Didgeridoos have always been an important part of Indigenous ceremonies and rituals. They are hollowed tree branches which are decorated then played by breathing in a carefully honed way to make deep resonating sounds to accompany dances and singing.
RITUALS
Spiritual beliefs are the basis for traditional Indigenous rituals and laws, and those beliefs and laws are demonstrated through ceremonies and rituals. Ceremonies are an important way for Indigenous people to communicate with their spirits, and to learn the culture’s law.
The landscape holds the spirit forces of Ancestral Beings that have left the land.
The significance of rituals and ceremonies varies in traditional society, as does the secrecy.
Some ceremonies are open to whole communities, such as is usual at corroborees, while others are held in secret and only attended by a few, such as the law men or boys and Elders during initiation ceremonies. Others are held with neighbouring communities.
Ceremonies can be short or last for months, and can require preparation work by the whole group.
They can also provide the social high points in the cycle of life for a particular group.
Initiated adults generally control rituals and ceremonies and use their knowledge and power to ensure Indigenous traditions continue, usually through ceremonies.
Elderly people have a respected place in Indigenous society as keepers of great knowledge and experience about their community's life. They pass on important ritual information until their health fails, and imminent death is understood and accepted.
Rituals can be held to deter evil spirits, influence the weather, get the attention of a woman, at sacred sites to call on spirits to renew plant and animal species, mourn the dead and initiate young people.
Ornamentation is used to suit the ritual, with ochres, blood, feathers, shields and other substances and implements used as part of the ceremonial dress.
Men and women have their own ‘business’, and often have their own ceremonies but when joint rituals are held, men usually dominate proceedings.
Ritual is learnt through initiation. Men and women are initiated separately with women’s initiation usually less strenuous than that for males.
Male initiation usually begins by taking young boys away from their parents for months and subjecting them to tough conditions and teaching them the law.
Elderly people have a respected place in Indigenous society as keepers of great knowledge and experience about their community’s life. They pass on important ritual information until their health fails, and imminent death is understood and accepted.
Death is seen as the time the spirit rejoins the unseen world and because of that much ceremony is held at death and mourning. There is great variation in the type of burial, ceremony and the amount of grief expressed.
Places where the dead are left, kept or buried are considered dangerous.
Organised sobbing by appropriate people and self-mutilation by close relatives is part of Indigenous funerals.
As in Western society, traditional Indigenous society may have held an inquest after sudden or unexplained deaths.
