Australia - The Aborigines
Taking Freddie through the Australian bush were Aboriginal hosts Joseph, Connie and Moses, their grandson.
Australian Aboriginal culture is one of the longest surviving cultures in the world. Traditionally all of Australia's Aborigines were semi-nomadic hunters and gatherers, with each clan having its own territory. Communities that lived along the coast or rivers were expert fishermen.
Aboriginal territories or 'traditional lands' were defined by geographic boundaries such as rivers, lakes and mountains. All Australian Aborigines shared an intimate understanding and relationship with the land. That relationship was the basis of their spiritual life and shaped the Aboriginal culture. The land is fundamental to the well-being of all Aboriginal people and to reconnect with the land is an important part of the present day Aboriginal culture, identity and heritage.
Joseph and Connie want their grandson Moses to grow up continuing to follow the Aboriginal ways and become a ‘bushman’.
Tanzania - The Maasai Tribe
Thomas, a warrior and elder of the Maasai tribe in Tanzania was Freddie’s guide and mentor as Freddie was taught the ways of Maasai tribe as they searched for the migrating wildebeest.
The Maasai are predominantly a warrior tribe whose lives revolve around herding cattle. Maasai Wealth is measured in number of cattle and that is traditionally their main currency. The tribe mostly inhabit Kenya and Tanzania.
The Maasai take their historical customs and ceremonies very seriously, and it is very rare for outsiders to be allowed to attend. These customs include circumcisions to all 15-year old boys for them to become a warrior, and are carried out with no anaesthetic.
Another custom Freddie was lucky enough to take part with is the drinking of cattle blood, the Maasai believe the drinking of blood makes the body stronger and is good for children and the elderly to keep up their strength.
Borneo - The Dunsun
In Borneo local rainforest and survival expert Alim guides Freddie through the treacherous jungle on the Kinabatangan River.
Freddie tracks the elusive orang-utans and pygmy elephants with the help of Alim, a man with local knowledge that comes from generations of experience of life in the Rainforest.
He was born on the mountain that lies on the edge of the jungle and has skills passed down from his father and grandfather that enable him to find food and track the movement of the jungles wildlife.
Alim helps Freddie to identify the plants you can cut for water and also the ones that have sap that is so poisonous contact with it can kill.
Canada - First Nations
First Nations chief Vernon and his son Michael were Freddie’s guides in Canada.
First Nations culture is prevalent throughout Vancouver, the First Nations are people that trace their ancestry to the native/aboriginal people that inhabited the land before the arrival and colonisation of the Europeans and Americans in the late 18th century.
The First Nations people base their beliefs on their cultural and historical heritage of living off the land and respecting their environment. They never wasted any of the natural resources the land provided and to this day the people still live in harmony with nature and their surroundings.
The First Nations beliefs include that all of their people are descendants of mythic and sacred creatures, such as wolves, salmon and bears that are found in their natural environment. It is believed that sacred beings in animal form came down from the valleys and transformed mythic entities that resembled humans into animals, rocks, trees and natural elements and that the First Nations ancestors descended from these mythical beings.
It is the belief that all nature was born from these mythical ancestors that sustains the First Nations people of today to live in harmony with their environment and also respect their natural landscapes.
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