A Welcome to Country is a ceremony performed by a local Aboriginal person of significance (usually an Elder) to acknowledge and give consent to events taking place on their traditional lands. It is also a sign of respect and protocol which dates back to traditional times prior to colonisation.
Aboriginal protocols of respect
Traditionally, a Welcome to Country was an invitation or permission for a person from a different area to pass through or enter. Doing so without it was unacceptable.
Welcome to Country
This is a tradition that has been practiced in Aboriginal culture for thousands of years. Australia is made up of many different tribes with different land areas. In the old days, tribes that wanted to pass through another tribe's country needed permission to do so and had to be welcomed through.
Welcomes to Country are a form of Aboriginal ceremony possibly dating back many thousands of years, used to welcome other peoples from other areas and as a cultural exchange.
May be performed by any person - Aboriginal or non-Aboriginal (but generally by a non-Aboriginal person) - as a way to show awareness of and respect for Aboriginal peoples, their culture and heritage.
A Welcome to Country offers safe passage and protection to the visitors on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander land. It's been part of our culture since the beginning, and it calls for the visitor to respect the protocols and rules of the landowner group while on their Country.
This term is considered outdated and highly offensive by many people across Australia. The expression is used, though, by Aboriginal and Torrest Strait Islander people amongst ourselves. However, many would find it offensive for a person who is not Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander to use this expression.
Country is the term often used by Aboriginal peoples to describe the lands, waterways and seas to which they are connected. The term contains complex ideas about law, place, custom, language, spiritual belief, cultural practice, material sustenance, family and identity.
An Aboriginal is a member of one of the tribes living in Australia when Europeans arrived there. The islands are considered by the west coast Aboriginals to be 'the place where time began'. Synonyms: original inhabitant, native, aborigine, indigene More Synonyms of aboriginal. 2.
'I begin today by acknowledging the <insert name of people here (e.g. Ngunnawal)> people, Traditional Custodians of the land on which we <gather/meet> today, and pay my respects to their Elders past and present. I extend that respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples here today.'
There is no one Aboriginal word that all Aborigines use for Australia; however, today they call Australia, ""Australia"" because that is what it is called today. There are more than 250 aboriginal tribes in Australia. Most of them didn't have a word for ""Australia""; they just named places around them.
A Welcome to Country has been a significant part of Indigenous Custom and it is continued today as a sign of respect. A Welcome to Country makes Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people feel included and comfortable and aims to create connection between non-Indigenous people and Country.
Furthermore, Australia remains the first preference of destination for British emigration. Many UK citizens see Australia's employment opportunities, lifestyle and climate more favourably. Due to the colonial history between the two countries, many also find the culture to be very compatible with their own.
Unlike modern Australian perceptions, land is not just a commodity to be owed and used, but rather a place of belonging as well as way of connecting to one's Culture, Spirit, People and identity. Aboriginal Peoples have the fundamental right, as enshrined in the UN Declaration, to control, manage and care for Country.
Rather than viewing Country, or land, as a physical environment, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people consider Country as a deeply symbolic and spiritual place [1]. The connection between person and Country reinforces Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples' identity and sense of belonging [5].
Aboriginal Spiritual Relationship with the Land
Aboriginal people have a deep connection with the land or Country, which is central to their spiritual identity. This connection remains despite the many Aboriginal people who no longer live on their land.
Assimilationist terms such as 'full-blood,' 'half-caste' and 'quarter-caste' are extremely offensive and should never be used when referring to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
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 three criteria are: being of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent identifying as an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person being accepted as such by the community in which you live, or formerly lived.
In caring for Country, Indigenous Australians draw on laws, knowledge and customs that have been inherited from ancestors and ancestral beings, to ensure the continued health of lands and seas with which they have a traditional attachment or relationship.
For example, for an event of about one hour such as a school opening, the Welcome to Country or Acknowledgement of Country should be no more than five minutes. Discuss with the person performing the ceremony and the Master of Ceremonies to ensure the event is completed in the allocated time.
Proportion of all land that is Indigenous owned or controlled. Nationally as at June 2022, 16.1 per cent of Australia's land area was owned or controlled by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. This is unchanged from the same time in the previous two years (June 2020 and 2021) (figure SE15a. 1).
Indigenous is a term used to encompass a variety of Aboriginal groups. It is most frequently used in an international, transnational, or global context. This term came into wide usage during the 1970s when Aboriginal groups organized transnationally and pushed for greater presence in the United Nations (UN).
Aboriginal Australians are the various indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, but excluding the ethnically distinct people of the Torres Strait Islands. The term "Indigenous Australians" is applied to Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders collectively.
Be consistent. The preference is to use 'First Nations people', 'Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people(s)', or 'Indigenous Australians'.