busyAustralian Foods:
http://fooddownunder.com/#4
http://www.recipezaar.com/recipes.php?q=australia
http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/articles/foodanddrink/
Culture & Spirituality:
http://www.princetonol.com/groups/iad/lessons/middle/austral.htm
http://www.crystalinks.com/ayersrock.html
http://www.crystalinks.com/dreamtime.html
Art:
http://www.jintaart.com.au/iconography/iconhmpg.htm
http://aboriginalart.com.au/gallery/iconography.html
http://www.cooinda-gallery.com.au/
http://aboriginalart.com.au/gallery/gallery_intro.html
Mythology:
http://www.mythencyclopedia.com/Ar-Be/Australian-Mythology.html
http://www.godchecker.com/pantheon/australian-mythology.php
http://www.mccsc.edu/~kmcglaun/mythology/australia.htm
http://australianmuseum.net.au/Stories-of-the-Dreaming
I'm working on an alternate history storyline in which the natives of Australia are anthropomorphic canids (variously called "Tingo" or "dogsbodies") who wind up enslaved by Europeans and Americans. To counterbalance the fact that this storyworld has no human Australians, I'm putting some extra energy into promoting Australian culture as we know it in our world.
My answer to cultural misappropriation is cultural investment; I figure that what I get out of a culture should be balanced by what I put into it. I'm also trying to spread this idea to other creative folks in hopes that we can find a sane and decent way to write/paint/etc. about the full diversity of human cultures so it's not all white-bread stuff ... without starting a brawl in the process and without contributing to the already scandalous amount of racism in the world.
July 30 2009, 03:52:17 UTC 11 years ago Edited: July 30 2009, 03:52:36 UTC
On the one hand, I believe that we all need to know about, appreciate, and celebrate cultures and beliefs other than our own.
On the other hand, I cringe when churches have "Passover Seders", use Hebrew in their hymns, or, really, make just about any sort of comment about the collection of books that they call "the Old Testament". The problem is that they're doing it wrong, they've got all sorts of fine details wrong, they're missing out on the reasons for things, they're making some thing inappropriately significant and ignoring other hella significant things.
Kind of like Christmas in Japan.
On the gripping hand, it's little likely that an Australian native will be present at the Lammas ritual, and so no cringing will ensue!
Yes...
July 30 2009, 04:26:43 UTC 11 years ago
The theme for Lammas is connections, and it will deal with Australian creation myths and how those relate to some similar ideas elsewhere. The Songlines of Australia are ley lines in Europe and dragon ways in Asia, etc. In each place the creator being(s) walked this world and made things happen, leaving behind hills, plants, animals, people, and stories. Energy still follows the same paths. So rather than try to recreate an Australian ritual -- which is not feasible since those are kept secret -- I'm aiming to incorporate aspects of those magical/spiritual practices as a bridge to what we do here.