RIC-0667 Aboriginal Cult 5-6

Indicator:
Other Families
Teachers Notes
Recognises that everyone is part of a family and that all families are
different.
This section will help students understand that everyone has a family, but not all
families are the same. Some families are extended like Aboriginal families, some
families do not all live together and some families have only one parent.
All cultures are different, with different values and beliefs, and family customs
differ across many cultures and faiths. For example, Muslims pray at various times
during the day and fast at specified times of the year. Balinese people believe that
offering gifts to their gods will bring them good fortune. Customs are a part of
every culture. In Aboriginal society, customs are still practised today that have
been practised for many thousands of years. The kinship system is an important
way to classify and distinguish Aboriginal families and relatives. The kinship system
provides the Aboriginal people with an extended family, as the whole group is seen
as family. Because of this, an Aboriginal child may refer to several women as ‘mother’
and several men as ‘father’. In non-Aboriginal society, usually a child refers to his/
her birth parents as mother and father. In Aboriginal societies, the siblings of their
parents are referred to as ‘Mum’ or ‘Dad’.
This may seem complex to us, but to Aboriginal people it is a simple way by which
they can work out where they stand in relation to others in their group. For example,
‘Aunt’ is a term that may be used to refer to the father’s sister. Aboriginal people
believe it is the role of aunts and uncles to teach the children about rules and
punishments. It is also their responsibility to discipline the children.
Most Aboriginal families have an extended family unit. In many cases, a grandchild
may live with grandparents, aunts and uncles as well as his/her own immediate
family.
• Discuss families with the class again. Display pictures of various families
taken from magazines or personal photos etc.
• Give students the opportunity to talk about their own families and what
they enjoy doing with them.
• Talk about special birthdays, Christmas, Easter and times spent together
with other family members such as aunts, grandparents etc.
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• You may wish to organise for a grandparent or other family member to visit
the class to talk about their family. (Grandparent’s Day, Father’s Day or
Mother’s Day themes are good for this.)
• To complete the worksheet, students need to draw a line from each child to
the family he/she belongs to.
Families
(page 32)
Cultural Identity
www.ricgroup.com.au R.I.C. Publications 31Australian Aboriginal Culture 31
ISBN 978-1-86311-807-1