LESSON 2.2 How do we learn about Deep Time in Australia?
LEARNING INTENTION By the end of this lesson you should be able to begin to explain Deep Time, Everywhen, the Dreaming and Songlines, and their relationship to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples’ histories and cultures.
Tune in SOURCE1 shows the landforms around Kiwirrkura, about 400 km west of Alice Springs. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists used symbols to create maps of Country and sacred sites. These artworks are maps of Dreaming places made by ancestral beings, just like songlines, which are sung in short verses about their journeys.
SOURCE1 Donkeyman Lee Tjupurrula Kukatja’s artwork Tingarri Dreaming at Walawala
Symbols commonly used in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art
Man
Two men sitting
Footprints
Water, rainbow, snake, lightning, string, cliff or honey store
Rainbow, cloud, cliff or sandhill
Camp site, stone, waterhole, rock hole, breast, fire, hole or fruit
Waterholes connected by running water
Lookat SOURCE1 and discuss what the artwork communicates, and how the information about the Walawala landscape is expressed.
2.2.1 Understanding Deep Time Deep Time means looking back at Earth’s history, and it also helps us think about the future. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples have lived on this land for at least 65 000 years. This is much longer than Western ancient histories, like ancient Rome or Egypt, which go back about 6000 years. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples’ early histories were not written down. Instead, they were painted, carved, built and shared through stories. The land itself can tell these stories, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural knowledge helps us understand them.
20 Jacaranda Humanities Alive 7 Victorian Curriculum Third Edition
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