Theme 3 - Aboriginal Society
Building on the discussions of Aboriginal thought systems in the second theme, the twelve articles in the third theme of ‘Aboriginal Society’, show how these concepts and principles apply in practice.
As is warned in the second article of this section, students may be put at risk of brain hemorrhage when reading these articles. This is particularly so in the third, fourth and fifth articles on totemic kinship. This is partly because the cyclical Aboriginal systems are so different to the linear systems of western thought.
However, gaining even a faint grasp of these concepts will hopefully enrich your practical understanding of the Aboriginal mindset, which is a key objective of this whole course.
THEME 3 - QUESTIONS FOR CONSIDERATION
-
In Aboriginal society, are your granddaughters only girls or your nephews only boys?
-
Whichever of the four Skin Group you belong to, is this also the group that includes your father’s father, your mother’s mother, your marital partner’s father’s mother, and their mother’s father?
-
Should our education system be organized in age cohorts or ability cohorts? What are the advantages or disadvantages of each?
-
Is war part of human nature or just a product of economics?
-
Is the level of a civilization measured by the degree of technological advancement or by the degree of civil cohesion?
-
Would the Kidney-Fat Man motivate you to be law abiding?
-
Have the assumptions of Terra Nullius affected your own knowledge of Australian history?