Aboriginal Australians

Before there were big cities with tall buildings, we were here. We felt the warm, red earth under our feet and listened to the whispers of the wind in the gum trees. We followed the kangaroo tracks and watched the stars sparkle in the big, dark sky. We are the very first storytellers and song-singers of this land. We are the Aboriginal Australians, the First Peoples of Australia.

Our story is the oldest in the whole world. For more than 65,000 years, we have lived on this big island, which you call Australia. We learned all the secrets of the land—which plants are yummy to eat and which ones can be used for medicine. We painted stories on rocks and in caves, stories about how the world was created during a special time we call the Dreamtime. Then, one day on April 29th, 1770, big ships arrived with a man named Captain Cook. New people came to live here, and our lives began to change.

But our story never ended. Today, we still sing our songs, dance our dances, and tell our stories. We share our beautiful art, with its amazing dots and patterns, with the whole world. We teach our children how to care for the land, just like our grandparents and their grandparents did, for thousands and thousands of years. Our culture is strong, and we love to share it with you.