‘We belong to this land’[1]

How we’re inspired by Australia

Australia. It’s home to the oldest continuous human culture in the world. There’s archaeological evidence, through rock art, tools and materials, of occupation dating up to 65,000 years ago, well before human settlement in Europe and the Americas.

There’s however a much deeper and more interesting story than that. According to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples of Australia, this place was created by ancestral beings, who came from the skies and made the landforms and waters, giving life to the animals, plants, the first people and their cultures.

This Creation Time has many names. It’s known as Jukurrpa or Tjukurrpa in parts of central Australia. The Yindjibarndi people of the northwest Pilbara refer to it as Ngurra Nyujunggamu: when the world was soft. Some refer to it as the Dreaming, but that English word doesn’t get close to expressing its complexity, because this has nothing to do with the processes of the unconscious while asleep. It’s vibrant, alive, and real.

Nor is it confined to Western, linear notions of time. Jukurrpa is constantly being re-enacted and renewed through story telling, songs, paintings and cultural practice, passing from one generation to the next. These stories are a guide of how to behave, to be a part of and care for Country so that things are done ‘right way,’ from marriage to food security, and so that everyone benefits. Holding all of this together is the land. Whether it happens to be the middle of a city or the desert, land is the spiritual centre of all that’s important. As First Nations people say: you take care of Country, Country takes care of you.