A songline, also known as a dreaming track, is a path across the land or sometimes the sky in the belief systems of Aboriginal cultures in Australia. These paths show the journeys of special beings who created the world during the Dreaming. The routes of songlines are remembered through traditional songs, stories, dances, and artwork. They are often used in special rituals.

Description

The Dreaming, or the Dreamtime, is an important story about how the world was created. This story is seen as an ongoing process that connects Aboriginal people to their origins. Ancestors are believed to have helped create sacred places as they moved across the continent long ago. Animals were created in the Dreaming and also helped shape the land and sky. Songlines connect places and events from the time of creation, as well as the ceremonies held there. Oral stories about places and journeys are passed down through song cycles. Each Aboriginal person has responsibilities to the place where they were born. These songs are the foundation for ceremonies held at specific locations along the songlines.

A songline is sometimes called a "dreaming track" because it shows the path taken by a creator-being or ancestor during the Dreaming. A knowledgeable person can travel across the land by singing the words of the song, which describe the locations of landmarks, waterholes, and other natural features. In some cases, the paths of creator-beings are visible on the land, such as large depressions that are thought to be their footprints.

By singing the songs in the correct order, Aboriginal people could travel long distances, often through the deserts of Australia’s interior. Australia has a large system of songlines, some of which are only a few kilometers long, while others stretch hundreds of kilometers across lands where many different Aboriginal groups live. These groups may speak different languages and have different traditions. One songline covers a 3,500-kilometer route connecting the Central Desert Region to the east coast, now called Byron Bay. People from desert areas traveled to the ocean to learn about fishing, while coastal people traveled inland to visit sacred places like Uluru and Kata Tjuta.

Since songlines can cross lands where different language groups live, parts of the song may be in different languages. However, the rhythm of the song is important for understanding it. Listening to the song is like walking along the songline and observing the land. Songlines are sometimes called a "cultural passport" because singing the song in the language of a particular region shows respect to the people of that area.

Groups living near each other are connected because song cycles cross the entire continent. All Aboriginal groups traditionally believe in ancestors and share related laws. People from different groups interacted based on their responsibilities along the songlines.

In some cases, a songline has a specific direction, and walking the wrong way along it might be considered disrespectful. Aboriginal people see all land as sacred, and they believe the songs must be sung regularly to keep the land "alive." Their "connection to country" describes a deep and complex relationship with the land of their ancestors, or "mob." Aboriginal identity is often linked to their language groups and the traditional lands of their ancestors. Songlines not only map routes across the continent and share culture but also show how people are connected to their land.

Songlines are often taught within families, passing down important knowledge and cultural values.

Molyneaux and Vitebsky note that the Dreaming Spirits also placed the spirits of unborn children and set up rules for society, such as tribal laws and totemic systems.

Descriptions and definitions

Anthropologist Robert Tonkinson wrote about Mardu songlines in his 1978 book The Mardudjara Aborigines – Living The Dream In Australia's Desert.

In his 1987 book The Songlines, British writer Bruce Chatwin described songlines as:

Margo Ngawa Neale, an important curator of Indigenous art and history at the National Museum of Australia, says:

Examples

• The Yolngu people of Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory share a story about Barnumbirr, a creator-being connected to the planet Venus. Barnumbirr came from the island of Baralku in the East, helped the first humans reach Australia, and then traveled from east to west across the land. Along the way, Barnumbirr named and created animals, plants, and natural features.

• The Yarralin people of the Victoria River Valley honor Walujapi, a spirit linked to the black-headed python. Walujapi is said to have carved a snake-shaped path on a cliff and left an impression of her buttocks when she sat to set up camp. These marks can still be seen today.

• The Native Cat Dreaming Spirits are believed to have started their journey at the sea and traveled north into the Simpson Desert. During their journey, they passed through the lands of the Aranda, Kaititja, Ngalia, Kukatja, and Unmatjera peoples. Each group sings the part of the Native Cat Dreaming that relates to the songlines connected to their land.

• In the Sydney region, valleys often end with a canyon or cliff because of the soft Sydney sandstone. This made traveling along ridge lines easier than moving through valleys. As a result, songlines in this area usually follow ridge lines, where many sacred artworks, such as the Sydney Rock Engravings, are found. In other parts of Australia, songlines often follow valleys, where water is more easily available.

• Songlines have been connected to Aboriginal art sites in Wollemi National Park in New South Wales.