TEACHING AND LEARNING
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Dreaming stories - what they are

For people brought up in an urban environment, one of the hardest things to do is to imagine living without shops, without a written language, without permanent homes, without a 'job'.

All the world's people once lived in such a way - and very many still do.

Living in such a way demanded, and still demands, a remarkable range of skills and attitudes. Many have forgotten that we humans are capable of such endeavours.

Most critical of all was an ability to pass on vast amounts of information from one generation to the next, particularly information about the land and the waters, about the earth, about this place which supports everyone on it.

This information was passed on through stories.

.... what they teach

These stories included information about food (fruit, vegetables, root crops, poultry, eggs, animals, fish, shell fish), about medicines (plants, roost, recipes), about seasons (meteorology), about other places and other places (geography, astrology, trade routes), and about our own and other groups near and far (genealogy, history).

It also included information about the spiritual world (theology and philosophy), and how it linked to the natural world, and like all peoples untouched by the dualism of western philosophy, how the spiritual world is still inexorably linked with our lives today (ethics, morality).

In short , Dreaming stories tell people who we were, where we came from, how to live well in our own land, and where and how to travel across the land of other groups without causing offense.

...and how they work

Aboriginal children learn about Dreaming stories the way all children learn - from their parents and other elders, through stories. So a good way to learn about learning stories is to listen to one, or to read one, and to ask..what is this story telling me

• about this place?
• about these people?
• about how they live?
• about the way they see the world?

Some tips

It is important to remember that all stories come from someone, and somewhere.

These stories don't just float in cyberspace, and someone must be acknowledged as the source of the story. Without such authentication (this is a story of the 'such and such' people, which was told to me by 'so and so'), the story tells you very little, and its authenticity cannot be verified.

Beware of stories that do not clearly say where and what people they are from. Further notes and other 'sensitive issues' can be found here, and also in the question and answer section of this site.

As an example, this is how one such story begins.....

Urrakurli, Wakarla and Wildu, an Adnyamathanha Dreaming Story

This is a story from the Adnyamathanha people of the Flinders Ranges.

The story tell of three birds: the magpie, the crow and the eagle - urrakurlii, wakarla and wildu in Adnyamathnha language - and what happended when they didn't respect their elders.

To read the rest of the story, go here.

This is a splendid resource book for teachers, and is available as an individual item in our shop - search by title. It is also available in a number of our resources packs, especially

Four Dreaming Stories
Dreaming Stories - Print Sets and Resource Book
Dreaming Stories - The Complete Kit

Other stories available in this series are

• Mar (the Cockatoo) - a Boandik Dreaming story
• Winda (the Owl) - a Narrungga Dreaming story
• Thukeri - a Ngarrindjeri Dreaming story

start points l sensitive issues l Dreaming l background l resources