MAP - ABORIGINAL CULTURE

Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Park features seven separate arenas which allow visitors to experience every facet of the rainforest people's culture - from the provocative History Theatre to the inspiring Creation Theatre, and the original Dance Theatre and the interactive Camp Village. This is one of the most visited attractions in Tropical North Queensland, and is now the largest employer of indigenous Australians in the country.

Jungara Aboriginal Art Gallery offers the most extensive collection of aboriginal art hand made by Australia's Indigenous People. The strength of the incredible art gallery collection is in the diversity of styles and artworks from all over Australia.

Palm Cove Gallery. Visitors to the Palm Cove Gallery may have the opportunity to witness Aboriginal artists creating their arts and crafts while learning the art of playing the world's oldest wind instrument, the didgeridoo with their son Sean 'Wunja-la' Singh (Wunja-la means small sand Goanna in their language).

Jama Dreaming Aboriginal Arts and Crafts has a vast collection of original and unique Aboriginal paintings by local artists, clap sticks, t-shirts, boomerangs, artefacts and some other unique gifts.

The Djabugay people have established Djabugay Country Tours, designed for those visitors wanting a unique and special experience, and who want to walk the country with the traditional owners. No-one is better qualified to share with you the secrets of life in the rainforest and to provide you with an authentic Kuranda experience and a welcome to Djabugay country.

The New Kuranda Markets Aboriginal Art Gallery has been widely acclaimed as one of the best ever assembled, and represents the talent of some of North Queensland's Aboriginal Artists.

Aboriginal Art Doongal was created in 1993 with the support of five Aboriginal artists and now Doongal is a showcase of more than 20 local Aboriginal artists.

Proprietors of Tropical Pulse have traveled extensively to put together the largest collection of Aboriginal art and tribal artifacts in the region; gifts and souvenirs decorated with Aboriginal art, including an excellent range of quality T-shirts, all designed by Aborigines.

At Woodstick Kuranda, you will learn with ease how to play the didgeridoo. Where they differ from other shops is that they teach a modern, more westernised style of playing, like jazz, rap or the percussive spitplaying technique.

Port Douglas Oceanic Art Gallery specializes in Australian and Aboriginal Art. The gallery has an impressive collection of Aboriginal and contemporary Austalian art, featuring the Lockhart River Art Gang, a group of young contemporaty painters from the east coast.

A stay at Daintree Eco Lodge and Spa will give you a different insight into the culture of the Ku Ku Yalanji people, the traditional owners of this land. From experiencing the cuisine at the Bilngkumu Restaurant, which utilises ingredients traditionally used by the Aborigines, to the Daintree Spa, where ochres, muds, and ginger are part of the Aboriginal treatments. And don't miss the interpretative guided rainforest walks, the Aboriginal art classes, workshops and cultural performances.

Kuku Yalanji Dreamtime Walks. Kuku Yalanji guides will take you on a relatively easy 1/2 hour or 1 1/2 hour walk through pristine rainforest, including cave paintings and sacred sites, story places, a traditional humpy and a demonstration of paint-making. Enjoy the priviledge of listening to dreamtime legends and learning about bush tucker and curative plants thanks to the ancient knowledge of these Indigenous people.

Make sure you save three hours of one of your evenings to enjoy Flames of The Forest, a dinning experience like no other you may have ever had, an event unlike any other you may have ever attended.

Kuku Yalanji Cultural Habitat Tour. Linc and Brandon Walker will take you through the stunning nothern coast, from Cooya Beach, a suburb of Mossman, through beaches, mudflats and mangroves. With them, you will also learn how to throw a spear, track coastal resources or spearing fish, and about the dangers of crocs and box jellyfish as well as some poisonous fruts and nuts.

Menmuny Museum. Located 37 kilometres south of Cairns, in the Yarrabah Aboriginal Community, the museum will help you learn about the local history, while displaying artifacts and contemporary arts and crafts. You can also take a walk on the museum's rainforest walking trail, where you can wander freely through coastal rainforest, or watch the aboriginal dancers.

Wujal Wujal (Bloomfield Falls) Wujal Wujal, beautiful falls in the pristine Daintree forest, are located north of Daintree. The falls are home to the Walker Family, one of the family groups of the Kuku Yalanji people, the traditional owners if this land. They offer guided tours through the rainforest, which is part of the spectacular World Heritage Rainforest Area while sharing stories of their ancestral land and the ways of the local Yalanji people.

Milbi Wall. The Milbi Wall was designed and built by local Aboriginals as part of the Gungarde project. A beautiful collage of Aboriginal art, the Milbi Wall marks the place of the first encounter between the British seafarers and the local Aboriginies. The Story Wall, as it often called, tell the story of Cooktown and the Endeavour River from the perspective of the Aboriginals.

