For Aboriginal people, culture is not just something from the past, it’s a living, evolving part of everyday life.
Culture continues because each generation has kept its core traditions and Lore alive. This includes honouring obligations to Country and kin, and sharing traditions through ceremonies, song, handcrafted objects, and everyday life.
These practices, together with the places and objects that hold their meaning, blend the intangible or unseen and the tangible into one living heritage.
Preserving cultural heritage
Thousands of sites in the Sydney Basin contain Aboriginal cultural materials.
Some Aboriginal cultural heritage, such as sites in our national parks, are well respected.
Other cultural heritage across Sydney faces challenges. It has been, and still is, impacted by colonisation, development, resource extraction and a changing climate.
Preserving Aboriginal cultural heritage involves:
- recognising Aboriginal peoples’ right to safeguard it
- seeking permission before visiting sacred sites, or respecting restrictions and not accessing them
- revitalising language so different dialects survive
- collaborating with Aboriginal communities to better understand cultural heritage
- legislation that protects sacred sites and cultural heritage areas.
Intangible cultural heritage
Ceremonies and customs are intangible cultural heritage. Most of these include dance, music, song and rituals. Information is shared through ceremony, song and dance that follow traditional protocols passed down by Elders.
Each ceremony has a specific purpose. For example, a ceremony could:
- seek to strengthen a person’s connection to the physical and/or spiritual world
- provide healing or clarity
- mark significant life moments
- offer remembrance and gratitude.
Sorry business
This refers to mourning protocols, timeframes and communal activities that involve rituals, ceremonies and burial of the dead. During sorry business families, friends and community members come together to grieve and support each other.
To allow a deceased person’s spirit to ‘let go’, many communities do not display photographs or videos of them or speak their name.
A deceased person’s name or image should never be used without permission from the family.
Corroboree
Believed to be a Dharug word used to describe communal, non-gendered public celebrations involving games, song or meeting purpose.
Seasonal ceremonies
These large ceremonies often involved many groups. Different groups would travel for weeks along songlines to get to a meeting place and would often stay for months.
The separation of men’s and women’s business and strict traditions and customs is central to many Aboriginal cultures. This recognises and respects particular roles, ceremony and lore sacred to men or women.
Birthing
Birthing ceremonies are considered women’s business. They occur at culturally significant women’s sites or birthing grounds and involve celebrating the birth of a child. During the ceremony, the child is introduced to Country and receives their birth rights and responsibilities.
Rites of passage
These ceremonies often involve a young person separating from the opposite gender parent for an extended time to learn the skills, knowledge and rituals related to the responsibilities of their gender.
Sometimes young people receive various body modifications after successfully completing their rites of passage to demonstrate they have earned the community’s respect.
These ceremonies involve burning native plants to produce smoke. The smoke has cleansing properties and wards off bad spirits from the people and the land.
Smoking ceremonies are conducted by an Aboriginal person who has cultural knowledge and is recognised in the community. Smoking ceremonies are usually performed:
- at the start of a ceremony and other gatherings
- on entering and leaving sacred sites
- when entering another groups’ Country.
Once the smoke is ready, those present will be invited to pass through the smoke. Smoking ceremonies provide protection and healing, as well as connect Aboriginal peoples to the ancestors and the Dreaming.
Tangible cultural heritage
Tangible cultural heritage includes significant places or cultural sites and objects in the landscape that have a special meaning or significance to Aboriginal people and their cultural traditions.
Sacred sites can be hills, rocks, waterholes, trees, plains, lakes, waterways and other natural features where ceremonies and practices are undertaken to connect and maintain the Dreaming.
Bora grounds are Aboriginal ceremonial places. These are where men's initiation ceremonies are performed and are often meeting places as well.
A bora ground most commonly consists of two circles marked by raised earth banks, and connected by a pathway. One of the rings would have been for everyone — uninitiated men, women and children. The second ring would have been for initiated men and the young men about to be initiated. Occasionally, one ring can be found that would have been used for corroborees and the rare fight.
Locations where Aboriginal people left behind the remains of their meals.
These sites are important for understanding the dietary practices and lifestyles of Aboriginal people. For example, shellfish middens at the Cooks River in Sydney.
Living trees that have had bark removed for traditional purposes, such as creating canoes, shields or containers.
The scars left on the tree are a tangible record of Aboriginal cultural practices.
Artwork that tells the stories of the Dreaming and provides a window into the rich cultural history of Aboriginal people.
Rock engravings at Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park depict animals, human figures, and other symbols that hold cultural and spiritual significance. It is a great place to learn about some of Sydney’s rich cultural heritage.
Watch this video about Rock Art Conservation at Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park.
Always on Country
Whether we’re in the city, on the sea or in the bush – wherever we are we’re always on Country.
Respect Aboriginal culture
Respectful engagement, consultation and collaboration is important when engaging with Aboriginal people and communities or conducting research on their lands. This includes when work may impact their land, culture or heritage.
Educate yourself and respect that because of colonisation, many Aboriginal communities are also learning more about their cultural identity and diverse practices. Be proactive and find out basic information yourself, so that Aboriginal people are not expected to teach you.
Cultural protocols can vary between different Aboriginal communities. Be sensitive to the specific customs and practices of the community you engage with.
Cultural safety
Cultural safety means feeling socially and physically safe in your environment. For Aboriginal people this is an environment where they are able to engage in cultural, spiritual and belief systems without violence, challenge or denial of who they are and what they need.
Gender sensitivities
Understand and respect gender roles and cultural sensitivities in Aboriginal communities. Observe appropriate boundaries. For example, if you visit an Aboriginal site find out about cultural sensitivities including dedicated women’s or men’s areas.
Build relationships
By understanding Aboriginal peoples’ cultural perspectives and values you can build mutually beneficial relationships. Actively listen, show humility and be open to learning. This shows respect for Aboriginal knowledge and customs.
Aboriginal culture and intellectual property
The NSW Government is responsible for enforcing state laws concerning Aboriginal heritage in New South Wales. The main law for this protection is the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974. The Heritage Act 1977 also helps protect the state’s most significant natural and cultural heritage, including Aboriginal heritage, by maintaining a State Heritage Register.
The term Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property, also known as ICIP, is now used to describe the protection of cultural heritage, traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions, as outlined in the Our Culture: Our Future Report.
Australia’s current intellectual property laws do not fully support or protect Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property, as outlined in article 31 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Aboriginal people and communities in Australia lack a clear legal right to manage, control or decide how their Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property is used, represented or understood.
Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property includes:
- cultural knowledge – understanding Country, what makes it healthy, and traditional ways of managing land, nature and resources
- cultural expressions – stories, art, designs, literature and traditional land management practices
- language – spoken and written words
- performance – ceremonies, dances, and songs
- cultural objects – items like crafts, jewellery, weapons, tools, artworks, photos, textiles, and modern art practices
- human remains
- important places – sacred sites, burial grounds, and locations with historical significance
- sacred and secret knowledge – protected material, information and locations
- recorded heritage –media such as films, photos, artworks, books, reports, research, sound recordings and digital archives taken by others.
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Aboriginal people undertaking work to protect and manage rock engravings -
Aboriginal man conducting a smoking ceremony -
An Aboriginal person carrying out traditional protocols to connect with Country -
Fenced areas encourage visitors to view and respect Aboriginal cultural heritage as well as help protect it
Terms
Aboriginal
The term Aboriginal acknowledges Indigenous, First Nations and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Lore
Aboriginal Lore is cultural knowledge passed from generation to generation.
It describes customs, roles and responsibilities for all aspects of life including protocols and ceremony.