Culture Corner
Australia Aborigines - the Native Australians Aborigines 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 that they 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.