Law means a rule or a collection of rules.
Lore is knowledge or tradition passed from generation to generation
……. There is often confusion over the words law and lore……
Origins of Lore.
Lore A body of traditions and knowledge on a subject or held by a particular group, typically passed from person to person by word of mouth.
The term ‘lore’ refers mainly today to the customs and stories the Aboriginal peoples learned from the Dreamtime.
Aboriginal lore was passed on through the generations through songs, stories and dance and it governed all aspects of traditional life.
Lore was a ancient term used by many old world inhabitants including England back in the days before laws were invented.
An good example could be that of The bible’s of the world as all contain and include both lore and law .
So to is the story of Robinhood however thus be called folklore.
And lets no be forgetting them lores of the pirates .
Computer games movies even podcast also use and contain lore.
Today It is common to see the terms ‘law’ and ‘lore’ being used interchangeably by many mobs ,villages and community’s all over planet earth.
There were no formal courts under traditional law, instead problems regarding traditional law were handled by elders – the oldest people in the community.
Effects
Elders are important people in Aboriginal communities – they have important roles in how the community works and how the community relates with those outside the community, including government departments and service providers.
Elders are respected in the community.
Some elders are the traditional owners of the land.
Some elders are ‘acknowledged elders’.
So How Was Order And lore / punishment enforced ?
LORE & JUSTICE
TRIBAL PUNISHMENT, CUSTOMARY LAW/LORE & PAYBACK
ABORIGINAL TRIBAL LAW IS OFTEN SEEN AS HARSH AND BRUTAL, BUT IT ENSURED ORDER AND DISCIPLINE.
PAYBACK IS THE MOST KNOWN FORM OF CUSTOMARY LAW.
PAYBACK IS STILL PRACTICED, CONFLICTING WITH WHITE MANS LAW.
What is payback?
Payback is a form of mostly physical, and sometimes deadly, punishment carried out by elders or victims to members of their group who broke the law. Payback is an important element of Aboriginal law; “where grievance exists, payback is expected”.
After an incident happened, the parties involved meet and negotiate a way to restore balance so that tribal or family relationships and friendships can continue. This included the wish of the victim party for retaliation and the wish of the offending party for paying the debt incurred. Acknowledging the right to punish is important because it prevents revenge attacks and further escalation of the conflict.
The main purposes of payback are to restore peace, assist healing and help both parties to move on.
When a party agrees to payback they might have to make a gift or accept a physical punishment. These, along with marriage exchanges, ceremonial relationships and ritual helped create ties that also prevented further escalation.
Payback is a formal and organised way of punishment and usually happens in a controlled way where onlookers restrain the participants from being overly zealous when penalties are determined.
Before invasion payback addressed crimes such as stealing (items or women), dating someone from the wrong tribe, crossing cultural boundaries without asking for permission or perceived sorcery.
After invasion payback was given to settlers who had abducted and assaulted Aboriginal women and was often deadly.
Payback is still alive
We tend to assume that tribal law and payback are things of the past but they are far from that.
Phill Moncrieff, an Aboriginal musician, explains that “payback can be done anytime 24/7.
It has no respect or alliance with the white man’s law,”
a fact that is hardly recognised.
“Payback culture will always be unhindered by the white man’s laws in some areas of Australia,” he says.
“Quite often we have seen the white man’s laws become useless and inadequate in handing out exact justice.
So Ancient Law takes over. It is still alive in our country and we still manage it the way we have done for 40,000 years.”
In Phill’s country “there are numerous and ongoing payback [cases] operating, which sometimes never get resolved,” which is a problem as he admits. Previously “tribal summits would be orchestarted to sort out these ongoing issues”, many times successfully.
Payback is a big part of our law and culture.— Phill Moncrieff, Aboriginal musician .
Law grounds
Traditionally Aboriginal law was decided in councils of men and they decided matters of the land and its boundaries.
These men met on law grounds which were usually within the boundaries of a tribes’ country. Some of these law grounds however were on the boundary itself, hence accessible for both tribes. This enabled Aboriginal people of both tribes to meet together without crossing other people’s lands.
Law grounds were used not only for councils but also to put young Aboriginal men and women through traditional law. If each parent was from a different tribal group they could decide between them where each child of theirs would be initiated and at which tribe’s law ground.
Tribal Punishment, Customary Lore
On the Origin of nature and Law
Origins of Law
Law is commonly understood as a system of rules that are created and enforced through social or governmental institutions to regulate conduct,although its precise definition is a matter of longstanding debate.
It has been variously described as a science and the art of justice.
State-enforced laws can be made by a collective legislature or by a single legislator, resulting in statutes, by the executive through decrees and regulations, or established by judges through precedent, normally in common law jurisdictions.
Private individuals can create legally binding contracts, including arbitration agreements that may elect to accept alternative arbitration to the normal court process.
The formation of laws themselves may be influenced by a constitution, written or tacit, and the rights encoded therein. The law shapes politics, economics, history and society in various ways and serves as a mediator of relations between people.
Legal systems vary between countries, with their differences analysed in comparative law. In civil law jurisdictions, a legislature or other central body codifies and consolidates the law. In common law systems, judges make binding case law through precedent, although on occasion case law may be overturned by a higher court or the legislature.
Historically, religious law influenced secular matters and is still used in some religious communities.
Sharia law based on Islamic principles is used as the primary legal system in several countries, including Iran and Saudi Arabia.
Law’s scope can be divided into two domains. Public law concerns government and society, including constitutional law, administrative law, and criminal law.
Private law deals with legal disputes between individuals and/or organisations in areas such as contracts, property, torts/delicts and commercial law.
This distinction is stronger in civil law countries, particularly those with a separate system of administrative courts;
by contrast, the public-private law divide is less pronounced in common law jurisdictions.
Law provides a source of scholarly inquiry into legal history, philosophy economic analysis and sociology.
Law also raises important and complex issues concerning equality, fairness, and justice.
Law and Punishment
Punishment, the infliction of some kind of pain or loss upon a person for a misdeed (i.e., the transgression of a law or command). Punishment may take forms ranging from capital punishment, flogging, forced labour, and mutilation of the body to imprisonment and fines.
Deferred punishments consist of penalties that are imposed only if an offense is repeated within a specified time.
In some premodern societies, punishment was largely vindictive or retributive, and its prosecution was left to the individuals wronged (or to their families).
In quantity and quality such punishment bore no special relation to the character or gravity of the offense.
Gradually there arose the idea of proportionate punishment, such as was reflected in the biblical dictum “an eye for an eye” (see talion).
Eventually punishment by individuals came under the control of the community; later, with the development of codes of law, the state took over the punitive function for the maintenance of public order.
Under such a system, the state is viewed as the entity wronged by the crime, and the exaction of punishment by individuals acting on their own behalf (as in cases of lynching) is illegal.
Punishment has been a subject of debate among philosophers, political leaders, and lawyers for centuries. Various theories of punishment have been developed, each of which attempts to justify the practice in some form and to state its proper objectives.
