Culture CornerAustralia Aborigines - the Native AustraliansAborigines probably came to Australia from Indonesia 50,000 years ago.The oldest bone found in Australia was at Lake Mungo in New South Wales.Scientists believe it is 38,000 years old and it carried some ceremonial paint.Aborigines were nomads.Originally, they didn't have a sense of land ownership,although Aboriginal children were taught from an early age thatthey belonged to the land and must respect tribal boundaries.Tribes returned to particular places to bury their dead.Some places, like Uluru, were sacred because they were associated with the "Dreamtime",the time when the Earth was formed and cycles of life and nature began.Aboriginal legends, songs and dances tell of powerful spirits who created the land and people during the Dreamtime.There was no written Aboriginal language and, in fact,most of the 600 tribes spoke different dialects and rarely met except on ceremonial occasions.
