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Ochre is integral to the Dreamtime stories — stories of Creation and Law — of
Aboriginal people throughout Australia. Red ochre deposits often represent the
blood of sacred ancestral beings. The traditional Aboriginal stories and
ceremonies for this site belong to Western Arrernte men. Women and children are
not permitted to dig the ochre, or know of the stories associated with the
site. Therefore it is not possible to relate or show how ochre is used in the
telling of these stories.
However, women use ochre, provided by men, from this site in their own
ceremonies.
Rock paintings, common in other parts of Australia, are not prolific in
Central Australia. This could be because in this region fixatives are not mixed
with ochre paint and the rock paintings did not last, or it could be that rock
paintings are not central to local Aboriginal culture. Here, the Dreamtime is
drawn in sand paintings, which are destroyed as part of the ceremonies.
Source: Northern Territory Parks and Wildlife Commission -
park signage
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