyamathanha people today. 2. develop further the skills of applying,
synthesising, analysing and evaluating.
Methodology: Students may work as individuals, or in pairs
or in groups. The activities in this unit are influenced by Benjamin
Bloom’s Taxonomy and Howard Gardner’s theory of Multiple Intelligences.
Section A: Knowing and Understanding.
- List activities which are available to visitors in the Flinders
Ranges.
- Group these in categories, so that visitors are able to choose
the ones in which they are most interested.
- Construct a map of the Flinders Ranges which shows:
-the main geographical features and landmarks,
-the main towns,
-the location of Adnyamathanha groups,
-the location of Adnyamathanha sacred sites.
- Explain why some sacred sites are closed off from public viewing.
- Why were the Flinders Ranges so named?
Section B: Applying and Synthesising.
- Create a virtual Tourist Centre which respects the environment,
the land and sacred sites.
- Compose a song about the land forms of the Flinders Ranges
and be prepared to perform it for the class.
- Create a poem about an animal of the Flinders Ranges.
- Design three different hiking tracks in terms of route,
length and time taken complete each one. Explain or illustrate
the features you will pass on your journey, for example, Sacred
sites, settler ruins, landmarks, animal habitats…..
- Imagine you are hiking and camping with an Adnyamathanha
guide. In a sudden storm, you have lost all your food and
camping gear and you are three days away from the nearest
homestead. Using Adnyamathanha knowledge, plan the last leg
of your journey.
Activity 14
Source Analysis: The Adnyamathanha People Today.
- "I would like to say how my life changed from the days
of my initiation to how I live now. I was forced to make a choice.
If I wanted to get work and give my children a chance of a good
education I had to leave my home and ...(traditional)... land
to go to a white community, I had to borrow money to shift to
Port Augusta from Community Welfare. This money I had to pay
back. ... For years now I have worked to support my family and
give my children their education in Port Augusta, that they
should have been able to get on their own …(traditional)… land."
Quoted in Yura Adnyamathanha Trainees Newsletter, Vol 1, No
12, August, 1975.
- "I think we should be involved because Adnyamathanha
people have a lot of history the park, in the sites and we would
like to look after them things but if they don't have Aboriginal
rangers there, you know what's going to happen. They’re going
to have vandalism through that country and there won't be any
control by aboriginal people and nobody to teach them the culture
and heritage. My job involves teaching people about the area.
Even one of the other Aboriginal rangers didn't know much about
the area where the paintings were and the sacred sites and I
had to show some of what I knew."
Roger Johnson, Nepabunna, 1989
- "It would be good to go back and teach how to cook a
damper, what sort of soil to use, what sort of wood to use to
make a fire so that you can get the flavour, how to grill a
kangaroo tail or leg on apiece of timber, how to cook witchetty
grubs without burning them, why its important to eat witchetty
grubs sometimes raw and where to go to find the iga tree and
which is the ripest fruit and how to get it without knocking
off and demolishing all the fruit, how to pluck the quandong
fruit from the tree without bruising the fruit There's a lot
of knowledge to pass down."
Owen Brady, Port Augusta, 1989
- "/ think Udnyus (Europeans) should learn about our culture
in schools. Mostly I'd like them to learn the language and our
original foods. I think that's important because if they're
stranded out in the bush they don't know anything but if there's
Aboriginal tucker there, they'd be okay. You'd have to take
them out there to teach them. You can't learn it from books.
That's what I'd like to do with kids from Hawker, Udnyus and
Yuras."
Pearl McKenzie, Hawker, 1989
- "/ was aware of being Adnyamathanha but I didn't come
up here to the Flinders until about twelve years ago when I
was about thirteen or fourteen. I was introduced to my relatives
then by my uncles and grandfather. When I was at school, Aboriginal
studies wasn't taught, it wasn't recognised. Aboriginal people
weren't even recognised. It feels good to be teaching Adnyamathanha
students here in Leigh Creek.
