The Importance of Land/Country to Australian Aboriginals

For Aboriginal Australians, the land has a special significance that is rarely understood by those of European descent. The land, or country, does not only sustain Aborigines in material ways, such as providing food and shelter, it also plays a major role in their spiritual lives. As Rose put it, "Land provides for my physical needs and spiritual needs." (1992, p.106). To use Rose's own term, to Aboriginals the land is a 'nourishing terrain'. (1996, p.7).
The basic tenets of Aboriginal spirituality are inextricably bound to the land.
"For Indigenous Australians the land is the core of all spirituality." (www.dreamtime.net.au, 2003, p.1). All land is important in some way, but some places are more sacred than others. These 'sacred sites' are usually places where important events happened during the Dreamtime, the name given to the Aboriginal creation myth.
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