Oral Traditions in Aboriginal Australia

Thus far in class we have studied many oral traditions from a variety of cultural backgrounds that date back thousands of years. However, we have yet to discuss the oral traditions of the indigenous people of the Aboriginal communities found in Australia. Aboriginal people are said to have one of the longest, continuous oral histories of any group of people on Earth, which started approximately 65,000 years ago (Crystal 2). For the aboriginal people, storytelling and other forms of oral traditions maintain integral parts of history, including records of cultural customs and ways of life. However, it is important to realize that oral traditions are not only an element of history; they are also a custom that is still widely practiced in Aboriginal Australia today.

In order to understand the traditions of Aboriginal storytelling, one must first understand the often confusing but much revered concept of ‘Dreamtime’. This concept is imperativel to the understanding of Aboriginal oral traditions because it is the subject of many stories that are still told today. When a storyteller speaks of the ‘Dreamtime’, he is referring to a portion of time in history which explains the origins and culture of the land and its people. This

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After they had populated they land, it is believed that these ancestral beings changed into aspects of the landscape where they still remain today, empowering it with their presence.

As previously mentioned, oral traditions have survived and flourished in Aboriginal nations and communities for thousands of years. Based on current uses, oral history is very important for the furtherance of Aboriginal aspirations, culture, life and institutions (Hanna 6). The didgeridoo is a wind instrument typically made from bamboo, which extends about five feet and produces a low, vibrating hum (Siasoco 2). However, my fascination with this culture lies in its ability to remain, even in today’s incredibly advanced society, a predominately oral culture. Thus, in order to have an accurate view of oral communication in Aboriginal Australia, discussion of other uses for storytelling, as well as their significance to this culture, is imperative. There are specific songs to accompany every type of story, including those that descried hunting, funerals, seasons, animals and landscapes (Burns 1). Today, oral history is utilized for many reasons including maintenance and preservation of culture and family histories, education, community development, settling disputes, negotiation, and resolving specific land claims. However, laws insist that the original story must come from or be told by an Elder within the Aboriginal society. Oral traditions are the main form of transferring all knowledge and history of Aboriginal nations and communities from one generation to the next. There is more to Aboriginal oral traditions than simply myths and stories; rather, it defines their culture and way of life.

Just as the expression ‘Dreamtime’ is used to describe the ‘time before time’ or the ‘creation of all things’ the expression ‘Dreaming’ is often used to refer to a set of beliefs or spirituality related to the ‘Dreamtime’. However, because oral traditions play an important role in Aboriginal life, they serve many other purposes than simply explaining the ‘Dreamtime’.

There are two types of oral history that have been preserved; the living oral traditions collected among communities today, and those oral traditions collected, translated, transcribed, and published since contact (Hanna 5).

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