When I was in my late teens my mother took our family on a holiday to the north of Australia. One of the places we toured was Alice Springs, a place that holds a lot of significance to Australia's' Indigenous people, the Aborigines. Dragged along by my red and black dyed hair, the tour ended with a visit to caves. I'll never forget the impact the drawings and stories that our Aborigines had painted, advising their future successors of how the world was formed.

Although our indigenous people did not have pen and paper, their sacred texts were passed down in so many ways. The Australian Aborigines have a culture and past, it's rich in its story telling that they have many ways that their ancestors passed down their sacred texts.

Cave drawings are just one of the many ways that indigenous people pass down their sacred texts. Telling their history depicted in drawings of animals and people, the paint made from dirt and natural dyes found in plants and soils. Although they may look like 'just drawings' to those not of that culture, the stories have as much significance now as they did thousands of years ago depicted in this art medium.

Another way for indigenous people to pass down their sacred texts was through totems. Each family heritage had their individual totem symbol. And this totem was passed down through the ages, depicting family totem animals that protect and stories of success and triumph while hunting. Indigenous people today are able to track their ancestry through thousands of years by pictures and markings made on the totem poles.

Story telling is yet another way the sacred texts were passed down from the elders of the tribe. Aboriginal storytelling is something everyone must witness. I have fond memories of Aborigines performing their stories about creation when I was in primary school. The dancing and the music, the rhythm created by stamping of feet and sticks on the ground, is one of the most powerful ways our indigenous people use music to pass down their sacred texts.

Learn more about this author, R.L Hanlon.
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