Context

Dreamtime, often used interchangeably with the term "Dreaming," ​is popularly known as the fantastical era of creation when ancient, ancestral beings of Aboriginal legend brought the world into existence - in the Yindjibarndi language, this period is described by a phrase translated as "when the world was soft" (Palmer, 2018, 110). On the other hand, Dreaming is thought to be timeless, manifest in the present through the continuous preservation of Aboriginal cultural "beliefs" and practices, which provide a deep, spiritual connection between the peoples of today and the times "back then."

 

In turn, this then suggests an understanding of time and temporality by the Australian Indigenous peoples that contrasts starkly with the accepted 'Western' concept of time as a sort of linear, immovable force. Both concepts form the basis of what I am defining as "English Dreaming." However, due to the association of the term "Dreamtime" with a temporally-distant mythology, it has been noted that a number of Australian Indigenous individuals prefer "Dreaming" (Palmer, 2018, 111). But is "Dreaming," even if more widely favorable, a sufficient enough term to describe Aboriginal culture? A brief examination into Aboriginal folklore and the history of the English Dreaming/Dreamtime demonstrates that this may not be the case. 

 

Dreaming/Dreamtime as translated in English most likely originates from an early mistranslation of the Arrernte word altjira (also: alcheringa, altyerrenge, or altyerr) which literally means "eternally uncreated." Even though certain dreams that occur during sleep can hold significance in Aboriginal culture, they are in no way foundational to Aboriginal "belief systems" nor have anything to do with altjira, a term more closely related to spirit-beings. Instead, as David H. Turner (1991) points out, the basis of Aboriginal "religion […] is a perception of forms in nature and society" (7).

 

According to this belief, all living things, human and otherwise, possess two souls: one "enFormed" externally and the other "inFormed" internally. When a living being dies, their inFormed soul is expelled into "the other side," which is, in fact, a mirror image of "this side," and takes on an outerForm through another enFormed soul, while the enFormed soul left behind on "this side" awaits the materialization of another body to inhabit and another inFormed soul to house (Turner, 1991, 8-9). Not only does this ontology inform the behavior and ethics of reciprocity and respect of Aboriginal peoples when interacting with nature and society at large but attitudes and spiritual rituals regarding death and the afterlife as well. 

​

Thus, it is clear that if to be used at all, "Dreaming" better describes a type of existence that is believed to have always existed as opposed to a certain time period in the past. Similarly, as a way of life, the institutional term "religion" is likewise insufficient when describing Australian Indigenous culture. And as we shall see, anthropologists have been increasingly critical of the use of both "Dreaming" and "Dreamtime" when discussing Aboriginal folklore, as well as its overly simplified interpretation, reflecting a change in how anthropology came to view, study, and engage with the 'other.'