Christmas trees and Easter eggs are by now benign folk customs. Even if they might have had pagan roots, those are inactivated like dead virus stems, since most people would not attribute any sort of spiritual or magical powers to them. Moreover, they are not in any way inherent to the Christian faith or the liturgical/sacramental life of the Church.
I'm not so sure that's the case with Aboriginal customs.
How many Catholic liturgies designed for the aborigine peoples have you actually attended?
I don't see anything wrong in the prayers in the Catholic liturgies designed for the aborigine peoples. In obedience to the command of Our Divine Lord and Savior to teach all nations, Catholic missionaries have studied the aborigine culture and religion in an attempt to avoid the tensions and misunderstandings which arose between the white settlers and the aborigines and to create an atmosphere in which the aborigines would be receptive to hearing the good news of the New Testament. As you know, the Australian aborigines have perhaps the world's oldest continuous culture and religion. They did not know how to write, but did paint complicated beautiful murals in caves. In aboriginal belief the spirits of the dead were present everywhere, guiding the living.
Here are a few prayers from a Catholic liturgy on
National Aboriginal
And Torres Strait Islander Sunday:
[As you know, Water to Aboriginal people is always a sign of God’s peace and fulfillment in everything that is good; the promise of food, of harmony with ourselves, and the bush around us.]
Lord, make us feel your invitation to ‘come to the water’. At the very beginning you blessed the water, your great gift to us, and now we ask that your blessing be renewed in this water here today. We ask that through this water blessing we will all be renewed with your love, and protection, and your power to love one another as true Christians. Lord, this truly is a sign of the new life in Christ, which in Baptism we have all received.
We ask this through Jesus the Wise One.
All: Amen
Holy Father, God of Love, You are the Creator of this land and of all good things.
Our hope is in you because you gave your son Jesus to reconcile the world to you.
We pray for your strength and grace to forgive, accept and love one another, as you love us and forgive and accept us in the sacrifice of your son.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen
Holy Father, God of Love
You are the Creator of this land and all good things
We acknowledge the pain and shame of our history
And the suffering of our peoples.
And we ask your forgiveness.
We thank you for the survival of Indigenous cultures
Our hope is in you because you gave your son Jesus
To reconcile the world to you.
We pray for your strength and grace to forgive,
Accept and love one another,
As you love us and forgive and accept us
In the sacrifice of your Son.
Give us the courage to accept the realities of our history
So that we may build a better future for our nation.
Teach us to respect all cultures.
Teach us to care for our land and waters.
Help us to share justly the resources of this land.
Help us to bring about spiritual and social change
To improve the quality of life for all groups in our communities,
Especially the disadvantaged.
Help our young people to find true dignity and self esteem by your Spirit
May your power and love be the foundations
on which we build our families, our communities and our Nation.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen
Hymn: “How great thou art”
http://www.sydneycatholic.org/works/acm/http://www.natsicc.org.au/