A reflection on the many forms ceremony take in everyday life; some intimate and personal, others highly organised, and many carried forward across generations.
Ceremony: All Our Yesterdays for Today explores how ceremony connects people today with those who came before, creating a living continuum of inherited stories, places and memories. From rites of passage to smoking ceremonies and Welcomes to Country, ceremony is presented as both ancient and contemporary.
For First Nations Australians, ceremony forms the backbone of cultural practice and identity.
Drawing on their own experiences, authors Wesley Enoch and Georgia Curran, share personal ceremonies from Quandamooka Country, community practices among Warlpiri people in the Tanami Desert, stories entrusted by Elders and reflections on performing at major national events.
While ceremonial traditions are diverse, many remain secret or sacred and, as the authors note, cannot be shared with those who are not initiated or closely connected to community. Rather, the book highlights the enduring significance of ceremony across time and place, showing how it shapes identity, strengthens community and contributes to a national understanding that recognises and celebrates Australia’s First Nations histories and cultures.
You can read Ceremony: All our yesterdays for today, available as an eBook, through the Charles Sturt Library.
Contact us at the Library if you have any trouble accessing or downloading this title, or check out our eBook library guide for more information on using our online resources.
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