Australian Aboriginal Beliefs and Spiritualities

Text Reading Guide- p 11-16

1- Aboriginal Spirituality is most linked to what type of religion (Circle one)

a. Humanism b. Paganism c. Polytheism d. Animism

2- List items which led European settlers to develop cultural imperialism towards Aboriginal
people.

They weren’t considered civil, the had no fences, no written books, organized religion, no
cultivated crops, etc

3- dreaming promotes a distinctive worldview.

4- Explain the role of ancestor beings towards Aboriginal spirituality. (60 words minimum)

5- Compare the creation story of the Western and Aboriginal perspective.

The western world uses organized religions to view the creation of the world for example the 7
days that god made the earth in, and the Islamic ideas that allah created the universe. Where as the
aboriginals believe the rainbow serpant shaped the earth and its movement formed the land
features and wakened the animals

6- The term “the Dreaming” refers to two things according to the text. List them
a.

b.

7- Describe the connection Aboriginal people have with sacred sites.

8- Examine the significance of the Totem to the Aboriginal belief system.

9- Outline the variety of layers a Dreaming story can have.

10- Explain the diversity of the Dreaming.

11- Anthropologists indicate that there was little warfare between groups….why?

12- Summarize the last paragraph of p. 16 in one BIG IDEA.

13-