The human history of Australia goes back at least 65,000 years. While anthropologists may disagree on the finer points of exactly when and how the first humans arrived, what is certain is that those first peoples quickly learned how to live in harmony with an elemental landscape that was sometimes bountiful, and sometimes harsh and unforgiving. That landscape and its unique flora and fauna left an indelible mark on the Indigenous peoples’ myths, legends and oral histories.
The Dreaming
In the beginning there was darkness – an impenetrable abyss devoid of even the rumour of life. But then, 65,000 years ago, something stirred from within the blackness: the spirit of life was emerging, and inside its mind a beautiful, swirling dream was taking hold, one that would never end.
An incandescent flame roared forth, illuminating the spirit’s restless visions. Then came a ferocious wind, itself followed by unrelenting rains. Clashing, dancing and intertwining, these mighty elements waged war upon each other as the dream intensified. Eventually, exhausted by battle, they began to cede ground to new visions of skies, seas and land. The world was forming, forged by competing powers whose fury drained the spirit of life, which in turn dispatched the secret of dreaming to Earth along with creator beings that would continue it.
First entering the spirit of Barramundi the fish, the secret descended into the depths within its sleeping host (who wished only to dream of water and did not fully comprehend the gift bestowed upon him) before passing on to the turtle Currikee, then Bogai the lizard and on to Bunjil the eagle, within whom the dream took to the skies. Coonerang, a possum, next received the secret of dreaming, then Gangurru the kangaroo, yet each creature wished only to see the skies and the trees and the plains that would be its home, and none could understand the dream.
With music and laughter ringing in his ears, Gangurru passed the secret on to its final keeper: mankind. Descending into a dream that encompassed all that had come before them, the first man and woman also saw the coming of Earth’s first child.
Content that its dream was finally understood, and that humanity recognised its role as the guardian of its spirit brethren, the spirit of life sank into the earth and was at peace, the first of countless spirits to do so when their journey comes to an end.
So, according to one account in the annals of Aboriginal history, began the universe and the world we inhabit. Others say that colossal creator beings, such as the Rainbow Serpent, helped to shape the rivers, hills and mountains, and provide fertile land for life. Formidable if angered, it is said that when a rainbow arcs through the sky, it is in fact this ancient snake slithering from one watering hole to another.
Other parts of Australia are said to have been created during titanic struggles between spirits. The lands around the Jenolan Caves (located in the Blue Mountains, just under 200 kilometres west of Sydney) are believed by the
