The ancient culture of the Aborigines goes thousands of years back. Before the European settlers came to Australia, the Aboriginal people lived happily off of the land. The Aboriginal faith was called “The Dream Time.” Followers of this faith believed that giant, spiritual beings created and shaped the world we live in. Every culture has a unique form of art, for the Aborigines this was dot painting and X-ray style art. Through dot painting the Aboriginal people would make their form of paint and paint art with dots that form something.
These paintings are still found today on rock walls and tree bark. Though, X-ray style art is not like dot painting. Through X-ray style art, Aborigines would paint a picture of a human or animal. Looking at these paintings you can distinctly notice that the Aborigines paint the insides of the animal such as bones and organs. This painting is basically like a present day X-ray, hence the name. All of this, of course, was before the European settlers came to Australia. With the arrival of these settlers, they brought new language, weapons, religion, and a few more efficient ideas. The European settlers quickly tried to change the Aborigines and their unique culture. The settlers forced the Aborigines to change and adapt to a new way of life. When the Europeans did this they unknowingly began a slow destruction of Aboriginal culture. During this time, the Aborigines lost respect and land. These are still the 2 things that they are struggling for today. In present time, there are still Aborigines but very few. The Aboriginal people have now started to teach people about their religion and way of life. By doing this the Aboriginal people have been able to start to restore their lost culture. –Mackenzie E. February 20, 2011