I'm slowly learning a bit of language. It's one of the things
I've regretted. My grandfather believed that because we moved
away from here he didn't talk about Adnyamathanha people and
about things that happened so we missed out on a great deal
of our heritage because when he died, he kept it with him."
Haydyn Bromley, Leigh Creek South, 1989
- "… our people … didn’t want Mt. Serle as a pastoral property.
They wanted it as a place to preserve the land where they could
teach their culture and look after the sites ... (they) looked
at the land ... as a cultural resource - for camping, bush food.
Collecting wild fruit, shooting kangaroos and emus for tucker
... "
Cliff Coulthard quoted in Mattingley and Hampton, p. 233
- "...(the transfer) is a great achievement for the Adnyamathanha
people as it (Mt. Serle) will be a great asset to today's and
further generations' We welcome the white people to come and
share our culture and live happily together. "
Cliff Coulthard, quoted in The Advertiser, 12/3/90, p. 2
- "Alcohol will effect you and it doesn’t matter who you
are. Those Aboriginal people that were finding it difficult
to understand the physical damage that alcohol does just continue
to drink and we’ve had a lot of deaths because of that. To prevent
alcohol abuse, I think employment is very important. Being idle,
having nothing to do tends to lead on to drinking. There’s (got
to be) a commitment to employment but you've (also) got to develop
as a person. We're hoping that with kids leaving school now
that some things will rub off and respect is a big thing. If
you are shift to gain respect that will help too."
Garnett Brady, Port Augusta, 1989
- "If I have kids one day, what I think would be important
for them to be taught are the things I wasn't taught. It's only
these past four or five years that I've learnt from my uncles
and aunties about the Adnyamathanha way, like how come there's
coal at Leigh Creek, about the eagle and "Oh my warlla" (the
song) and where this person is related to that person and so
on, how Coulthards are related to Jacksons and McKenzies. I
can walk down the street now and say "Oh, that's my cousin"
or "That person's related to me somehow."
Troy Jackson, student at the Aboriginal Teacher Education Program
at S.A.C.A.E., Underdale, 1989
- "What I always stress for the future is you must have
education. Realistically, you can’t live traditionally. ...
You've got to go hand in hand with whitefellas. ... Education
is the main thing. Relevant education. For Adnyamathanha kids,
first thing, the must be proud to be Aboriginal. I believe you
can work on from there. Adnyamathanha kids should be proud of
their heritage. They should learn the language again, not again
because they know it, but they should be encouraged to speak
it in school and also learn the white man's way. Put two and
two together. Another thing, with Adnyamathanha kids up there,
they should be encouraged to come down to Adelaide to school
(when they reach senior secondary)."
Buck McKenzie, Adelaide, 1989.
Questions
- In each source, identify a challenge facing the Adnyamathanha
people today.
- What evidence in the sources is there to suggest that knowledge
of traditional Adnyamathanha culture is vitally important
for modern Adnyamathanha people?
- Each of the sources present the view of an Adnyamathanha
person about their lives. How useful are personal accounts
for historians?
- Use the sources and your wider knowledge to suggest ways
in which indigenous and non-indigenous Australians can cooperate
together to achieve reconciliation.
Activity 15
General poetry analysis
Poetry is a fine art. Students must learn to appreciate poetry,
examine poems critically and practice different styles while creating
their own. Presentation to an audience is also part of the joy and
satisfaction. Publishing on the Internet is now achievable by everyone
and a wonderful medium for making student work easily accessible.
Reflect about the teachings of this site.
Analyse the different aspects of Aboriginal Australia that we have
tried to convey to you.
Picture how the five senses can be merged with the topics of perspective,
land, beliefs, art, social structure and lifestyle. Consider figures
of speech and the use of similes (picture one thing as being similar
to another eg She swims like a fish.) and metaphors (picture one
thing as being like another eg The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed
upon cloudy seas). Consider the use of onomatopoeia words (words
that sound like the action they are referring to eg drip, growl)
or personification (the giving of living qualities such as habits,
actions eg Gentle breezes stroked our faces.). Consider short sentences,
shaped poems, rhyming pairs, limericks or creating a rhythm in your
poem.
