Aboriginal means original inhabitant. The first inhabitants of Australia are still active art makers today.

Aboriginal Art

Each artwork has a very distinct story that goes along with its creation.This piece called “Fire Dreaming”, tells the story of the great fire caused by Lungkarda, the old blue tongue lizard man, to punish his two sons for killing a sacred Kangaroo. The fire was followed by an immense storm which caused all forms of plant and animallife to flourish. The aboriginals frequentlyuse firing of land to force growth of edible plant life.

A few simple lines tell the story of a search for a lost civilization. The scene of Umba Kumba is set in a garden, shown by the horizontal lines. There is a water hole shown by concentric circles. At the bottom. Men with shovels collect around the white forms in the hole. These are skeletons of people from the past.

Aborigines believe that everything is created by Ancestral Beings (Gods), during a period called Dreamtime. They then sank back into the earth and became sacred places in the landscape.

Burrowing Skink Dreaming

Your Job:

Create a visual dreaming of an animal that you know.

Follow the animal around in your head.

Show what the animal does on your paper. Use symbols to show tracks and interests and happenings.