The Aboriginal World View : A White Person’s Ideas

Abstract

What does world view mean? What is the Aboriginal world view like and how does it affect people’s behaviour? Is it possible for a white Australian to understand the Aboriginal world view? In this article I hope to present a white person’s point of view on these questions. I have three sources of information: eight years living with Milingimbi Yolngu, ten years learning and working with the Yolngu language, and as many years reading the works of anthropologists, linguists and Aboriginal writers. I feel that I have only the remotest understanding of this question but it is one which needs to be thought about and talked about. Hopefully this article will provoke debate.