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what is the kamilaroi totem

by Prof. Michel Balistreri IV Published 3 years ago Updated 2 years ago

What is the Kamilaroi totem? Totems play an integral role in Aboriginal identity within the Kamilaroi nation. At birth, each child is associated with a totem which remains with them for life.

Totems - Kamilaroi - A Nations Identity. Totems play an integral role in Aboriginal identity within the Kamilaroi nation. At birth, each child is associated with a totem which remains with them for life.

Full Answer

What is Kamilaroi?

Kamilaroi - A Nations Identity The 'Dreaming' is used within Aboriginal culture as a connection to ones set of beliefs or spirituality and is unique to a specific nation. Shared stories of creation vary across Australia, for example, the story of how the birds got their colours differ from northern NSW to those told in Western Australia.

What are some of the Kamilaroi dreams?

A well known 'Dreaming' story with celestial connections to the Kamilaroi nation is the story of the 'Emu in the Sky'.

What is the significance of the Kamilaroi EMU?

The resting place within a watering hole where the emu can be found gives meaning to the Aboriginal people of the Kamilaroi tribe as it suggests that the emu is now looking after everything that lives within the nation.

What are the Kamilaroi subtotem groups?

Within these two totem moieties, subtotem groupings exist. These were derived as a class social system from matriarchal lines of descent allowing marriage and relationships to take place from other parts of the Kamilaroi nation. The sutbotem groupings are aligned with animal totems (examples stated below) within the Kamilaroi nation.

What is your Aboriginal totem?

Aboriginal spirituality is totemic A totem is a natural object, plant or animal that is inherited by members of a clan or family as their spiritual emblem. Totems define peoples' roles and responsibilities, and their relationships with each other and creation.

Is Kamilaroi Aboriginal?

The Gamilaraay, also rendered Kamilaroi, Kamillaroi and other variations, are an Aboriginal Australian people whose lands extend from New South Wales to southern Queensland. They form one of the four largest Indigenous nations in Australia.

How many totems does an Australian Aboriginal person have?

Depending on where a person is from, they could have three or more Totems which represent their Nation, Clan and family group, as well as a personal Totem. Nation, clan and family Totems are predetermined, however personal Totems are individually appointed.

What is the history of the Kamilaroi tribe?

The Kamilaroi people have a long history in Australia. Aboriginal Australians are descendants of people who left the Middle East approximately 70,000 years ago (Rasmussen et al. 2011: 98). Archaeological evidence of the arrival of Aboriginal people in Australia provides a wide range of dates of settlement.

How do you say hello in Kamilaroi?

It may take you a while to learn how to interpret the letters in Gamilaraay words if you are only used to reading English....When meeting peopleYaama maliyaa.Hello friend / mate.Yaama baawaa.Hello sister.Yaama dhagaan.Hello brother.When leaving3 more rows

How do you say thank you in Kamilaroi?

Maarubaa-thanks – Gamilaraay Yuwaalaraay Guladha.

What do totems represent?

The word totem refers to a guardian or ancestral being, usually supernatural, that is revered and respected, but not always worshipped. The significance of the real or mythological animal carved on a totem pole is its identification with the lineage of the head of the household.

What is the Eora Nation totem?

A totem is an emblem or image from nature, and the Eora regarded these as part of their identity. In Aboriginal society totems link the human, natural and supernatural worlds.

Can you eat your totem?

Such an individual totem is named bala, “spirit companion,” or jarawaijewa, “the meat (totem) that is within him.” There is a strict prohibition against eating the totem. Breach of the taboo carries with it sickness or death.

What language do Kamilaroi speak?

The Gamilaraay or Kamilaroi language is a Pama–Nyungan language of the Wiradhuric subgroup found mostly in south-eastern Australia. It is the traditional language of the Gamilaraay (Kamilaroi), an Aboriginal Australian people.

Where is Kamilaroi nation?

The Kamilaroi nation is of vast expanse, lying within northern New South Wales (NSW) and southern Queensland (Qld), stretching from as far as the Hunter Valley in NSW through to Nindigully in Qld and as far west as the Warrumbungle Mountains near Coonabarabran in NSW, sweeping across the Liverpool Plains.

What towns are in Kamilaroi?

Centres within this nation incorporate Quirindi, Tamworth, Narrabri, Walgett, Lightening Ridge, Moree, Boggabilla, Gunnedah, Mungindai, Murrurundi, Singleton and Nindigully (Qld). The Kamilaroi nation is surrounded by other Indigenous nations including: Wailwan.

What is the Kamilaroi language?

Their nation covers 30,000 square miles of fertile soil, running rivers and streams. Their language is Gamilaraay and their lifestyle is to co-exist with, and maintain a balance with nature.

What did the Kamilaroi use to regulate their behavior?

