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It is difficult for others to appreciate this identity, as the anthropologist Professor W.E.H. Stanner found when he tried to put it into words for non-Aboriginals to understand :

"No English words are good enough to give a sense of the links between an Aboriginal group and its homeland. Our word "home", warm and suggestive though it be, does not match the Aboriginal word that may mean "camp", "heart", "country", "everlasting home", "totem place", "life source", "spirit centre", and much else all in one. Our word "land" is too spare and meager. We can now scarcely use it except with economic overtones unless we happen to be poets.

The Aboriginal would speak of "earth and use the word in a richly symbolic way to mean his "shoulder" or his "side". I have seen an Aboriginal embrace the earth he walked on. To put our words "home" and "land" together into "homeland" is a little better but not much. A different tradition leaves us tongueless and earless towards this other world of meaning and significance. When we took what we call "land" we took what to them meant home, the source and locus of life, and everlastingness of spirit.

The diversity of Aboriginal peoples and their cultures continues, despite being profoundly altered since the occupation of the continent by European invasion. It is difficult to cover the wide range of issues in contemporary culture, but some of the most important ones identified by Aboriginal representatives include:

In the late eighteenth century there were between 600 and 700 Aboriginal 'tribes' in Australia. Each had its own territory, its own social system and laws, and its own language. Between them, they spoke between 200 and 250 separate languages. Of these, around 150 have all but disappeared and now only 20 or so are still strong and in active use in daily life. Many Aborigines are deeply concerned about the state of their languages, but pride in culture through art is helping to maintain or recover some of them.

Art is a central part of the life of Australian aborigines and takes many forms. Traditionally it was made for purely cultural

reasons and was only able to be created or viewed by people initiated to the proper level of knowledge. More recently, artwork has been made specifically for public viewing. Regardless of whether the art is for private or public purposes, for many artists their work remains inspired by the traditional marks and symbols from the Dreaming and the artist's country.

Music is a powerful part of Aboriginal culture and is part of everyday life as well as being a vital part of sacred ceremonies. Traditional songs are of central importance in telling and maintaining Dreaming stories.

Contemporary Aboriginal culture is also rich in music and there are exciting blends of Western and traditional sounds across a variety of styles, ranging from didjeridu music to the contemporary popular sounds

The Australian Outback, is one of the last Frontiers of the modern world: a vast land, often harsh and unforgiving, but with great beauty and variety.
We especially pay tribute to the First Australians: the Aboriginal people, their Culture and Ceremonies.