Indigenous Spirituality - Birth and Marriage Rites

• Smoking ceremony- smoking the baby, done over thousands of years, collecting bark from tree, wood and bark in to a hole and leaves cover it then they put it on fire, they hold the baby over the smoke to protect it from evil spirits. Aboriginal use smoke and Catholics use holy water, both are Rites of Initiation. The Catholic procedure of Baptism is for the anointment of the child to cleanse it of Original Sin. Whilst the Birth Rite for Aboriginals is not about cleansing but about protection. Through the smoking ceremony the child is coated with the smoke and so considered to be better protected from sickness by guardian spirits. What both Rites have in common is that they are high ritualised activities which involve bringing the baby into the community and preparing for life as part of that spiritual group.

• Phoebe-birth rite- protected from sickness by smoking, the paste from burnt bark covers the baby to protect it from sickness, and also causes the baby to be more darker, to be protected.

• Kim- marriage- alliance between families, arranged by families when bride is VERY young, men are able marry more than one wife, the placing of the fire stick which symbolises the bondage in marriage, in the case o divorce the uncle would through away the fire stick.

• Monogamous- one life partner, polygamous- more than one. Women were treated as ‘objects’ until the last century. Because women were exchanged as property there would be a devaluing of the good with too much supply. Polygamy was tolerated in indigenous cultures was because there was often a severe shortage of men. Religion is a product of their environment.

• Ben Plummer- birth rite- birth rite associated with feasting and dancing, (Queensland), when the child is born the child is daubed with charcoal or ochre to symbolise its link with the land. Ceremonies and birth rites for aboriginals are also intrinsically combined with kinship laws, totemic symbols, social customs and even future marriage rites. When a child is born they are designated with a plant or animal, this is their totem. They have reciprocal responsibilities to protect their totem so that the totem protects the child.

• Chris Eid- Marriage rites- some traditions have arranged marriages or choice marriages. When a girl from a tribe reaches puberty, she is initiated by the elder women passing down their knowledge. Boy are initiated when they reach manhood in a ceremony called “Vardnapa”, women are usually younger than the man, inter-tribal marriages, to prevent conflict within the tribe, considered incestuous, it avoids intra-tribal conflicts and it builds greater strength and security through political allegiances.