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.
WHAT'S IN THE LAND ISSUE
The LAND Issue #01
Our very first print issue has launched and we are very happy to share it with you. We pay a tribute to the land and explore how we connect to it to gt a perspective of the importance of giving back to nature and how we can earn to call a place a homeland
Words by: The Editors
08 June 2019
We recently released our first print issue and we can’t wait to share it with you. If you wonder why you should get a copy for yourself, we created a digital list of the contents of our LAND issue so you know what you can expect to find within the pages.
The theme of our first issue is LAND as we wanted to explore the connection between people and the land. Over time, this has changed quite a few times and we followed the transformation to its core as we know that a bond between humanity and land has existed since our very beginning. Here are the main topics we featured in the print issue.
No One’s Land
We went back in time to trace how the First Nation worshiped the land and make a parallel with how we perceive it today. Read about the land as a central symbol of the plain Indians’ belief system and what powers it possessed according to the Aboriginal culture.
Read our exclusive interview with the owners of Masseria Moroseta. The elegant guest house located close to Ostuni compliments the area where it was built. The guys used only local materials for the house. The whole place functions with solar panels and locally sourced water to guarantee a sustainable existence and be gentle to the environment. Masseria Moroseta exists in harmony with the olive groves and century-old trees surrounding it and is just a piece of paradise on Earth. A shortened version of our interview for Masseria Moroseta is available online in our 'Influencers' section.
Lost Lands
The look of the Earth has changed massively. The continents were formed and with them smaller pieces of land separated to exist on their own. History signifies for places that were ones discovered by explorers but exist no more. From Atlántida to the borders of El Dorado and some Hawaiian Islands come with us on an expedition through the ruins of the lost lands.
The People of the Land
We put together some statistics to show how migration has shaped different nations and the way most of us live together in a world that is in a constant state of change. Read about what migration meant a few decades ago compared to what it means now. We show you that we are not so different from one another in this visual photo guide.
NOMADSofORIGIN Magazine collaborated with talented photographers to create a photo guide of mountains around the world. We wanted to illustrate the different terrain of the land and show you that even the peaks of mountains are a home for some of us. We wrote a feature about the nations who live in the embrace of the mountains. Do you know who they are? Read the article as part of our digital content.
Take part in our social media competition. Find out which street we feature in our first print issue and if you are in the area, find the location, snap a picture and tag us in your image. We will choose one among our favourites to feature in the next issue or give you a shout on our social media.
3 Minute Bulgaria
Martin started a multimedia project to showcase the beauty, cultural heritage, people’s traditions and history of his homeland. We interviewed him about what inspired the project, the difficulties he faced and why he felt it was important to create this video guide about Bulgaria. Read our exclusive interview with Martin to learn more about the project.
The Distance Between Us
The recent events surrounding the Mexican American border sparked multiple passionate discussions about what it meant to be a nation trying to define itself. There have been a lot of articles written, journalists who spoke up and politicians who made decisions. We followed the events to show how a man-made border wall can symbolise a political statement and a national segregation.
Rice Legend
Rice is a huge part of the culture of the Thadou-Kuki people. Learn what is their legend about how the rice grows and why is plays such a vital role in their culture.
Tracing Peru
NOMADSofORIGIN Magazine explores how the Inca used to connect to the sky using the ground. We discover how the people of Peru put the land in a central significance to establish their cultural identity.
The Nation of Many
This is the story of the people of Karen. NOMADSofORIGIN Magazine presents to you the largest hill tribe in Thailand. Let us take you on a fascinating journey to discover more about the first settlers in Southeast Asia and the way they make their living fishing like no other nation does – using conical fishing nets, a tradition that has been passed on through generations.
On the back of the largest land animal
We want to encourage our nomads to travel consciously and leave a positive impact on the world when visiting different places. Riding elephants is a common practice in many places, especially in the region of Thailand, Cambodia and Nepal and NOMADSofORIGIN Magazine wants to encourage you to be part of the reason to break this cycle. Animals are social creatures and their healthy existence depends on tourists seeing them as such. Read our statistics about how many alive elephants are left in the wild, why illegal ivory trading needs to stop once and for all and other statistics about the gentle giants.
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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