Menus feature crocodile slithers and crocodile schnitzel, kangaroo lasagna, and sustainably farmed barramundi batter-fried, sautéed or served in ceviches and tacos. Many of these creatures, traditional food sources for the Aboriginals, can now be found on modern Australian plates.Īustralian chefs are experimenting with their “native” cuisine, incorporating ingredients traditionally hunted and gathered by Aboriginal peoples into dishes showcased on their menus: they”re spicing barbecue with pepperberry, marinating chicken with lemon myrtle, cooking fish wrapped in paperbark, crusting kangaroo steaks with macadamia nuts or wattleseeds. At the sites in Ubirr and Nourlangie, mythological figures, hunters and gatherers, game and totem animals - kangaroos, turtles, crocodiles and barramundi - speak from the rock walls. Most rock art sites are off limits, hidden or inaccessible, but in Kakadu several sites are available for viewing here amazing images, painted 20,000 years ago to as recently as the 20th century, preserve the living record of a people and their culture. We were tempted to explore as we passed through, but respect for the Aboriginal owners and their Ancestral Spirits kept us on course. We needed a written permit to travel through the Aboriginal lands, and its restrictions prohibited us from wandering off-road or violating sacred sites. Signs of material poverty in native settlements are unavoidable, but many Aboriginal peoples have organized artists” cooperatives to promote self sufficiency and preserve their culture through traditional arts and crafts: weaving, painting, and carving. Aboriginal people hold these sites in reverence and often keep them secret, as this is where their spirits will go to join the Ancestral Spirits when they die.Īfter years of legal struggle, the Aboriginal Land Rights Act returned much of Arnhem Land and over half of the Northern Territory, including Kakadu and Uluru, to Australia”s Aboriginal tribes. When the Dreaming - the Creation time - ended, the Ancestral Spirits slipped back into the sleep of “pre-time,” but their spiritual energy still invests these sacred sites. Throughout the Outback, there are many sacred sites, marked by geological formations or mystical paintings, where the Ancestral Spirits passed as they created the world”s lands, plants, and animals. Practicing the laws taught them by their Ancestral Spirits during the Dreamtime, Aboriginal peoples have lived as gentle custodians of these lands for 5,00 centuries: hunting, fishing and gathering according to the seasons to ensure the sustainability of their food sources, and burning brush to allow new plant growth and prevent wildfires. Dry streambeds flood, and billabongs fill, during the torrential rains of the “wet” season, then evaporate during the “dry” - leaving thirsty wildlife concentrated around the remaining water. Here, the huge mineral-banded sandstone escarpment of the Arnhem Land Plateau stretches for miles, its cliffs glowing brick red in the afternoon sun, crocodiles bask at river crossings, and troops of wallabies forage in groves of trees dotting grassy savannahs. We drove on past sugarcane fields, mango plantations, and into the tropical monsoon bushlands of the Northern Territory. The road passed by crocodile farms advertising feeding shows where big “salties”(saltwater crocodiles) surge from the water on cue for their dinner though seemingly hokey, the farms provide meat for menus and leather for purses. Renting a 4-wheel drive, we headed out for the woodlands and floodplains of Arnhem Land. With the hot and humid weather, we found Darwin”s pubs to be the perfect place to get acclimated as well as get good, quick meals- Irish stews, pizzas, satays, fish and chips - topped off with thirst-quenching beers. Rebuilt after the devastation of Cyclone Tracy, Darwin is a modern, multicultural, multilingual town featuring open-air markets, street musicians, ethnic food stalls and a breezy esplanade along the bay. We flew into Darwin, the busy port on the continent”s tropical Top End - Australia”s gateway to South East Asia, and our gateway to the Outback. Kangaroos and crocodiles were calling us to the Outback of northern Australia, where ancient Aboriginal artists left their visionary paintings on red rock walls - artists from a culture 50,000 years old, the oldest living culture on our planet.
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