Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Towards an aboriginal Christian theology, are aboriginal spirituality and Christianity fundamentally incompatible? Shona Chandani

Towards an aboriginal Christian theology, are aboriginal spirituality and Christianity fundamentally incompatible?

In the last census only 1.3 percent of people who identified as ATSI (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) put a traditional aboriginal spirituality as their religion, compared to 38 percent who identified as a Christian denomination. Clearly, the missionaries in early settlement accomplished their goals, to bring Christianity to the ‘natives’. With conditions and expectations so far below the national average in indigenous communities it is wrong to assume that Christianity is fulfilling the needs of the aboriginal people. face the challenge of defining their own spirituality in a culture that has denied or downplayed recognition of their spiritual heritage. It is vital for Australia’s indigenous people that Christianity and aboriginal spirituality find some common ground, a way to connect. The aboriginal people of Australia, the traditional owners of this land, clearly need an aboriginal Christian theology. Is this possible, are aboriginal spirituality and Christianity fundamentally incompatible?

What is aboriginal spirituality? In this essay the term spirituality is used rather than religion because the traditional western idea of religion is too confining, oversimplifies the complexities. It is not possible to divide the land from spirituality, the nature in which aboriginal life and communities are connected to the land means they are one and the same. Aboriginal spirituality is enacted through art, song, dance and music rather than the written word. It is experienced, not discussed. “Aboriginal spirituality is a feeling of oneness, of belonging, a connectedness with deep innermost feelings (Mudrooroo, 1995).” Everything from where to hunt to the meaning of existence is explained in aboriginal culture through the power and telling of myths and stories (Cowan, 1994, 10). This is usually done through song, dance and drawings. These stories or myths come from the Dreaming and have been passed down through hundreds of generations. The Dreaming or Dreamtime is the most potentially confusing concept associated with aboriginal spirituality. The dreaming should not be confused with spirituality. It is not an aboriginal term and does not encompass all aspects of aboriginal spirituality. “The Dreaming or Dreamtime indicates a psychic state in which or during which contact is made with the ancestral spirits, or the Law, or that special period of the beginning (Korff).”

The first interaction between Christianity and aboriginal spirituality was not a positive one. The missions and reserves set out the ‘civilise and Christianise’ the aboriginal people (Tripcony, 1996). They were separated from their land and spiritual homes. Their language and traditional practices were prohibited. When the settlers separated the aborigines from their land this alienated them from their spiritual needs and knowledge. They could not perform the ceremonies to fulfil their religious commitment to their land. The purpose of this was to create a void for Christianity to fill. Even so, to suggest that missionaries simple brainwashed the aborigines gives no credit to them as an intelligent people. Some aboriginals rejected the nation of Christ and Christianity because it had no relevance to them as aborigines (Rainbow Spirit Elders, 1997, 2-3). Most aborigines did not outright reject Christianity. They instead did something that something that missionaries didn’t expect, they found ways to combine the old and new in a process known to anthropologists as syncretism, whereby “the merging of elements from different, even seemingly irreconcilable, world views, is a feature of all religious systems as they seek to adapt to their environments” (Edwards, 1994, 77). This allowed them a means to practice their traditional spirituality while adapting to their new environment. This explanation should not be used to oversimplify the devastating effect that colonisation had on traditional spirituality but it is the beginnings of an aboriginal theology.

Engaging with biblical literature rather than western theology may hold the key to linking aboriginal spirituality and Christianity (Paulson, 2006). There are many dreamtime stories which have common elements with stories from the bible. Myth and storytelling are such an integral part of aboriginal spirituality that this is vital. Creation stories are common to almost every culture. In the Christian bible the creation story is recorded as God, the father, bringing light and life to the earth is seven days. The aboriginal creation myth, although there is no single version of the story, is not dissimilar. It begins with the father creator spirit awakening the sun mother to create life on earth. There is even an Adam and Eve element in the story of The Two Wise Men and The Seven Sisters (http://australianmuseum.net.au/movie/The-Two-Wise-Men-and-the-Seven-Sisters). There is something to be learnt from the way that aboriginal people connect with their dreamtime stories. they live them, sing them and feel them in a way which is different to the way Christians experience the bible. Each dreamtime story makes up part of an aboriginal person’s identity and connection to their land and community. It connects them to their religion in a deep and personal way.

