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|   | Subject: Cultural arrogance towards Australian Aboriginals in this Guide entry.
Posted Apr 23, 2012 by Effers;England. | | Post: 1
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I find this entry completely lacks respect for a culture that began before Homo sapiens had even reached Europe. Crikey does such an idea not occur?
I saw this entry linked to on Twitter by the Guide editors. I can't believe it. What sort of impression does it give of this place that it is so shallow in its awareness of other cultural thinking and the Guide is so western mostly British centric. How will we expand away from that narrow essentially imperialist way of looking at other cultures? How are we going to attract people who think in other ways?
**
I visited Australia for 3 months a few years ago.
I have only scratched the surface of the profoundness of the difference in cultural outlook..though the little I have understood or think I might have understood is something I can relate to on one level of myself.
Aboriginals mythology is intimately bound up with landscape and the Dreaming. Conception involves an overlap between inner pychic processes and the land or 'country' the English term they use. Aboriginals aren't stupid..they depended on hunting as well as gathering to survive.
The paintings they make are connected with ideas about the Dreaming as much as 'maps' connected to hunting and gathering. Traditionally Aboriginals have been quite secretive about letting on too much to 'white fellas' in order to protect their culture..what's left after its been utterly devastated since the arrival of Europeans.
I saw a map in Australia showing the traditional territories of many tribes that existed when Europeans arrived. Over 90% no longer exist..
On my PS I have a link to a website where some of their cultural conceptions are explained.
Here's their link.
http://www.aboriginalartonline.com/culture/land.php
|  | Subject: Cultural arrogance towards Australian Aboriginals in this Guide entry.
Posted Apr 23, 2012 by  h2g2 Guide Editors
This is a reply to this Posting.
| | Post: 2
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Hi Effers
Thanks for the additional information and views.
Re: Why was this tweeted? The Editors tweet various Entries out, when they have the time to do so.
This was tweeted as part of a series of Entries that had a connection with hoaxes and tricks, on April 1st of this year.
h2g2 Guide Editors
|  | Subject: Cultural arrogance towards Australian Aboriginals in this Guide entry.
Posted Apr 23, 2012 by Effers;England.
This is a reply to this Posting.
| | Post: 3
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Unbelievable.
What does a 60,000 year old culture have to do with our tradition of April fool's day? Especially one that has been so thoroughly wrecked by westerners eg taking kids away from their tribes and re-educating them in the 'white fellas' schools.
Rabbit Proof Fence was on last night
And its that attitude that makes aboriginal ideas so trivialised.
Any Aboriginal would be disgusted by that entry..they are getting much more political now..especially in the cities where so many have ended up.
But you should see the kids in Alice Springs smashed out of the heads on alcohol and sniffing glue around Alice Springs. Their culture has been exterminated virtually.
It's incredibly disrespectful.
I won't bother with that Twitter page again if you're going to do things like that.
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