Introduction

Aboriginal people have differing accounts of how the first people came to Australia, where they came from and how they travelled across the continent. These events involve animal and human-like spirit beings and heroes who undertook epic journeys across an empty and often dark landscape upon which they created natural and physical features and landscapes as well as animals and the people themselves. These ‘Dreaming’ stories tell of how all these things were infused with life and lore and language were given to the people. They describe the long journeys, adventures and battles of the ancestral beings and how the first people encountered strange creatures. The word ‘Dreamtime’ is not liked by some Aboriginal people, it implies a particular time in the past. The ‘Dreaming’ is better because it represents no particular time: it could be millions of years ago, 60 ky ago, yesterday, today and tomorrow. The ‘Dreaming’ continuum in Aboriginal society is strong because it helps explain the world, where people, animals, the landscape and everything came from. Perhaps even more important it represents the special attachment Aboriginal people have to the land.