The fundamental values of aboriginal spirituality and Christianity are compatible. It is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to separate aboriginal culture from their spirituality. There are no specific parts that can be called religion or culture so the values of the community are representative of the spiritual values. These values and laws are passed down from parent to child, often through Dreamtime stories. There is no single set of values in aboriginal culture that apply to every indigenous group but the values of all stem from the needs of the community. Respect for your family, elders and tribe; respecting life; sharing resources and not being selfish are all common values across multiple groups (Australian Museum). Using the values in the Ten Commandments to represent the fundamental values of Christianity both sets of values, while not identical, are in line with one another. The difficulty with these traditional values is that they were interrupted by the introduction of Christianity and the severing of tribal groups from their traditional land which is intimately connected to their spirituality. The values of the aboriginal community at large have been fundamentally changed by this.

One way to forge ties and find compatibilities between aboriginal spirituality and Christianity is to have a uniquely aboriginal church. The idea of an aboriginal church means different things to different people (Loos, 2007, 151). To some Christian churches it a very threatening idea. To aborigines, Aboriginal Christianity can be, and often is, seen as a derogatory ‘whitefella’ concept. There has been very little theological reflection that stems from an aboriginal perspective (Paulson, 2006). As Sze-kar Wan has argued, the church lives out its identity “not by erasing ethnic and cultural differences but by combining these differences into a hybrid existence” (Paulson, 2006, 317). There are many opportunities for spiritual hybridity and strengthening. Totems and animistic spirits for example, often act in a way which is similar to angels. Both are arranged in a hierarchical order, serving and protecting human interests while receiving respect and reverence in return. By working towards an aboriginal theology there is a real opportunity to strengthen Australian spirituality by truly understanding traditional Australian spirituality. “The Aboriginal people have a distinctive way of looking at things here in Australia which is unique compared to anything else in the world. Mainstream Australia has to take that on if it’s to be truly the Church Jesus wants it to be. It’s not an Asian or Pacific church or a European church — it’s a uniquely Australian church (Atkinson, 2008).” The aboriginal people connect with this country and land in a way that western society has yet to fully explore or appreciate. Aboriginal spirituality is about remembering that there is something bigger than the individual, something larger to be connected to and care for, the Christian churches could learn a lot from this.

The idea of integration is not just coming from a western perspective, many aboriginal people are working towards making this happen but not at the expense of their traditional culture. Donga Mununguritj, a Christian leader from the Yirrkala community in the Northern Territory says about aboriginal spirituality and Christianity, “many laws and customs are similar, but there are differences....you cannot chose whether or not you are an aboriginal, but you can chose your way of life. Aboriginal spirituality is not just a religion, it’s an entire culture” (Swart, 2004). This kind of Christianity is all about allowing aboriginal Australians to relate to Christianity through their traditional spirituality. Christianity has thrived throughout history by melding with and being tolerant of existing beliefs and culture. The promise of completion rather than abolition is the key to success here. Traditional Aboriginal societies are examples of ‘ sacred societies’ where religion was all-pervasive. It was intimately connected to everyday living; with relations between the sexes, the natural environment, social interactions and with food collecting and hunting (Maddox, 1999). Aboriginal Christianity would need to be able to perform this same function which would make it quite different from many forms of modern Christianity.

A more Pentecostal or charismatic Christian approach would be the most effective which is a move away from the traditional catholic and Anglican ministries. Historically, Christian churches and leaders were extremely reluctant to link the practices of aboriginal spirituality with Christian practices (Rainbow Spirit Elders, 1997, viii). This is because their ceremonies were considered to be pagan and barbaric. For many aboriginal people this appeared to be yet another way for the Christian missionaries to exercise control over their lives and “was very damaging” (Loos, 2007, 158). Pentecostal Christianity focuses on God permeating through every aspect of your life and also on the experiential side of religion rather than the theological. During Pentecostal services there is an emphasis on song and movement, the service isn’t something that happens around you, it’s something to experience and participate in. Attempting to call Jesus’ spirit into the service through active worship. This is more in line with the traditional way that aboriginal ceremonies are carried out. They involve song and dance and require active participation, often a particular spirit is called or acclaimed.

