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.
UNDERWATER CITIES
A recent study published in the Nature Communications journal looks into the raise of the ocean levels and how that could affect cites by the middle of the century. Take a look at why 150 million people are currently living in places that could be underwater in 25 years’ time
Words: Emily Georgieva
Photography: Chantal Lim
23 March 2020
According to an American study several territories could potentially sink underwater by the end of 2015. The possibility of this happening is tightly related to the effects of global warming. Changes in temperatures are noticeable all over the globe and scientists are trying to predict how this could affect mankind in the near future. The results show a potential future that seems a bit terrifying.
American scientists Scott A. Culp and Benjamin Strauss have undergone a study, which shows that the water level in global oceans is rising. The research was backed up by a new method of measuring the effects of water rising. In short, the method works by incorporating satellite data with artificial intelligence to detect measurement faults and work on fixing them.
The study, published in the Nature Communications journal, is focusing on the consequences of the increase in the ocean water levels. According to the data discovered by scientists, several countries are in danger of sinking, most of which are based in Asia. Places such as Shanghai, Bangkok and Mumbai are among the ones that are in highest risk. Although those destinations are far from the only ones addressed by the study, they are the ones expected to sink underwater completely. Some areas in Europe such as Hamburg and Bremen in Germany are also at high rankings on the same list.
The American study collects data from all areas in potential danger. The objective is to determine how many people currently live on the territory of places that could get swallowed by the raising ocean levels. So far, the number is estimated to reach 150 million people worldwide. Coastal cities are among the places that could be affected the worst due to their direct access to the oceans.
Although the published data is carefully studied, this study does not necessary determine the faith of any of the mentioned places. Things could always change. Currently there are multiple cities across continents, which are technically located below sea level, so this is not a phenomenon we haven’t faced before. With the right measurements the sinking cities effect could be reversed, and territories don’t necessarily have to end up underwater.
A future that is defined by climate changes is not a myth, nor is it a possibility any longer. Global warming is already affecting nature and in turn it changes the lifestyle of entire nations. The American study goes beyond proving the hypothesis that cities might sink by the middle of the century. It also suggests that in order to take the correct measurements, the territories of the affected cities must be evacuated soon. This could lead to more migration cycles and consequently it could create more global humanitarian crisis to be solved. However, if we take the correct measurements, the devastating scenario of underwater cities could have less severe consequences than what is currently predicted.
There are many locations that need your attention and can benefit from tourism and conscious travelling. We made a quick list notifying the must-see places that need to be on your radar if you are a passionate nomad.
PLACES IN DANGER OF DISAPPEARING
I. The Great Barrier Reef – a place that attracts a lot of attention, the reef has been negatively impacted by changes in the climate that cause a bleach of the corals. The living condition have changed making it impossible for many animals to continue to exist there. The reef is expected to disappear within a decade.
II. The North Pole - the ice in the North Pole is melting. This is not something that has just now started to happen, however, the effects from it are starting to show now more than ever before. Expeditions to the North Pole have been successfully completed by many scientists and explorers in the past but with the ice melting with disturbingly fast rates, it may be the case that the last human navigated expedition to the North Pole is already a history.
III. Kilimanjaro – the Tanzanian peaks of Kilimanjaro are poetic and leave a sense of respect in anyone who’s seen them. Climbing them is as much challenging as it is rewarding. The peaks won’t look the same once the snow disappears. The ice from mountain peaks is significantly lower than it has been in the past. It is estimated that 85% of the snow covering the peaks of Africa’s highest mountain has already melted.
NOTE: Recently, upon the virus lock-down, dolphins have been noticed swimming in Venice canals and the water appears to be visually cleaner. The clean waterways are among some of the good news that come during such uncertain times and we cannot be happier to see nature reviving itself.
A feature about Venice disappearing underwater in the next century is included as part of our CLIMATE CHANGE Issue. Some facts from it are included in this article. To read more and explore more content influenced by this topic, shop the Climate Change Issue.
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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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