Aboriginal culture is the Dreaming because it encompasses the past, present and continuation of their identity. Christine Nicholls (2002) maintains that early settlers had little understanding of the depth of the Dreaming, confining it to stories of the past and in fact reducing it to simple stories Even today non Aboriginal people fail to conceive the great complexity of the Dreaming. Nicholls (2002), in her role at lecturer at Flinders University, cites a conversation with Jeannie Herbert Nungarrayi, a teacher and member of the Walpiri people. The Jukurrpa, their word for the Dreaming is a religious belief that incorporates 'rules for living, a moral code, as well as rules for interacting with the natural environment'. Nungarrayi explains that the Jukurrpa or the Dreaming is not just about the past but is a 'lived reality'. According to Edwards (2005) each language group has its own term to refer to the Dreaming; Ngarinyin people refer to it as Ungud, the Aranda people Aldjerinja, the Pitjantjatjara as Tjukurpa, the Yolngu as Wongar and the Broome region Bugari. Stanner (1987) used the term 'everywhen' because it was the only way for a non-Aboriginal people to comprehend a basic understanding of the concept of the Dreaming. Cowan (2002) argues Dreaming stories pass on knowledge of important cultural values and belief systems to later generations. Aboriginal people have maintained a link with the Dreaming from ancient times by expressing Dreaming stories through song, dance, painting and story telling. According to Edwards (1998) the entirety of the environment is where the Dreaming is 'enacted'. In fact Edwards (1998) believes the Australian Aboriginal people have exhibited great courage under the ever present attempts by the government to interfere in their affairs, to remove children from their families and the mining companies, who appear to neither have a sense of morality or integrity, by raping the land and moving the Aboriginal people to new locations.
