Aboriginal - Australia

The aboriginal people gather many of their resources like food, water, and materials all from the land. They have a special spiritual connection with the environment, along with the water which connects to their culture, beliefs, identity, and way of life. Everything surrounding them on their land is all the essential things for their wellbeing.

They believe that their ancestors look over them and care for the land, hoping that the resources of the land will be there for the upcoming generations. Their family will always be a part of their land through everything that is there.

When it came to food, the men usually hunted for larger animals while the women and children collected fruits, honey, insects, and plants for things like medicine if it was needed. Materials were gathered from hard things to create weapons and shelter which we found around the environment. They were made out of natural materials used to either fight, hunt, dig, eat or drink.

The rainbow serpent holds a lot of meaning towards the land, as its colors represent all the trees, animals, and just the land in general. This myth and legend are why the aboriginal people believe the things they do and how the rainbow serpent created all the natural life on the land. The rainbow serpent has created traditions and is a big part of their culture. Now they either look after their land or it's not considered theirs.

My art piece includes some of the most important symbols of aboriginal culture, as it has the rainbow serpent right in the center with a mountain in the back. The background consists of the aboriginal flag colors in the shape of a circle representing the circle of life.

Traditional Aboriginal art includes of dots as you can see in the examples above, the rainbow serpent shown in these art pieces represent the story of the rainbow serpent and how the Aboriginal people believe the serpent was who made everything living around them.