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Australian Aboriginal religion and mythology is the sacred spirituality represented in the stories performed by Aboriginal Australians within each of the language groups across Australia in their ceremonies. Aboriginal spirituality includes the Dreamtime (the Dreaming), songlines, and Aboriginal oral literature.
The Rainbow Serpent is a major ancestral being for many Aboriginal people across Australia. Baiame or Bunjil are regarded as the primary creator-spirits in South-East Australia. Dingo Dreaming is a significant ancestor in the interior regions of Bandiyan, as Dingo formed the songlines that cross the continent from north to south and east to ...
Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, excluding the ethnically distinct people of the Torres Strait Islands. Humans first migrated to Australia at least 65,000 years ago, and over time formed as many as 500 language-based groups. [3]
Aboriginal Australian religious practices associated with the Dreamtime have been practised for tens of thousands of years. Australia has no official state religion and the Australian Constitution prohibits the Commonwealth government from establishing a church or interfering with the freedom of religion . [ 141 ]
According to "Table 8: Religious Affiliation by Indigenous Status", 347,572 Indigenous people (out of the total 649,171 in Australia) declared an affiliation to some form of Christianity, with a higher proportion of Torres Strait Islander than Aboriginal people in this number. 7,773 reported traditional beliefs; 1,511 Islam; other religions ...
Aboriginal identity can be politically controversial in contemporary discourse, among both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people. Successive censuses have shown those identifying as Indigenous (Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander) at a rate far exceeding the growth of the whole Australian population.
A Shinto rite; Shinto is often called an "indigenous religion", though the reasons for this classification have been debated among scholars. [10]The Japanese religion Shinto is often described as an "indigenous religion", although some scholars, like Asian studies scholar John K. Nelson notes that it is often "unclear" what is meant by the term "indigenous" in this context. [10]
The deep spiritual connection felt by Aboriginal Australians is related to their continuing occupation of the Australian continent for around 60,000 years, and the belief that Aboriginal lore/law was created by spirit ancestors to look after the land and its people. [11]