The Aborigines call the period of creation The Dreamtime.
During The Dreamtime, the spirit ancestors of the Aborigines woke from their sleep and wandered through the world, creating as they traveled.
They discovered bundles of animals and plants lying scattered on the ground.
The ancestors carved arms, legs, and faces in the materials from the bundles to make the first human beings. The humans gathered in clans and honored the animal or plant from which they were created.
Other ancestors walked through the landscape, leaving valleys, mountains, stones, trees, or waterholes in their wake.
One blind woman walked to the north, leaving a trail of water in her footsteps. The water cut the northern land into islands.
Some ancestors traveled in human form, others took the shape of kangaroos, lizards, snakes, and birds.
They left markings, rocks, caves, and creeks, to indicate where they had camped or hunted during their travels.
Today, aborigines consider these markings sacred spots that pulse with the creative energy of the ancestors.
