What are Aboriginal dreaming tracks?

A songline, also called dreaming track, is one of the paths across the land (or sometimes the sky) within the animist belief system of the First Nations People of Australia, which mark the route followed by localised “creator-beings” in the Dreaming.

What is the Dreaming in Aboriginal culture?

The Dreamtime is the period in which life was created according to Aboriginal culture. Dreaming is the word used to explain how life came to be; it is the stories and beliefs behind creation. It is called different names in different Aboriginal languages, such as: Ngarranggarni, Tjukula Jukurrpa.

What are Songlines in Aboriginal art?

Songlines are one of the many aspects of Aboriginal culture that artists draw on for inspiration. They are the long Creation story lines that cross the country and put all geographical and sacred sites into place in Aboriginal culture.

Why is Aboriginal Dreaming important?

Dreamings allow Aboriginal people to understand their place in traditional society and nature, and connects their spiritual world of the past with the present and the future. The Dreamings explain the creation process.

Why is Dreamtime important to the Aboriginal culture?

The Dreamtime was the period of creation when the Aborigines’ life-style was planned and the Aborigines’ entire life centred on the need to live in the style prescribed by the mythical Dreamtime ancestors. An understanding of the Dreamtime is essential to an understanding of traditional Aboriginal culture.

What are the Dreaming stories?

The ‘Dreaming’ is First Nations peoples’ understanding of the world and its creation. Passed from generation to generation through storytelling, the Dreaming shares beliefs that are connected to Country and the natural world. These stories incorporate creation, rules for living, social regulations, ethics and morality.

Why do Aboriginal artists use dots?

Dots were used to in-fill designs. Dots were also useful to obscure certain information and associations that lay underneath the dotting. At this time, the Aboriginal artists were negotiating what aspects of stories were secret or sacred, and what aspect were in the public domain.

How is the Dreaming connected to the sacred sites?

Some of the ceremonies held at sacred sites are a re-creation of the events which created the site during The Dreaming. The re-creation of these events is part of a process of encouraging the life force located at that site to remain active, to keep coming out of the land, and to create new life.

How do Aborigines track?

For thousands upon thousands of years, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have navigated their way across the lands and seas of Australia using paths called songlines or dreaming tracks.