What do dreamtime stories represent

Consider the importance of songlines and dreaming tracks in past and present Aboriginal cultures. Students can listen to the teacher reading the story aloud or watch a video recording of the story being read aloud.

In small groups students can discuss the visual and written techniques used in the two versions of the story, noting differences and similarities between the narrative style and content. Students can read a version of the Rainbow Serpent story, or students can listen to the teacher reading the story aloud or watch a video recording of the story being read aloud.

Students can then write a passage describing the character of the Rainbow Serpent. Students can describe the appearance and behaviour of the Rainbow Serpent , and its significance and the role it plays in water within the story. Students can describe the way the people in the story respond to the Rainbow Serpent , and how their relationship with it changes as the story progresses.

Extension: In pairs students can swap their character portrait with another student. Chains of connection. Griffith Review. The rainbow serpent. Warnayarra: the rainbow snake - told by the senior boys class, Lajamanu School.

Sydney: Scholastic Press. Bush Yam Dreaming Yarla. Water Dreaming. Lightning Dreaming. Waterhole Dreaming Ngupawarlu. Budgerigar Dreaming. Wind Dreaming Walpa Tjukurpa. Pintupi Dreaming Tingari. The Canning Stock Route. Japingka Waterhole Dreaming. Marking Stone Dreaming Jalala. Learn More About the Dreamtime. How did the Dreamtime word originate?

Gabriella Possum - Grandmothers Country. What are the Dreamtime Stories in Aboriginal Art? These stories have been passed down through generations for over 65, years. The stories may differ from place to place and between Nations, but they have common features.

For example, many are creation stories that feature Ancestral Beings who created everything - animals, plants, rocks, and land formations - as they moved through the land in human form. They also created a system of relationships between the individual, the land, animals, and other people. The Ancestral Beings are models for human and non-human activity, behaviour, ethics and morality. Dreaming stories often follow a genesis narrative, and you may see similarities to Greek Mythology or other genesis stories.

The stories display a deep knowledge of Country. They contain important information about flora, fauna, and laws to obey in order to survive in particular environments.

Before colonisation, these stories were an integral way of passing knowledge from one generation to the next, to ensure survival. Dreaming stories continue to be shared and strengthened from one generation to the next, and share deep knowledge systems that have existed since the beginning of human life.

The Dreamtime may be difficult for many of us to understand fully but it is part of who the Aboriginal people are, the very essence and reason for being here. It is all encompassing and will forever be at the centre of their existence as a people.

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