- Aborigines of Oceania
- Semi-nomadic
- Language
- The spiritual plane
- The dream
- Totem
- Family
- Aboriginal cultures of Central America
- Traditional cultures in Mexico
- Traditional cultures in Guatemala
- References
The traditional cultures are those that are organized around elements of the past, such as customs and habits of the previous societies. In this sense, they hold the inheritance of the ancestors in high esteem.
Traditional cultures are organized in small communities, mainly tribes, which allow the preservation of values (rituals, religious practices, among others) more efficiently. In larger societies, the transmission of values would be more difficult.
Traditional culture contrasts with modern cultures (which adhere to contemporary values but are open to change) and even with emerging cultures (which propose changes as subcultures).
In this regard, Claude Lévi-Strauss indicates that traditional cultures are "cold societies" since they do not allow historical processes to modify their values. This means that they are more or less static.
Some of the best known traditional cultures are the Aboriginal culture of Oceania and the Aboriginal cultures of Central America.
Aborigines of Oceania
The Aboriginal culture of Oceania is traditional because it preserves the values of its ancestors. Some of these values are shown below.
Semi-nomadic
Most of the aboriginal groups in Oceania are semi-nomadic. Each group "owns" a wide expanse of land and moves around in accordance with the changes of the seasons.
Each group knows the local fauna and flora and how it varies according to the climatic conditions that occur throughout the year.
Language
The origin of the aboriginal languages of Oceania is unknown. However, the languages spoken on the mainland are considered to come from a common ancestor, while the languages spoken on the islands have descended from another linguistic branch.
During the period of the colonization of Oceania, more than 270 aboriginal languages were spoken. However, at present, only between 30 and 70 of these are preserved.
The spiritual plane
The core of the aboriginal traditions is spirituality, the human being and its relationship with nature.
The dream
According to the aborigines of Oceania, the Dream, the World of Dreams or the Time of Dreams, is the timeless period in which past, present and future converge. The World of Dreams is beyond the physical and temporal planes.
The conception of the Dream World is transmitted through stories, in which explanations are given for any aspect of life, from the creation of the Earth to how porcupines were formed.
The Dream stories explain how world spirits, ancestral beings, roamed the Earth and shaped the sky, the waters, and the earth's crust.
For example, one of the tales from the Dream explains that the sun arose from a giant emu egg that burned in the atmosphere.
When the egg fire was extinguished, the sky gods decided to keep a fire in the sky during the day, to remember the glow of the emu egg.
Likewise, ancestral beings were responsible for the creation of human beings.
At first, humans and spirits coexisted in harmony, but with the passage of time the latter left Earth. Some returned to their spiritual homes and others merged with the elements of the landscape (rivers, mountains, trees, among others).
Totem
Another of the spiritual aspects of the aborigines of Oceania is the belief that each person is born with a totem.
The totem can be a concrete element (such as a plant, an animal, a river) or an abstract idea (such as joy, friendship, sexual desire, among others).
An individual's totem is assigned the moment the mother realizes that she is pregnant. For example, if a woman finds out about her pregnancy while bathing in the river, this river will be her son's totem.
Family
Within families, the following system applies: siblings of the same sex are “equal”. To illustrate this principle, let's imagine that there are two brothers. One of these brothers has a daughter.
According to the rule, the two brothers are equal to being of the same sex, so both are the parents of the girl. However, there is a distinction between the biological father and the second father.
With siblings of different sexes, the western model is followed. That is, the father's sisters are the girl's aunts.
Aboriginal cultures of Central America
In Central America, mainly in Mexico and Guatemala, there are aboriginal tribes.
Traditional cultures in Mexico
In Mexico, there are 56 indigenous groups and each of these represents a traditional culture. Among these groups, the Nahua, the Mayan, the Zapotec, the Mixtec and the Otomí stand out.
These groups constitute diverse linguistic communities, since each one of them presents a diverse dialect that serves to give name to the tribe. For example, Nahualt is the language of the Nahua.
With regard to religion, Mexican aboriginal cultures do not preserve many aspects of their ancestors. The few religious elements of pre-Columbian cultures have been syncretized (mixed) with Catholic beliefs.
Traditional cultures in Guatemala
As for the Guatemalan aboriginal tribes, they conserve little more than 20 dialects that are linguistic heritage of the Mayans. Among these languages, Kaqchikel, Kekchi and Man stand out.
Many of the Guatemalan aborigines do not speak Spanish, which shows their attachment to the values of their ancestors.
As for religion, many of these aboriginal cultures preserve the practice of certain rituals to cure conditions, to celebrate life, death and all their transitions (baptisms, marriages, among others).
In some tribes, the figure of the shaman is still preserved, who is a sorcerer or priest who can contact the supreme beings.
References
- Traditional societies. Retrieved on August 2, 2017, from en.wikipedia.org
- What is Aboriginal Dreamtime? Retrieved on August 2, 2017, from aboiginal-art-australia.com
- Australian Aboriginal Dreamtime Mythology. Retrieved on August 2, 2017, from crystalinks.com
- Aboriginal Bechbook. Chapter 2: Aspects of Traditional Aboriginal Australia. Retrieved on August 2, 2017, from jstor.com
- The Dreaming. Retrieved on August 2, 2017, from australia.gov.au
- Indigenous People of Mexico. Retrieved on August 2, 2017, from en.wikipedia.org
- Indigenous Peoples of the Americas. Retrieved on August 2, 2017, from en.wikipedia.org.