Australian Dreaming: 40, 000 Years of Aboriginal History

According to Aboriginal belief, all life as it is known today - human, animal, bird and fish - is part of one vast, unchanging network of relationships which can be traced to the great Spirit Ancestors of the Dreamtime.

The Ancestors are responsible for the era of Creation and for the whole pattern of life as Aboriginal people know it today. They govern the seasons and therefore the growth of natural vegetation, the natural reproduction of animal species, and the cycle of life from birth to death.

The Dreamtime continues as the 'Dreaming' in the spiritual lives of Aboriginal people today. The events of the ancient era of Creation are enacted in ceremonies and danced in mime form. Song-poetry, chanted incessantly to the accompaniment of didgeridoo or clapsticks, relates the story of the events of those early times and brings the power of the Dreaming to bear on life today.

Australian Dreaming is the first Aboriginal history of the Australian continent and its people, as told by the Aboriginal story-tellers. Through traditional myths and legends, it gives an explanation of the formation of the landscape and the creation of many outstanding geographical features. It recounts epic travels of the great Spirit Ancestors and tells how they created the animals and plants and gave birth to the people who formed the earliest population of this land.

It tells, also, how the Ancestors taught the Aboriginal people how to live in harmony with nature and how to behave towards one another, thus setting the pattern of traditional Aboriginal culture which has survived for 40,000 years.