The crimson geology of the desert
Ancient wisdom and Songlines
Bizarre beasts of the red dust
Modern survivors and massive stations
matilda Trace the musical paths across the red sand to discover how songlines map the outback.
matilda Oral maps recorded in songs, dances, and stories function as an acoustic GPS shared across language groups to locate desert waterholes.
What are the traditional Indigenous Australian oral maps used to navigate the desert called?
How do travelers use Songlines to navigate when entering the territory of a different language group?
matilda Traditional firestick farming creates diverse habitats and fresh green shoots that attract game animals.
Why are traditional firestick farming burns conducted during the early dry season?
What is the traditional Indigenous Australian practice of using controlled, cool fires to manage land called?
Acoustic maps: Songlines are so precise that modern archaeologists have used them to locate ancient water sources that dried up thousands of years ago.
What material do Indigenous Australians harvest from spinifex grass to use as a strong adhesive?
Which high-protein insect larva is a famous traditional Outback food that tastes like scrambled eggs?
A path across the land or sky marking the route followed by an Aboriginal creator-being during the Dreaming. One major 3,500-kilometer route connects the Central Desert to the east coast at Byron Bay.
matilda The Rainbow Serpent Legend
She arcs across the storm-filled sky to fill the quiet waterholes of Kakadu!
According to Dreaming stories, how did the Rainbow Serpent shape the geography of Australia?
In Aboriginal mythology, what natural feature is the powerful Rainbow Serpent most closely connected to?