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.
DESTINATION: NETHERLANDS
Unique landscape, iconic art heritage and dangerous past form one of the best socially and economically organised countries on the planet
Words: Aleksandra Georgieva
Photography: Bart van Dijk, Bruno van der Kraan, Dovile Ramoskaite, Jorik Kleen, Micaela Parente, Nazar Strutynsky, Prateek Keshari, Steven Lasry
27 August 2019
In the North western part of Europe, the Netherlands hosts vintage cafés, picturesque tulip fields and a clash between traditional architecture and innovative design. Home to some of the world's greatest artists including Van Gogh, Rembrandt, Piet Mondrian and Vermeer, modern day Netherlands is heaven for the lovers of art. The big cities like Rotterdam, Amsterdam and Den Haag burst with museums where the work of contemporary artists mixes with the iconic art of celebrated Dutch Masters.
The name Netherlands translates to 'lower countries' reflecting the pancake-flat geography where only half of the land exceeds one meter above sea level. Only far in the southeast and the central parts of the country low hill ranges can be found, but the majority of the territory remains man-made and below sea level. The reason for this is the land reclamation that has been happening ever since the 16th century, due to the necessity of creating large dried land areas called 'polders'. The Dutch coastlines have suffered and transformed significantly due to human intervention and natural disasters. Massive disasters including the storm of 1134, the 1287 St. Lucia's flood and the St. Elizabeth flood of 1421 caused a great human and land loss, turning into some of the most destructive floods in global history. This made farming difficult and led to establishment of foreign trade affairs with the Dutch since the early 15th century up until modern times.
Unfortunately, the Netherlands is one of the most threatened country in terms of climate change. The ever-changing weather patterns result in overflowing rivers while the rising sea levels further endanger the life on this laid low country. Yet, at present two-thirds of the Netherlands's land is overtaken by agriculture. The North Sea winds power windmills, which pump water and mill flour, while the iconic flower fields blossom with colours every year between the months of March and May. With 20 national parks and numerous nature reserves, the lovers of the outdoor can visit dunes, lakes and woods while the Dutch part of the Wadden Sea, located in the north, is a World Heritage Nature Site of UNESCO.
Overall, the everyday life for the Dutch citizens is quite enjoyable. You will find the locals either in the nearest vintage café or simply sat around a table on the terrace as the flower-facade buildings filter the fresh summer air looking out to the sea, the hidden alleys or the town's main Grote Markt. And if you ever find yourself travelling to the Netherlands, make sure to add a local spin to the experience. You will notice the citizens of the majority of the Dutch cities cycling all over the seashores, near the rivers and canals through the thirty-two thousand kilometres long cycling paths across the country. It is not only an efficient way of getting around, but it also keeps people happier, healthier and takes better care of the environment. If you are a tourist, cycling would also give you the opportunity to enjoy the countryside and urban scenery within the big cities where cutting-edge design meets medieval Gothic and Romanesque architecture.
Another curious fact about the Dutch population is that the locals form the tallest nation in the world. On average Dutch men reach a height of 1.81 meters (5 ft 11.3 in), while the women tend to be around 1.67 meters (5 ft 5.7 in) tall. While the Netherlands has extremely dense population of over 17 million citizens, it is widely famous for its cosmopolitan society and social tolerance alongside the incredibly well-organised public educational system, universal healthcare and infrastructure. The Netherlands is among the most prosperous countries worldwide with relatively high income and international index of human development, quality of life and economic and press freedom.
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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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