Why were Aboriginal people naked?

I get asked this question often as it is one in the list of multiple standards that the British designed to tell if you are civilised, and therefore their equal. Unclothed people could not possibly be civilised, ergo must be unintelligent heathens.

Imagine if you lived in a time where humans and their outer shell (body) were considered irrelevant and unimportant. A time when each gender's sexuality was only important because of their role in the fertilisation process within the Ceremonial, Kinship and Lore areas of our Universal Responsibility Cycle.

Being naked or mostly naked is in fact the equal standard to the clothed European one for being civilised that was/is designed by my people's Creation Ancestors.

I am not digressing but I am setting the groundwork to answer one of the many questions we have been judged upon since colonised invasion. Why were the humans naked across this continent most of the time for thousands of years?

In the astounding spoken only, fully memorised education system of my First People, I have been schooled enough on the reasons why clothing was not needed to share with you what I know.

In pre-colonial Australia my family wore on their person what was/is equal to a passport today. Naturally, it was not written but tattooed/scarred on their chest and stomach. Each unique scarred pattern (passport) was right at the front of all humans and told others where you came from, what language you spoke and whether you were a possible marriageable partner. It was important to not cover that up. Study the different patterns below.

Many people may of seen images of Ritual scarring. Ritual scarring occurred at different stages of a persons education. These Ritual scars showed what level of education a living being had reached in my peoples Universal Responsibility Cycle. The ritual scars were placed mostly on the shoulders, back, buttocks or calves of either gender. Each of these ritual scars identify very important stages in a persons ideological quest as laid down by the Creation Ancestors.

These ritual scars identified what food you could eat due to the taboos placed on all three stages of education you were in. If you could marry and whether you could attend the role you could place various ceremonies and also what employment you held within the permanent camps within each mother country. Anyone not scarred in the right way was called a?'cleanskin' or unbranded and was not able to participate in many aspects of traditional life or even trade with others.

Some other external identity and education level markers were a bone through the nose, specific types of arm bands and a tooth missing.

My Wiradyuri and many other language groups wore possum skin rugs in the cold time/areas. Notice that the rugs are worn fur in and had scarring on them as well. This scarring on the rugs replicated the scarring on the body it was covering up. Thus ensuring that your identity was always shown.

I mourn for how my family must have felt covering up their identity and trying to understand why these new people hid their bodies from head to toe. Their shame and confusion at being clothed must have palpable and their devastation at being told the way their most respected and loved Creation Ancestor's System worked was disgusting and wrong.

We must educate and be far more understanding and accepting that there is now two ideology systems in this land - one human centric copied from Europe and one Universal that is the oldest in the world. It is way past time that we are both learning each others.

Nola Turner-Jensen - A Wiradyuri women who is an Aboriginal Spoken Navigation researcher from the Balbu clan group of West Galari. Nola is currently a Candidate with the Indigenous Knowledge Institute at Uni of Melbourne undertaking a Doctorate of Indigenous Philosophy and in her final year of a Diversity and Inclusion Fellowship with Melbourne Science Faculty researching Sound Codes that identify sacred Aboriginal sites. She is also Co-Chair of the West Galari Wiradyuri Traditional Owner Corporation and is a multiple published author.

[email protected]