Read and examine the following poems.
For each poem consider the following:
What type of poem is it and what images does it create in your thoughts?
Difference ©
Why?
Why can't we all be the same?
We all look the same,
Except for our colour.
We all sound the same,
Except for our language.
We all feel the same,
Happy, Sad, Laughter, Pain.
So why can't we be recognised as being the same?
War, Land, Peace.
War has broken out because of difference.
Land has been stolen because of difference.
Peace has been wanted because of difference.
Why?
Why can't it be time to change?
We seem to be afraid of change,
Except for technology.
We seem to want the change,
Except we're not too eager.
We seem to need the change,
Colour, Sexuality, Race, Gender.
So why can't we have a new millennium change?
Why?
Please tell me I need to know.
By Bobbie J. Keane
16th April 2000
Year 11
Wilderness School
Australia
Listen To This Voice ©
Nobody's listening to my voice
I'm screaming as loud as I can
Am I shouting only in my mind?
No words seem to escape my mouth
No sound, not a single screech
I've seen this world from a different angle
I've seen this world containing so much hatred
I've seen this world constantly change
I've seen people from different angles
I've seen people fight over newly "discovered" land
I've seen people's minds constantly change
Nobody's listening to my voice
I'm wanting to be heard
Am I fighting for a lost cause?
No words seem to enter others ears
No audience, not a single person
I've listened to everyone else's views and angles
I've listened to battles, combats and wars
I've listened to technology constantly change
I've listened to theirs, what about my angles?
I've listened to pain, that's not needed anymore
I've listened to the change, but it needs to be bigger
Are you listening to my voice?
Am I able to be heard?
I'm wanting for a better world
All these words may only be small
All small, unless everyone listens
Listens to this voice
By Bobbie J. Keane
21st April 2000
Year 11
Wilderness School
Australia
Untitled ©
I'm fearful
Fearful for what?
Being judged, out cast and seized
I feel trapped because of what I am
I'm me
You and you alone.
Existing as an individual, mortal and kind
I feel free because of what I am
By Bobbie J. Keane
21st April 2000
Year 11
Wilderness School
Australia
Where We're Headed ©
Should I be ashamed of the world's past?
I will say sorry for those who died
I will apologise for those who were stolen
Why won't you?
Can you see what this world has become?
I will cry for those who suffered the pain
I will pray for those souls that died at sea
Why won't you?
I can watch where the world is going
Don't you understand how far we've come?
Don't you see how our people have changed?
You've seen it
I can rejoice for the worlds future
Do you realize how far we've got to go?
Do you appreciate our transformation
You've seen it
By Bobbie J. Keane
5th May 2000
Year 11
Wilderness School
Australia
So Who Cares ©
Why were our ancestor so cruel?
Okay they were different
But who cares?
It was only the colour of their skin
Have you seen how cruel Europeans have been?
Okay we needed land
But who cares?
It was stolen not once but thrice
Here we are the new Generation
Okay so can we change?
But who cares?
It's for the sake of the next generation
.....our children
By Bobbie J. Keane
5th May 2000
Year 11
Wilderness School
Australia
Words of meaning ©
Does the word war
mean anything?
It should
It's the time when we all
try to save ourselves
Does the word hate
mean anything?
It should
It's the time when we have
lost all our love
Does the word drug
mean anything?
It should
It's the time when some have
given up their hope
Does the word power
mean anything?
It should
It's the time when we have
more ambition than needed
Does the word greed
mean anything?
It should
It's the time when we have
cherished money more than love
Does the world's people
mean anything?
It should
It's time we cherished
For the greater good
Does the people's independence
mean anything?
It should
It's time we shared
For the greater good
Does the animal kingdom
mean anything
It should
It's time we spared
For the greater good
Does the green environment
mean anything?
It should
It's time we saved
For the greater good
Does the new millennium
mean anything?
It should
It's time we change
For the greater good
By Bobbie J. Keane
14th August 2000
Year 11
Wilderness School
Australia
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