Religion, cultural hybridity and chains of memory

Throughout this book, it has been emphasised that Indigenous Australian societies are not static nor are they lost in the past. They have responded to historical changes, the forces of colonialism and Westernisation and have been deeply affected in many areas by Christian missions. Some Indigenous people have migrated to live in cities, whereas others maintain life in their traditional homelands, or in areas to which they were forced to move when confronted by colonial administrations. Yet Indigenous ways of life persist in both traditional and modified forms. In light of these social and historical changes, a rich area for innovative research emerges in considering the manner and degree in which sections of Indigenous populations have become non-religious, as suggested by the 2011 Australian National Census and described in Chapters 1 and 2.