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Aboriginals ("the people who were here from the beginning") have lived in Australia for 40,000 - 100,000 years or longer, taking care of the environment, making sure that all hunting and gathering activities were balanced; and, resources were conserved. The country then was pristine and bountiful. Besides food, "bush tucker", the land provided them with natural remedies for healing, "bush medicine". Every part of an animal hunted or plant gathered was utilized in some way either as food, baskets, tools, etc. They also moved their camps around with the seasonal cycles, allowing the areas of their territory to rest and renew. For the Aboriginals of Australia, spirituality and the sacred is deeply rooted in the landscape and in their relationship to the environment which sustains them. The land is their life, their mother, their way, their nourishment, and their spiritual connectedness. Dreaming Tracks delineate the area of land created by the Ancestral Spirits where a tribe was created, their belonging place. The Aboriginal Australians believe that during the Dreamtime, the Ancestral Spirits travelled across the formless land, and gave it form by purposefully creating the rivers, the mountains, the sand hills, the billabongs, the trees, the rocks, the humans, the animals, the birds, the insects, the flora, the marine life, and all other living creatures. They also made the sky, the sun, the moon, the planets, and the stars. Afterwards, these Ancestral Spirits charged them with the duty to be caretakers of the land and of all the species. 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. Before the Ancestral Spirits changed into aspects of the landscape, empowering it with their numinous presence, they laid down the laws the Aboriginals must obey and the Dreaming Tracks which connect all creatures of the sacred world.
These Dreaming Tracks
distinguish all features of the Land created by them as they travelled across it
and the Songlines are their footprints as they sang Beingness into the
landscape, setting the law.
Great Barrier Reed Seascape These Songline Stories of the Land tell the Aboriginals about the laws that are imprinted upon their Sacred Spaces and define the belonging territory of the tribe within the landscape. Today the journeys of the Spirit Ancestors are brought to life through these Songlines. By performing the appropriate ceremonies and singing certain songs at precise points along the Dreaming Track, the Aboriginals gain direct access to the Dreaming. Many groups travell along Dreaming Tracks with their children, educating them by telling them stories of the Dreamtime. Through the verses of these songs, Aboriginal Australians know every part of the landscape and where to find sources of water and food. They also use the songlines when they move about within the territory of the tribe or when visiting other tribes. For the Aboriginal Australians the Dreamtime is their understanding of the how the Ancestral Spirits created the landscape and every living thing. It is also the beginning of knowledge and the stories of the laws of existence that ensure survival. Dreaming is the continuation of the Dreamtime. Along the Dreaming Tracks there are Sacred Sites, areas of land or sea, where significant events took place during the Dreamtime. These are increase centers where special ceremonies are performed for "Taking Care" of a particular species. The Aboriginals 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... Continue on
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Aboriginal Australia Totemic Dreamtime 
