Aborigines are Australia's indigenous people which make up about two percent of Australia's total population. Aborigines are believed to have evolved as modern man in Africa about 190,000 years ago, moved into the Middle East by 120,000 years ago, then into Asia, and on to Australia at least 60,000 years ago. This believed information is based on archaeological finds and genetic studies of mutations of mitochondrial DNA in populations of different parts of the world. Aboriginal Australians are said to be the oldest surviving culture to this day. After modern man moved into Europe and the Americas cultures started to develop while Australians remained isolated on their island still practicing older techniques. Aboriginals comprise five to six hundred different distinct groups but they all have a few things in common, strong spiritual belief and a culture of storytelling and art. .
Australia has no official religion (Blashfield 2008:101). In the twentieth century, when the nation was established the government was not able to interfere with a person's practice of religion. With that being said many aborigines do not identify themselves to one particular religion. "The spiritual life of Australia's aborigines is closely tied to their daily life" (Blashfield 2008:101). It is believed that spirits tell them how they should live, when to move with the seasons, how to mend wounds and ailments, and which stories they should tell their children at the appropriate age. This is what Aborigines call the Dreaming or Dreamtime. The Dreaming is the most important thing in their belief system. Dreamtime for aborigines is the way that creation began, every person exists in the Dreaming before and after their time on earth. The land is the most valued thing to Aboriginal belief, land is always there and is fundamentally constant. During The Dreaming it is believed that creator set guidelines on the laws of nature and then were absorbed into the landscape.
