CONVERSATION
CONVERSATION
CONVERSATION
HUMAN TRACES:
ETHIOPIA
HUMAN TRACES:
ETHIOPIA
THE BALANCE OF FACTS
THE BALANCE OF FACTS
THE BALANCE OF FACTS
THE BALANCE OF FACTS
DESTINATIONS
DESTINATIONS
The Dreamtime, or the Dreaming, portrays the Aboriginal beliefs in spiritual existence. According to the tribes that first settled down in the continent, the Dreaming's roots date all the way back to the very begging of the creation of the world. The meaning and ideology of the term is generally not so well-understood by non-indigenous people as it is referred to as part of the culture of one of the early nations, which differs from modern perceptions.
The Spirits were the creators of everything. They made the land and the seas, the rocks and the plants, the sky and the earth. They were the higher power and the Australian Aborigines spent their lifetimes honoring this power, which guided their path and shaped their way of thinking. Not only creators of everything, which could be seen as well as felt, the Spirits also gave the Aborigines the Dreaming.
The time when everything started existing according to the initial Australians, was called the Dreaming. This is the foundation of the continent's culture. The origin of the Dreaming goes way back - 65 000 years back in time to be exact. The Ancestors of the nation shaped the land, forming some parts of it as sacred. The Aborigines were very careful and overprotective of those places, strongly believing in their significance.
The Australian Aborigines are known to have believed that the world didn't have any shape and was therefore empty. Darkness dominated, and life was simply asleep, but this changed when the creation began happening. After the Dreaming and the influence of the Spirits, objects began taking shapes and came to be. They created the four elements: water, earth, air and fire, as well as all the planets, the Sun and the Moon. The Dreaming therefore is a continuous process, which never ended. It is a small cosmos on its own, unifying the past, present and the future into one.
The Australian Aborigines' home riches so many vivid areas of the continent, including Fraser Island, Tasmania, Palm Island, Groote Eylandt and Mornington Island. The Aborigines had very strong believes in relation to the powers of the land, claiming that they never owned it - it rather owned them. The only reason they were able to call it their home is because they were looking after it and the land was taking care of the people in return.
Equally important to the Dreaming was the tribes' understandings of the disappearance of the Spirits. There came a time, when the creators of everything vanished from sight. Some of them were thought to have started living in sacred places, which is why the Aborigines perceived their homeland to be so sacred. The ancestors of today's Australians used to believe that the creators started living in rocks, in water holes and some went up to the sky to guide the people from above and keep them safe. Others transformed completely, taking the forms of the rain, the lightnings and the thunderstorms so they could be part of peoples' life.
Among the hundred's different Aboriginal languages, there isn't a word to describe 'time', because to them this simply doesn't exist. Dreaming and Dreamtime are used to replace it and summarize the ideologies of the Aborigines about everything they knew, everything they could see, feel and experience. This is why the Dreaming has such a vivid, and overwhelming meaning and has survived the obstacles of time. For the past couple thousand years, the Dreaming has built a rich cultural heritage that can identify a whole nation.
Read more about the Land, its connection to people and the way it has been perceived from different generations in the very first print issue of ORIGIN. The Land Issue covers varied topics, most of which remain related to cultural aspects of the land and its importance.
A lot of people travel to explore places and learn about them which is the message that ORIGIN wants to spread. With traveling, however, comes certain responsibilities that we should all be aware of. Elephants riding has become a popular way to explore locations by land. People have been doing this as part of their trips, mostly to places such as Thailand, Nepal, Cambodia and other parts of Asia. It is a common thing to see in certain places in Africa as well. We investigated the activity to explain why it is wrong and riding elephants should be banned everywhere.
Our first print issue studies culture and traveling represented through the land. We explored various location around the globe and learned what makes the land so valuable, which nations cherish it and how it helps us establish an identity. Traveling is important to us but traveling responsibly and making an impact is what we feel proud to stand behind. This is why riding elephants as a way of amusement should be reconsidered.
Let’s talk about the details. Elephants are very caring and extremely intelligent animals. It is a well-known fact that they never forget anything. When kept in captivity instead of spending their life in the wild, elephants die younger. Unlike in other species, this is common for the gentle giants and is often a result for stress.
Many African cultures respect elephants, believing they symbolize strength, loyalty and power. However, power can be a very tender concept. Elephant used as a tourism tool suffer from great pain daily. Elephants can be hurt very severely from the weight of carrying people and a trainer on their backs. The reason for this is the design of their spines. They have sharp protrusions, extending upwards from their spine instead of having round spinal disks. The protrusions and the tissue that serves to protect them can be harmed easily from weight pressure. Once a damage to their spine has been made, there is no going back and sometimes the harm can be irreversible. While this can’t be physically seen, the harm that the chairs can do to the elephants’ skin is. It is often the case that the chairs and the weight on their back can damage the animal’s skin and cause pain to their body. The chair, called Howdah, that gets attached to their backs, rubs on their skin and can cause blisters, which can sometimes get infected.
