Zuzanna Kościuk Indigenous Peoples

Aboriginal PeoplesAboriginal peoplesAboriginal Peoples

Aboriginal peoples form the oldest living culture in the world, consisting of different peoples inhabitinginhabiting [inhabit]inhabiting mainlandmainlandmainland Australia and many of its islands such as Tasmania (but without the Torres Strait Islands – people who live in this location are ethnically and culturally distinctethnically and culturally distinctethnically and culturally distinct). Interestingly, it was only in the past two hundred years that those groups started to share a collective identityshare a collective identityshare a collective identity. Before that, self‑identificationself‑identificationself‑identification largely relied on kinship systemsrelied on kinship systems [rely on a kinship system]relied on kinship systems, religious beliefs, and regional cultures.

In broad terms, the Aboriginal peoples share a few common characteristics. One of them is what they refer to as “being on the country.” While in the West the land and the people are perceived as separateare perceived as separate [perceive as separate]are perceived as separate, the Aboriginal Australians see it as one. To them, the land they live on holds their stories, customs, ancestors, and religion. As such, the Aboriginal peoples share a specific worldview that emphasises the holistic nature ofemphasises the holistic nature of [emphasise the holistic nature of]emphasises the holistic nature of the land and its inhabitants.

This approach largely affects the Aboriginal culture and art. Traditional beliefs are passed downare passed down [be passed down] from generation to generationare passed down by dancing, songlines, and artistic practices such as dot paintingdot paintingdot painting. We refer to all of the above as Dreamtime. The Aboriginal Australians are also known for their crafts, such as the traditional basket weavingbasket weavingbasket weaving as well as cuisine referred to as bush tuckerbush tuckerbush tucker. Historically, the indigenous people relied on local plants and wildlife to survive. The knowledge of which mushrooms, berries, seeds – or even animals such as birds or lizards – one can eat has been passed down through generations. Today, this knowledge is reflected inis reflected in [be reflected in]is reflected in many of the local dishes.

MāoriMāoriMāori

The Māori are the indigenous Polynesian people who live in mainland New Zealand. Centuries of being away from other people have led to the development of a distinct culture that deeply rooted in spiritual beliefsdeeply rooted in spiritual beliefs deeply rooted in spiritual beliefs. The word “māori” itself means “normal” or “natural”, emphasising the differenceemphasising the difference [emphasise the difference]emphasising the difference between ordinary humansordinary humans [ordinary human]ordinary humans and deitiesdeities [deity]deities. As such, the Māori people have great respect for the ancient beliefs and undergo many ceremonies and rituals in their daily life. For example, it’s a common practice to remove one’s shoes when entering a meeting house to show respect for the spirits of the ancestorsspirits of the ancestorsspirits of the ancestors.

Indeed, the Māori pay great attention to tradition, the best example of which is a ceremonial danceceremonial danceceremonial dance called haka. Historically, it’s been performed by both men and women for a variety of social occasions such as great achievements or even funerals. Haka is recognized globally due to New Zealand’s sports teams performing it before their matches.

It is, however, only a part of a fascinating and vibrant culturevibrant culturevibrant culture. For example, the Māori engage in kapa haka, performance artperformance artperformance art that celebrates their heritageheritageheritage and culture with the use of song and dance. They’re also known for their involvement in theatre, with many companies focusing on traditional story‑telling and puppetrypuppetrypuppetry. In recent years, the Māori culture has been becoming active again with great attention paid to language.

InuitInuitInuit

The Inuit are a large indigenous group who live in the arctic and subarctic regionssubarctic regionsubarctic regions of such places as Greenland, Alaska, and Labrador. The harsh living conditionsharsh living conditionsharsh living conditions as well as long isolation influenced the Inuit people in a big way and led to the development of a culture revolving, in large part, around survivalsurvivalsurvival.

One of the most impressive elements of the Inuit culture has always been using whatever is available to thrive inthrive inthrive in the unforgiving environmentunforgiving environmentunforgiving environment. As such, the indigenous people have traditionally relied on animals in all aspects of their lives. For example, to travel, they would build extraordinarily buoyant boatsextraordinarily buoyant boats [extraordinarily buoyant boat]extraordinarily buoyant boats using wood and sea animals’ skin. They called them qajaq – a predecessor topredecessor topredecessor to the contemporary kayak. They would also rely on dog sledsdog sleds [dog sled]dog sleds for transportation and seals, walruseswalruses [walrus]walruses, and reindeer for food.

Nowadays, most Inuit people live in cities, take up salaried jobstake up salaried jobs [take up a salaried job]take up salaried jobs, and enjoy contemporary comforts. However, many of them still embraceembrace (verb)embrace the traditional ways of hunting, crafting, and eating what their ancestors would. For example, it’s been found that the Inuit metabolise fatsmetabolise fatsmetabolise fats faster than Europeans do, thanks to the long tradition of eating specific foods.

1 Źródło: Zuzanna Kościuk , dostępny w internecie: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Australian-Aboriginal [dostęp 6.10.2022], https://www.britannica.com/topic/Inuit-people [dostęp 6.10.2022], https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kakiniit [dostęp 6.10.2022], https://www.takai.nz/find-resources/articles/koha-2/ [dostęp 6.10.2022], https://www.britannica.com/topic/Maori [dostęp 6.10.2022], https://www.indigenous.gov.au/contact-us/welcome_acknowledgement-country [dostęp 6.10.2022], licencja: CC BY-SA 3.0.