They taught the young females culinary and medicinal knowledge of plants and roots, and how to track small animals and find bush tucker. Circumcision, scarification, and removal of a tooth as mentioned earlier, or a part of a finger are often involved.įemale Elders also prepared girls for adulthood. This may last some weeks and involves learning sacred songs, dances, stories, and traditional lore. Equally women’s ceremonies took place for women only.īora, also called “Burbung, is the initiation ceremony for young boys being welcomed to adulthood. Many initiation ceremonies were secret and only attended by men. During the Initiation process a boy was trained in the skills, beliefs and knowledge he needed for his role as an adult in Aboriginal society.

Invariably initiates might have their ears or nose pierced. The missing tooth was a sign to others that the person had been initiated. The Eora nation boys participated in a tooth ceremony where their front tooth was knocked out. It is generally acknowledged that the Eora are the coastal people of the Sydney area. There are about 29 clan groups of the Sydney metropolitan area, referred to collectively as the Eora Nation. Ceremonial dress varies from region to region and includes body paint, brightly coloured feathers from birds and ornamental coverings. Moiety is a form of social organisation in which most people and, indeed, most natural phenomena are divided into two classes or categories for intermarrying so as to ensure that a person does not marry within his/her own family.ĭistinguishing decorative body painting indicates the type of ceremony being performed. In marriage ceremonies the Aboriginal people are adorned with body paint and wear traditional headdress. The Elders organized and ran ceremonies that were designed to teach particular aspects of the lore of their people, spiritual beliefs and survival skills. Most ceremonies combined dance, song, rituals and often elaborate body decoration and costume. Some ceremonies were a rite of passage for young people between 10 and 16 years, representing a point of transition from childhood to adulthood.

They contrast in different territories and regions and are an important part of the education of the young. Ceremonies, or rituals, are still performed in parts of Australia, such as in Arnhem Land and Central Australia, in order to ensure a plentiful supply of plant and animal foods. To this day Ceremonies play a very important part in Australian Aboriginal peoples’ culture.

Tribal body paint costume