The Aborigines are made up of many tribes across Australia who live in small villages and work together to survive, with men hunting, women cooking and caring for children, and elders making decisions. They share a religion called Dreaming where mythical beings shaped the landscape at the beginning of time, and they believe stories from dreams explain the world. Aboriginal art depicts these stories and dreams to share beliefs.

1. The Aborigines

2. Who are they? They are made up of many tribes of people that live in small villages who work together to survive. The men in the village hunt, the women cook and look after the children and the elders in the village (the oldest and wisest people) decide what is best for the whole village.

3. Where do they live? Map of the world The Aborigines come from Australia . They live in many different tribes all over the country and speak many different languages. Australia

4. What do they believe in? •All Aborigines have a similar religion which is based on Dreaming. They believe that at the beginning of time the world was a shapeless mass of nothing, waiting to be transformed into what we see today. • Aborigines believe that they are constantly living in the Dreaming. When they dream of stories they tell them to others and draw pictures of their dreams to explain things in the world. • They believe that in the beginning of the world there were mythical beings called the ancestors who arrived and took many shapes, although most commonly they were great serpents. • The ancestors began to travel across the world shaping the landscape and creating new life as they went. Every major feature in Australia has an aboriginal story to explain it.

5. Aboriginal Art Here are some pieces of art that aborigines have drawn to explain different things in the world.

8. What we will be doing: We will be learning about Aboriginal tales and be drawing some of our own!!! Can you see any similar features that the Aborigines use in their art? What do you want to find out about the Aborigines?