The training that elephants are required to go through when in captivity sometimes adopts a traditional Thai ‘phajaan’ or ‘crush’ technique. Explaining the technique would compare it to the animals’ spirits constantly and continuously being broken by the means of torture and social isolation. This is done in order to tame them. Elephants are wild animals, this is their nature as they are born in such conditions. Making them safe and obedient around people requires them to go through such training. As horrible as it sounds, in some places young elephants are taken away from their mothers to be abused with nails, bull hooks and bamboo sticks to make them obey rules, given by people. The animals often lack sleep and are starved to become submissive.
Actions from such nature are cruel and harmful as the technique is used to crash the animals’ spirit. Once wild and free, elephants become a source of tourism and entertainment. Nobody, who cared about sustainable tourism should ever ride an elephant.
In a sense, elephants have a human soul. They socialise and feel everything – pain, happiness, grief, sadness etc. They spend their life building families and finding friends. The largest land animals are a gift from nature and it is our responsibility to take special care of them and make sure they live according to their nature. Many animals, who are kept in captivity, are forced to live in isolation and carry heavy loads all day long, which is a wrong way to treat them. Their strength and power shouldn’t be abused but treated gently and celebrated by people. Elephants require minimal care to stay happy and healthy, which comes from giving them freedom to behave naturally and socialise. It is our responsibility to be culturally aware while traveling and make sure to spread awareness about the problem.
You can read the rest of the article as published in the LAND issue.
CATASTROPHIC OCEANS
Endangered by numerous factors, oceans need our urgent attention. These are some fast facts & figures on the importance of healthy Blue Economy for the sake of global cultural preservation
Words: Aleksandra Georgieva
Photography: Will McCue
16 January 2019
Ocean issues affect all marine and land life on the planet. Extreme exploitation puts them in daily dangers. Gaining awareness of the problems is the first step towards generating vital protection. Endangered marine life has a direct, harmful effect on human communities. The livelihood of all those, who live by ocean or sea coasts is damaged in various aspects. From the food, to the tourist, and business industry, people struggle. Contamination of the food chain alongside pollution of inland areas due to dirty oceans is a global catastrophe that puts people’s lives in danger. On planet Earth everything is connected - from the ‘Blue Economy’ to that of the billions of people who benefit from the global interactions between land and the oceans.
NOMADSofORIGIN wants to highlight the vital link between land and marine life. Our editorial team introduces the readers to the critic situation alongside the effortless ways to get involved in resolving some of the global ocean crises. Yet, for all online followers here are some fast facts and figures about marine threats and their cultural connections.
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Did you know that oceans formulate the largest living space on Earth? Up to 70% of the planet surface is covered with water. This makes marine resources vital for the survival and flourishing of land life.
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Oceans also produce half of the oxygen on the planet and absorb a quarter of the carbon dioxide emissions that people and the environment.
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Marine tourism secures roughly 200 million jobs globally. WWF expands on the issue with the negative tourism impacts and the ways to reduce them.
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Some of the main causes of damage are pollution, chemicals, urban development, coastal constructions and tourism, mining and fishing.
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By estimation 80% of the global fish stocks are already either fully or over exploited.
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Overfishing causes the needles death of millions of marine animals every year. Marine biodiversity is under threat as the reproduction doesn’t meet the consumption’s demand. Divers hunt for species up to 200m in depth. The food security of every nation is in danger.
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The High Seas, where marine live is at its highest variety are under no protection. They are located beyond the Exclusive Economic Zones and as international waters, access to them is open to everyone.
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Due to plastic and toxic pollution the contamination of marine wildlife can outnumber that of their environment times billions. Contamination travels through the food chain as bigger animals eat smaller ones and eventually get caught and eaten by humans. The UN provides you a ‘Front-row seat to ocean pollution’ explaining more about how we end up eating our own trash.
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The majority of ocean pollution comes from the land. Nearly 90% is plastic-based, taking hundreds of years to degrade.
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Plastics, chemicals, garbage and pesticides reach the sea through the atmosphere or drains. These are all factors that destroy or damage the biodiversity and reproduction within marine ecosystems.
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Exploitation of natural resources has led to the creation of an island of garbage the size of Texas. Located at the North Pacific Gyre there the waste outnumbers marine life six to one. Many sources including UNESCO touch on the dreadful impact of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
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Developing countries do not treat up to 70% of the industrial and water waste.
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Data by the International Maritime Organization states that over half of sea-transported cargoes are a health hazard. Yet, shipping remains the way of trading 90% of fuel, food and other materials worldwide.
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The global climate changes lead to an increase of the land, air and water surface temperatures. This harms all live on the planet and negatively impacts the climate of the continents.
Mistreating our oceans has created global issues with catastrophic effects. Sustaining healthy marine environment is vital and people are the key. Anyone can reduce the harm to the Largest Living Space on Earth and help all inland communities in the process. Limit your water and plastic consumption, recycle, join local clean-ups, avoid pesticides and keep updated with ocean threats. There are also many non-profits dedicated to resolving some of the global ocean and marine wildlife issues.
By joining this conversation, you are already attempting positive changes with global effects. Follow NOMADSofORIGIN into the mission to help local communities prosper and preserve their cultural scene.
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NOMADSofORIGIN is an independent annual publication with a focus on sustainable travelling and global cultural values. Each issue features interviews, engaging articles and photo guides, which take our nomadic readers through different destinations and introduce them to local people's perspectives.
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