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 Storytelling Storytelling plays an important and an integral role in everyday Aboriginal Australia life. It is used to educate children about Aboriginal Australia cultural heritage; to pass on knowledge about Creation, ancestral beings, and places, and, how the land, plants, animals, and humans came into being; to explain Aboriginal Australia spirituality and laws; and to pass on information about the boundaries of tribal lands. Although the overall themes are the same, Dreaming stories vary throughout Aboriginal Australia. For instance, the story of how birds got their colors in Western Australia is different from the story of how birds got their colors in New South Wales. Traditionally these stories have been passed down by the Elders through song and dance usually around campfires. Complex community and kinship patterns determine the ownership of Dreaming Stories; and, ancient initiatic rite and law protects the conveyance of the ceremonial knowledge and wisdom. Paintings of story images and symbols on natural canvases such as rocks depicting tracks, waterholes, stars, rivers, hills, sacred sites, and ceremonial activity can only be done by those authorized by tribal law to do so.
Some stories are secret or sacred and can only be told to certain people. If they are
told to the wrong person, it is a serious violation of the law. Men have secret
sacred stories about initiation grounds that can only be revealed to initiated
males. Women have stories unmarried women are not permitted to hear.
The Aboriginal Australians call this responsibility to safeguard the land and all species, "Taking Care". They sang songs and performed ceremonies to ensure the propagation of each species and the fruitfulness of the land. They perform their ritual obligations to the land by singing for the country the songs of the "Dreamtime", often accompanied by dance, and sometimes sand drawings. They also regularly set fire to the land (burn backs) to remove and contain weeds, to promote new growth, and to keep native plants from becoming extinct.
During hunting and gathering, they only took the food they needed. They also moved
around in their territory so that the environmental flora and fauna got a chance
to rest and regenerate.
Clan members regularly move camp and go on cultural journeys for taking care and for corroborees, initiations, and other cyclical, ritualized ceremonies of the Dreamtime. An individual can also go on walkabout. When an individual goes on a walkabout, it is different for different people. It can be a walk to where they originated; or it can be a walk to where they are part of the land and the land is part of them, a place of "Sacred Belongingness"... Go back
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