01-08-2024, 02:31 PM
(01-07-2024, 04:18 PM)jaded Wrote: From the outside it's never made any sense that history books brag about the AU Aboriginals long residence and eons long oral record of Australia but whenever something new is found any info they could contribute isn't even asked of them.
Three reasons:
1) Some of the Dreamtime history is sacred and not shared with outsiders.
2) Some of those who answer are not lore keepers and may get the information wrong (or may deliberately lie to protect sacred traditions.
3) Oral history is not THAT reliable.
To elaborate:
...on the first point, many aboriginal people across the world have been angered and frustrated to find their teachings copied and then warped (the idea of having a "spirit animal", borrowed from one or two of the over 500 Native American religious practices is a good example) and then commercialized. These are traditions taught in a certain way and were not intended as something to be given to the world for casual amusement. Sometimes these traditions involve acts that must take place over a period of years (the Sun Dance is one of those) -- something that our "hurry up and do it now" culture doesn't respect.
...on the second point, many native people, shoved into reservations and ignored, have had their traditions broken by missionaries and other visitors and by the pace of the modern world. Some, who want a better life, will sell their version of the practice (sweat lodges, for instance) -- and these hasty things often bring unintended harm to the participants.
...on that third point... a few of you (like my husband) have excellent memories but very very few (only 62 documented cases) have such exceptional memories that they can accurately recall things like weather, foods eaten, etc, on days when nothing unusual happened. Those with this kind of recall can't actually teach it all to someone else. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exceptional_memory) If I asked all of you to recall some particularly significant or stressful event, most of you couldn't recall the full day (what you had for breakfast, names of people you spoke to, addresses of locations, clothing color of people around you unless the event was pretty focused with a limited number of people and happenings.