There are churches and groups that have already taken steps towards a hybrid theology. The Catholic parish at Halls Creek in the East Kimberley’s for example. Inspired by theologian Juan Luis Segundo, Noel McMaster started a movement within his ministry aimed at better educating and understanding the issues affecting aboriginal people and reassign the meaning of the church for the aboriginal community. It’s not possible for the church to move into the future without taking further consideration of aboriginal issues and beliefs (McMaster, 2001). Harris (1990) agrees with this, he found that most aborigines who made a conscious rejection of Christianity did so not because they thought Christianity was fake but because it had no relevance to them as aborigines. Rainbow Spirit Theology is dedicated to finding the links between aboriginal culture and Christianity. It argues that God has been speaking through aboriginal culture since the beginning. It also encourages western churches to learn from traditional aboriginal spirituality, to have a two way dialogue. Rainbow Spirit Theology uses a four-streamed model in the directions in the land, north, south, east and west oriented around the sun. Three streams come together to provide the sources for the theology and the fourth flows into the future. The south represents insights from aboriginal culture, the north is for ancient wisdom and the east is the Gospel. The west is for strength into the future (Rainbow Spirit Elders, 1997, 15). By taking knowledge from both aboriginal spirituality and Christianity they hope to create a stronger theology. Many other aboriginal groups have been adapting stories from the bible into an aboriginal context. This has been particularly successful in traditional art and drawings which are a fundamental part of aboriginal culture. Appendix 1 is a traditional aboriginal representation of the birth of Jesus.

There is no single belief in either Christianity or aboriginal spirituality that makes them incompatible. In fact, the fundamental beliefs of both religions are quite complimentary. The two cultures have much to learn from each other and will hopefully do just that on the path to finding an aboriginal theology. Despite coming from markedly different origins there are commonalities between stories in the bible and Dreamtime stories. The new movement to find an aboriginal theology proves that there are opportunities for Christianity and aboriginal spirituality to merge on common ground. The aboriginal peoples of Australia can never get back what was taken from them by the settlers but by forging an aboriginal Christian church which combines traditional and western beliefs and by forging a relationship between Christianity and aboriginal spirituality, perhaps they can find a sense of equilibrium in the modern Australian landscape. Christianity and aboriginal spirituality are compatible, it is up to us to put aside old prejudices and forge new links.


Appendix 1


Jesus Nativity Scene by Mary Leahy Pumbum
Three angels hover over the shed with baby Jesus, Mary and Joseph are on the right, the three kings on the left. The image is a good example of how Aboriginal people included other spiritual concepts in their own spirituality.
www.cooinda-gallery.com.au



Reference List

Atkinson, M. (2008). Aboriginal Spirituality. http://www.thetransitlounge.com.au/domestic/215-aboriginalspirituality.html. Accessed 20/06/2009.

Australian Museum. (2009). Stories of the Dreaming. http://australianmuseum.net.au/Stories-of-the-Dreaming. Accessed 20/06/2009.

Harris, J. (1990). One Blood: 200 years of aboriginal encounter with Christianity, a story of hope. Sutherland, NSW: Albatross Books.

Korff, J. Aboriginal Indigenous spirituality and beliefs. http://www.creativespirits.info/aboriginalculture/spirituality/. Accessed 20/06/2009.

Loos, N. (2007). White Christ Black Cross: The emergence of a black church. Canberra: Aboriginal Studies Press.

Maddox, M. (1999). Indigenous religion in secular Australia. Commonwealth of Australia. http://www.aph.gov.au/library/pubs/rp/1999-2000/2000rp11.htm#one. Accessed 20/06/2009.

Mudrooroo. (1995). Us Mob: history, culture, struggle: an introduction to indigenous Australia. Sydney: Angus & Robertson.

Paulson, G. (2006). Towards an aboriginal theology. Pacifica 19. 310-321.

Rainbow Spirit Elders. (1997). Rainbow spirit theology: Towards an Australian aboriginal theology. Victoria: HarperCollinsReligious

Swart, R. (2004). Mission Voices. Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Film Victoria & Koorie Heritage Trust. http://www.abc.net.au/missionvoices/default.htm. Accessed 20/06/2009.

Tripcony, P. (1996). Too obvious to see: Aboriginal spirituality and cosmology. Queensland University of Technology. http://www.oodgeroo.qut.edu.au/academic_resources/academicpape/tooobviousto.jsp. Accessed 20/06/2009.

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