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.
HOW TO LIMIT YOUR WASTE AT HOME
From tips on preserving food and cutting down on bills to caring about the environment and your local community, these are our 7 best tips on reducing waste at home
Words: Aleksandra Georgieva
Photography: Ellieelien, Kelsey Curtis, Suhyeon Choi, Alexandra Lammerink, Content Pixie, Zachary Keimig
23 December 2020
We live in times of working from home and caring about the environment has never been more pressing before. As more people adapt to spending the majority of their days within their flats and houses, limiting waste becomes a necessity that not everyone has thought of before. In this guide we explore ways to cut down on your spending and take better care of the environment and your local community. From tips on shopping to creative ways to use waste, advice on improving your cooking and recommendations on how to take better care of nature as well as yourself, these are our 7 best tips on how to limit your waste at home.
Use it all up.
Food waste is among the biggest problems of the modern world. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations estimates that 1.3 million tonnes of food is wasted globally each year, equivalent to a third of the food produced for human consumption. Every small step in reducing this number is crucial. Buy only as much food as you can eat and make sure to use all your ingredients at home whether to spice up an old recipe or to create a whole new dish.
Let natural daylight in.
Not only will this tip bring down your electricity costs but it will also benefit the planet. Think of Earth Hour and put the habit of switching off your lights to daily practice. Natural sunlight is not only means to limit your domestic bills but also a vital natural source of vitamin D for your organism.
Shop in season.
Another tip on creating better food related habits is to be aware what you buy. Shopping seasonal fruits and vegetables equals a better planet with less pollution in the process of transportation. Shopping seasonal also means buying fresh produce that hasn't been artificially processed and could support your local community or smaller farmers
Care to compost.
Whatever bio waste you generate, you can easily compost. If you have plants or a garden, you can make your own nutrient dense fertiliser. Simply wrap leftover veggies such as cucumbers in paper or cardboard and mix with soil. Not only is this a natural way to nurture your plants and veggies but it also benefits microorganisms and ecosystem in the ground.
Give new life to your possesions.
Carrying out seasonal cleaning and getting rid of things you don't need is always freeing. But before you throw your old possessions away, think of how you can reuse them. Perhaps you could give new life to that old furniture or gift it to a friend that could be creative with it.
Think of natural ingredients.
While it may be difficult to find all-natural cosmetic products, it is important to consider their effects upon ourselves and the environment. Artificial ingredients are soaked up through human skin reaching the bloodstream. Not only can they cause health hazards but when washed off, the chemicals travel from domestic drains straight into landfill causing major ecosystem distortion. In turn, harming the environment circulates right back to nearly every aspect of human life.
Limit your car use.
While you must've heard this one countless times before, it is one of the best advices on how to limit your negative impact on the planet, although outside of your home. Consider walking, riding a bike or taking the train to work and to the shops. While this last advice may not focus on your domestic waste, it certainly plays a major role in taking care to create a healthier planet for the future generations of home-lovers and travellers to inherit.
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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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