Timekeeper
After four weeks of walking through the desert the group of Aborigines would stop in front of a cave. This cave was hidden behind some trees.
That was their mythical place, which they visited once a year.
The cave had a hole. Through this hole the sun shone on a specific area on the wall only once a year. With this method the Aborigines knew, what time of the year it was.
While the group sat together, two women would start their yearly ritual. They would paint pictures of all important events of the previous year. They had to have a good memory of births, deaths, nature changes and other things, which happened.
Grammar:
would + infinitive - (würde/n ... ); Präteritum
would + do - (würde/n tun); tat/en
example: After... the Aborigines would walk better.
Exact translation: Nach.... würden die Aborigines besser laufen.
Typical German: Nach... liefen die Aborigines besser.
Vocabulary:
to hide, hid, hidden - verstecken
to shine, shone, shone - scheinen
while - während
cave - Höhle
mythical - mythisch
specific - speziell, besonders
method - Methode
ritual - Ritual
previous - vergangen/es
Celebration of thanks (difficult)
After a walkabout the group of Aborigines would have a celebration of thanks. They wanted to thank God and the earth for their daily food and for everything they needed to survive.
They put ointment on their heads, and wreaths, which were made out of binded silver-grey koala fur with an opal in the middle. They wore feather costumes, which they „sewed“ together with grass. The tribe‘s elders would then paint symbols with special meanings of everyones character on each Aborigine’s body.
Afterwards they danced together in a circle while stamping and clapping their hands and slapping their thighs, while all the time singing songs.
Grammar:
would + infinitive - (würde/n ... ); Präteritum
would + do - (würde/n tun); tat/en
example: After... the Aborigines would walk better.
Exact translation: Nach.... würden die Aborigines besser laufen.
Typical German: Nach... liefen die Aborigines besser.
Vocabulary:
to make, made, made - machen (herstellen)
to wear, wore, worn - tragen (Kleidung)
to sew - nähen
to stamp - stampfen
to slap - klatschen, schlagen
while - während
God - Gott
ointment - Salbe
wreath - Kranz
binded - gebundene,-s, -n
fur - Pelz
opal - Opal (Halbadelstein)
feather - Feder
tribe’s elder - Stammesältester
thigh - Oberschenkel
Hunting (easy)
While walking through the Outback the Aborigines never knew when they would find food for the next meal. Therefore they were happy when they saw a group of four kangaroos.
Six hunters would all hunt for one kangaroo. Quietly they would creep closer to the group of kangaroos, three men from the East and three from the West. Everyone had a boomerang and a spear.
Without a word they started running to the weakest kangaroo and threw their spears and boomerangs at it. Within seconds the kangaroo was dead. The hunters took it to their group and had a delicious meal.
Grammar:
would + infinitive - (würde/n ... ); Präteritum
would + do - (würde/n tun); tat/en
example: After... the Aborigines would walk better.
Exact translation: Nach.... würden die Aborigines besser laufen.
Typical German: Nach... liefen die Aborigines besser.
Vocabulary:
to throw, threw, thrown - werfen
to hunt - jagen
to creep - kriechen, schleichen
while - während
hunter - Jäger
boomerang - Bumerang (gekrümmtes Wurfholz)
spear - Speer
weak - schwach
Snakes
After daily walks of about twenty kilometers the group of twenty-five Aborigines would have to find enough food for the only meal of the day.
They looked around and found a nest of snakes. The babies of that type of snake weren’t poisonous yet, so they could eat them. In the nest were about 200 of them. They moved in a way that it looked like a living, constantly changing design.
The Aborigines grabbed as many snakes as they could until the mother snake came back.
They put them in a „pot“ made out of animal skin and heated it up over the fire. Some Aborigines even ate the snakes uncooked.
Grammar:
would + infinitive - (würde/n ... ); Präteritum
would + do - (würde/n tun); tat/en
example: After... the Aborigines would walk better.
Exact translation: Nach.... würden die Aborigines besser laufen.
Typical German: Nach... liefen die Aborigines besser.
Vocabulary:
to grab - packen, schnappen
to heat - erhitzen
while - während
snake - Schlange
poisonous - giftig
constantly changing - sich ständig verändernd
design - Design (Muster,...)
Cleaning
Before the Aborigines visited a mythical place they followed a special cleaning ceremony. But they often had no water to do this.
Therefore a few people would dig big holes in the ground, while others had to lay in them. The holes were then closed in with soil covering the whole body except the head. Not being able to move the Aborigines in the ground would lay there for about two hours. After that they would get out, dry in the sun, get off the dried dirt and feel clean again. The ground took all toxins from their bodies.
The Aborigines, who didn’t lay in the ground would just stand still while a swarm of flies came and would lick all dirty substances from their bodies.
Grammar:
would + infinitive - (würde/n ... ); Präteritum
would + do - (würde/n tun); tat/en
example: After... the Aborigines would walk better.
Exact translation: Nach.... würden die Aborigines besser laufen.
Typical German: Nach... liefen die Aborigines besser.
Vocabulary:
to dig - graben
to lay - liegen
to cover - bedecken
while - während
mythical - mythisch
hole - Loch
soil - Erde
dirt - Schmutz, Dreck
toxin - Gift
substance - Substanz