Forty thousand years ago, one million Australian aboriginal people inhabited the Australian continent. Australian history, like many other histories around the world, was forever changed when Europeans sought to expand their empire. Over the years, Australia’s role has gone from the land of the plentiful, to the harsh terrain suitable only for prisoners, to the land of prosperity, to a land of socialist principles and egalitarianism. Australians look back on their rich history with pride and world travelers seek ways of actively participating in unique cultural traditions, some of which span a time before Western civilization was born.

To be fair, the history of Australia must begin with the Australian aboriginal, a people of one million strong that lived in close contact with the land for at least 40,000 years. The first people living in the Australian outback gathered water from the bellies of frogs and dew from tree roots, procuring meat using tools sculpted from stone and bone or from large nets. They ate emus, fruit, lizards, seeds, fish and other desert creatures to survive.

The Australian aboriginal lived a spiritual life, believing that their ancient ancestors rose from below the earth to become animals, the water, the sky, the trees and the rocks. Aboriginal culture was passed on through oral storytelling traditions, ceremonial dances, sculpture, rock paintings, basket-weaving, beadwork and the eerie sounds of the didgeridoo.

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