Tjukurr(pa) - The Dreaming

Article | Updated 7 years ago

[Our] cultural responsibilities come from ‘[t]he Dreaming, Tjukurrpa. That’s where all our Law comes from.

Kado Muir, Ngalia, 2007

In the Tjukurrpa, the Dreaming, the ancestors created the world and laid down the laws for people’s behaviour. Tjukurrpa refers to origins and powers embodied in country, places, objects, songs and stories. It is a way of seeing and understanding the world and connects people to country and to each other through shared social and knowledge networks.

Tjukurrpa is the past, but timeless.

Tjukurrpa is the present. Certain repeated actions, such as ceremonies, songs or use of ritual objects, affirm a connection to the past.

Tjukurrpa is the future. It continues to provide substance and meaning to peoples’ lives.

My mother told me a Dreamtime story about the emu at Green Hill Soak in the Camelback area….

The emu came to two rockholes on a big rise to have a drink. The emu was at one soak when a dog came by and killed it. The emu’s gall went into one of the soaks, making it bitter and leaving the other soak good. The emu egg was thrown across Lake Carey and the skin went onto the Camelback hills making them black like the colour of emu skin. The egg cannot be dug up and my mother told me it was an angel.

Laurel Cooper, Wongatha, 2007