The Kamilaroi used kinship norms to regulate the behaviour of all people who had dealings with one another. This system of classes or skins governed everyday behaviour including marriage, ceremonies, camp layout, hunting parties and so forth.

What is the significance of the Bora ceremony?

Messengers carrying message sticks (dhulu) were allowed to enter other sub-tribe's and tribe's lands to communicate with each group and would often let other tribes know where and when a ceremony would be held. A special, significant and respected ceremony known as the Bora (buurra) initiated boys into manhood.

What is the dreaming of the Kamilaroi?

The 'Dreaming' encompasses stories of land, plant, animal, spirits, people, laws and customs. Aboriginals of NSW, believe that all tribes people exist eternally within the 'Dreaming'. The Kamilaroi nation observes spiritual connections through a greater being named Baiame (Byamee, Baayami, Baiamai). The 'All Father' of the Kamilaroi nation is of ...

Who is the observer of the Kamilaroi tribe?

Once all creation had been completed on earth, Baiame returned to the sky and now looks over the Kamilaroi tribes people as an observer. Baiame's stories of creation, sky knowledge and celestial formations are shared extensively through oral accounts from generation to generation through the culmination of stories known as the 'Dreaming'.

What is the dreaming of Aboriginal people?

The 'Dreaming' is used within Aboriginal culture as a connection to ones set of beliefs or spirituality and is unique to a specific nation. Shared stories of creation vary across Australia, for example, the story of how the birds got their colours differ from northern NSW to those told in Western Australia. The 'Dreaming' encompasses stories of ...

Is dialogue of Baiame forbidden?

Publicly, dialogue of Baiame is forbidden and women are not to observe rock art work of 'Baiame' or enter 'Bora' initiation sites when inappropriate to the formal ceremony. A well known 'Dreaming' story with celestial connections to the Kamilaroi nation is the story of the 'Emu in the Sky'. Representation of the emu can be identified within ...

What is the Kamilaroi tradition?

Kamilaroi tradition includes Ba iame, the ancestor or patron god. The Baiame story tells how Baiame came down from the sky to the land, and created rivers, mountains, and forests. He then gave the people their laws of life, traditions, songs, and culture. He also created the first initiation site. This is known as a bora; a place where boys were initiated into manhood. When he had finished, he returned to the sky, and people called him the Sky Hero or All Father or Sky Father. He is said to be married to Birrahgnooloo (Birran-gnulu), who is often identified as an emu, and with whom he has a son Turramūlan. In other stories Turramūlan is said to be brother to Baiame. It was forbidden to mention or talk about the name of Baiame publicly. Women were not allowed to see drawings of Baiame nor approach Baiame sites, which are often male initiation sites (boras). Women were instead instructed by Turramūlan's sister, Muni Burribian. In rock paintings Baiame is often depicted as a human figure with a large head-dress or hairstyle, with lines of footsteps nearby. He is always painted in front view; Turramūlan is drawn in profile. Baiame is often shown with internal decorations such as waistbands, vertical lines running down the body, bands and dots.

Who was the Red Chief of the Kamilaroi?

The nation was made up of many smaller family groups who had their own parcels of land to sustain them. One of the great Kings of this tribe was " Red Chief ", who is buried near Gunnedah. The Kamilaroi were regarded as fierce warriors and there is ample evidence of intertribal warfare.

What language did the Gamilaraay teach?

The Gamilaraay, like many other tribes, taught young men a secret language, called tyake, during their rites of initiation. In these systems, the normal profane terms used in everyday speech had to be substituted with the special mystical vocabulary.

What does "gamilaraay" mean?

Name. The ethnonym Gamilaraay is formed from gamil, meaning "no", and the suffix - (b)araay, bearing the sense of "having ". It is a common practice among Australian tribes to have themselves identified according to their respective words for "no".

What were the Gamilaroi?

History. The Gamilaroi were hunters and agriculturalists with a band-level social organization . Important vegetable foods were yams and other roots, as well as a sterculia grain, which was made into a bread. Insect larvae, frogs, and eggs of several different animals were also gathered.

What is Orion's belt called?

They called Orion's Belt, ghūtūr , a girdle that covered his invincible boomerang. ( burran) The seventh of Miai-miai, being less beautiful, was shy ( gurri gurri )and afraid and she was thus transformed into the least visible of the 7 Pleiades.

Where is Gamilaraay located?

According to Norman Tindale 's estimation, the Gamilaraay's tribal domains encompassed some 75,000 km 2 (29,000 sq mi), from around Singleton in the Hunter Valley through to the Warrumbungle Mountains in the west and up through the present-day centres of Quirindi, Gunnedah, Tamworth, Narrabri, Wee Waa, Walgett, Moree, Collarenebri, Lightning Ridge and Mungindi in New South Wales, to Nindigully in south west Queensland .

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