Australia's aboriginal culture, dating back over 50,000 years, is distinct from that of any other country. This culture, and its relationship with the extraordinary landscapes and coastal areas, combine to provide visitors with a truly unique experience.
Come Walkabout Aboriginal Australia on your custom designed package tour to Australia. From upscale accommodations to swags under the stars, Dreamtime stories, the mysteriously comforting sounds of the didgeridoo and off-the-beaten-track tours to remote ancestral homelands, you'll find Aboriginal Australia will welcome you as a future friend in their country.
Many different cultures and indigenous language groups are present in Aboriginal Australia. The original inhabitants of this land comprised over 600 individual tribes spread across the continent. The Torres Strait Islanders, in far North Tropical Queensland, are culturally distinct from the Australian Aboriginals.
Each tribal group has its own culture with diverse cultural beliefs, languages, totems and customs - adding to the richness and complexity of Aboriginal Australia.
No matter where you go in Australia - from the most remote location in Tasmania or the Kimberley to the cosmopolitan cities - you will travel across traditional lands significant to an Aboriginal tribe or Torres Strait Islander.
Tribal members often speak of the region of land and water for which they have traditional affiliation as "country." It is their responsibility to look after or "care for country." The elders of the community are often referred to as the "traditional owners."
Aboriginal people have a unique relationship to the land and waters of their country, which involves a responsibility to look after its spiritual and environmental well-being. Their responsibilities include acknowledging and paying respect to the spirit ancestors who created the land and introduced customs and languages.
In Aboriginal society, people did not own the land - it is part of them and their duty is to respect and look after the land. This is defined in the Dreaming - the community's knowledge, faith and practices that derive from their stories of creation. The Dreaming, or Dreamtime stories, dominates the spiritual and physical aspects of Aboriginal Australia life.
These stories establish the structure of society, the rules for social behavior and the ceremonies performed in order to maintain the life of the land.
When an Aboriginal Australian visits places in their country they may talk to the spirit ancestors of that place to identify who they are, and who is accompanying them.
Welcome to Country
Welcoming visitors to country is a traditional practice of special significance.
Each tribe has its own customs and protocols for welcoming visitors to their land. The traditional owners take the role and responsibility of welcoming visitors to their country very seriously and are generally very happy to welcome visitors to their land.
At various places throughout Australia there are instances when a welcome may be extended to visitors by the traditional owners. The type of welcome will vary - from a personal welcome, to a sign, symbolic statue or brochure.
If you are invited onto Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander land, into an indigenous community, or at the start of an Aboriginal tour, a personal welcome, which may include singing, dancing and/or smoke ceremonies, may be extended by the traditional owners.
As a guest, being welcomed is your chance to acknowledge and reflect on the community on whose ancestral lands you stand - and to learn more about the traditions and stories of the Aboriginal culture in Australia.
