Western vs Aboriginal

WESTERN	ABORIGINAL
Land is something which can be bought or sold but ultimately belongs to the Crown;	Land is not something we can own it’s something we are part of, like all the plants and animals and trees and water.
God told Adam and Eve they owned and should control plants and animals, and that they should be farmers;	Our dreaming tells us to care for the land because the land is our life.
Man is in charge of the landscape. It makes sense to drain swampland, divert rivers, or cut down forests (sometimes);	Our Spirit Ancestors created the landscape. If we disrespect the landscape we disrespect our spirits.
The law is English law; Laws change;	Our Spirit Ancestors gave us the law and we observe it. If we break this timeless law we must be punished.
Personal gain flows from personal effort; A lack of personal gain must be the result of a lack of personal effort;	We all live together – men take care of men’s business, women take care of women’s business, and everyone takes care of everybody else.
Personal success leads to a higher status;	We earn respect by learning more as we grow older, and by obeying the law.
We have to work hard both to survive and to save;	We do what we must to live, and conserve our energy for when we must travel vast distances, or for surviving in lean times.
Our duty to ourselves is stronger than our duty to our community;	Our community’s duty to our country is important.
Saving is good;	We never waste water, we only take a little bit when we need it
Not saving is bad;	If we see a kangaroo we do not defer gratification because there is no way of keeping it for when we need it. We eat when we can.
Some goods are consumed instantly when we use them. Some things like land can be used repeatedly to increase wealth;	We leave our grinding stone here because it’s heavy to carry, and we will need it when we come back here again.
There are only four certainties in life: Birth, death, taxes and warfare.	We have always had our country, our spirits, our laws.