Guide to the Australian outback in Aboriginal cultures
A place of scorched red deserts, endless blue skies, ultra-wide-open spaces and sacred Aboriginal places, the outback looms large in Australia’s collective mythology. For some, it’s a fabled place of savage beauty that forged the Australian character. For its Traditional Custodians, it’s so much more.
Jarramali Rock Art Tours, Laura, Queensland © Tourism Australia
What is the outback?
First used as an adverb to refer to the back yard of a house, ‘outback’ emerged in the late 1800s as a colloquial term for the remote regions of Australia including its vast interior. Defined by the Australian Government as rangelands, this diverse group of relatively undisturbed ecosystems covers about 81% of the country, including the entire Northern Territory and large areas of Western Australia, Queensland, South Australia and New South Wales.
SEIT Outback Australia tour guide with guests in Uluru, NT © Tourism Australia
Is the name ‘outback’ controversial?
For most Aboriginal peoples, the outback is an alien concept that implies a faraway place and undermines ancestral connections to Country. The outback isn’t far away for its Traditional Custodian groups. It’s their homeland.
Guide Bec Sampi with guest in the Kimberley, Kingfisher Tours, WA © Tourism Western Australia
Where can I experience the outback from an Aboriginal perspective?
The outback conjures up images of a place where people don’t belong. But you only need to look at the smorgasbord of native wildlife depicted in Aboriginal rock art to understand how its Traditional Custodians have not only survived, but thrived in these remote environments for generations. Join a 4WD adventure with Jarramali Rock Art Tours to admire one of Australia’s most magnificent rock-art galleries hidden in the stone escarpments of outback Queensland.
Join the Uluru family on traditional lands in Australia’s Red Centre on the SEIT – Patji experience to learn how this arid dune landscape is intrinsically linked to Anangu culture. And how it has sustained their ancestors for time immemorial, despite its harsh appearance.
Travel into traditional lands in the heart of Western Australia’s Kimberley region with Kingfisher Tours, and the natural amphitheatre of Cathedral Gorge in Purnululu National Park is just one indicator that this isn’t just a remote wilderness area. It’s a place where stories have been shared and connections have been made between Aboriginal peoples for millennia.
Waringarri Aboriginal Arts and Tours, Kununurra, Western Australia © Tourism Australia
The abundance and rich Aboriginal heritage of the outback is also showcased in Aboriginal art. Gain insights into the art traditions of the Miriwoong people of the Kimberley at Warringarri Aboriginal Arts & Tours in Kununurra, where the Art Centre Tour concludes with a taste of homemade damper. Traditionally made from grinding seeds from plants including the spiny spinfex native to the Australian outback, this filling bush bread is yet another example of how the seemingly unforgiving outback continues to provide for its Traditional Custodians.
