What are Australian Aboriginal myths?
Q: What are Australian Aboriginal myths?
A: Australian Aboriginal myths are a collection of stories traditionally performed and told by the indigenous people of Australia.
Q: Do all language groups across Australia have their own stories?
A: Yes, each language group across Australia has its own stories.
Q: What do the myths explain?
A: The myths explain important features and meanings within each Aboriginal group's local landscape, giving cultural meaning to the Australian physical landscape.
Q: What do people who know these stories have access to?
A: People who know these stories have access to the wisdom and knowledge of Australian Aboriginal ancestors back beyond the reach of memory.
Q: How did David Horton describe a mythic map of Australia?
A: David Horton described a mythic map of Australia as one that would show thousands of characters, varying in their importance, but all in some way connected with the land. Some emerged at their specific sites and stayed spiritually in that vicinity. Others came from somewhere else and went somewhere else.
Q: Were all characters in Australian Aboriginal myths human beings or natural species?
A: No, many characters were shape-changing, transformed from or into human beings or natural species, or into natural features such as rocks but all left something of their spiritual essence at the places noted in their stories.
Q: How have Australian Aboriginal myths been described?
A: Australian Aboriginal myths have been described as parts of a catechism, a liturgical manual, a history of civilization, a geography textbook, and to a much smaller extent a manual of the world and the universe.