Guurrbi Tours offer the visitor a unique opportunity to visit the Nugal-warra rock art sites, located only thirty minutes drive from Cooktown. The rock art sites represent the historical events, myths and legends particular to the Nugal-warra people. Let Willie Gordon, a Nugal-warra Elder, amaze you with the cultual and spiritual history and the beauty of the paintings while you learn why the paintings' conservation is so important to these people.

Munbah Culture Tours illustrate Aboriginal lifestyle and traditions, including traditional hunting, bush medicines and food. You will be shown around a beautiful tribal, introducing everyone to the open forest, the rainforest and heathlands by the coast. The tour includes lunch and morning and afternoon tea. And you can also overnight at one of the bush timber beach hut.

The tiny town of Laura is rich with Aboriginal history and culture.

The Laura Dance and Cultural Festival is, without any doubt, the largest and longest Aboriginal festival of its kind in Australia.

The Qunikan Cultural Centre is owned and operated by the local community and offers visitors an insight into the past and present history of the region. Films, story boards, artefacts and recorded oral histories will involve you in the history of the area.

In nearby Jowalbinna, part of the Quinkan country, visitors will find abundant and vibrant Quinkan Rock Art from Cape York's Aboriginal past. The caves are wonderfully preserved as well as the surprinsingly vivid cave paintings depicting tribal knowledge and every day life.

Rose Gums Wilderness Retreat is located in the land of the Mullunburra people, who made this area their summer home. The retreat is crisscrossed with walking tracks that will take you through the rainforest Indigenous people used to burn to a concealed waterfall, used by the Mullumburra to prepare their food, to a rainforest creek which Aboriginal kids used as a playground while their mothers ground the nuts.

The Malanda Environmental and Visitors Centre is located right beside the Malanda Falls. There is a cultural display of the Ngadjonji people, the original inhabitants of the area around Malanda.

Nine large colourful mosaics are scattered all over the town and are definetely a must when visiting the area. Each mosaic tells its own story and it is worth dedicating time to each one of them, studying them in detail to discover all the details camouflaged in the intrincate designs.

At Gundoii Didgeridoos you can join Phillip Barlow, Yidinji Aborigine, and his family in making your own authentic didgeridoo while listening to his traditional stories about his people and the way they lived. Visitors will have to choose a hollow branch, strip the bark off and then dip the stick in glue to seal the inside.

At Bajinjilla Arts and Crafts you can admire and purchase authentic aboriginal products such as didgeridoos, paintings and boomerangs. If you are lucky you can even get to know the artists themselves. And if you are wondering about why such a name, Bajinjilla the Spangled Drongo is the hero of the Jirrbal dreamtime story 'The Origin of Fire'.

Echo Creek Walking Track, Tully. You can join Jirrbal guides for a half-day walk in the lush Tully Valley. The eight kilometre return walk, which is suitable for average fitness, passes through virgin rainforest, majestic stands of rainforest timber, crystal clear creeks and carpets of lush moss. As you walk, your guide will identify rainforest species and their traditional uses as bush tucker and medicines and raw materials for making artifacts.

Girroo Gurrll Midja, Cardwell. Depending on your taste, you can join in a horse trail tour interpreted by local traditional custodians of the story places, or join in a guided walking track tour of the rainforest flora and fauna, visit a traditional arts and crafts shop or revive yourself at the Natural Healing Centre. Other activities you can enjoy are boomerang and spear throwing or listen to the stories associated with the landmarks of the Girramay and Jiddabul Rainforest people.

Plantation Park in Ayr is home to Gubullamunda, a 60 metre carpet snake totem of the Juru people, the traditional owners of this land. It marks the significance of the park as a traditional burial site. There are bush gardens with interprative and cultural heritage walks.

Townsville's North Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders Cultural Centre showcases early and contemporary cultural heritage of the Wulguru-Kaba and Bindal people. The Centre features innovative cultural, educational and informative displays that will help the visitor to experience the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people's heritage.

Named for the brilliant blue Ulysses butterflies, the 1.5km Ulysses Link Walking Track winds its way along the breathtaking foreshore. The history of Mission Beach is interwoven along the walk with indigenous and historical stories expressed through mosaics, carvings and ceramic sculptures created by local artists.

M AND J ABORIGINALITY
Enjoy a warm family welcome from a talented family. M and J are situated in a rainforest area with crystal clear waters; a a quiet environment, surrounded by beautiful mountains. The price includes your didgeridoo to take back with you, swimming, DVD lessons on how to play the didgeridoo. Time permitting, Sani can teach you on site to throw a boomerang. Enjoy a tour of their workshop; there's an artist on site if you need help. Enjoy a family atmosphere filled with love to share and to experience an aboriginal culture and stories to share with all. Tea and coffee unlimited and tasty meals.

All M and J products are made at this address and are all natural. They are proud that they have never had a dissatisfied customer. If you don't have transport, a pickup can be arranged from your accommodation at no extra cost. (minimum two people)

The nearby Babinda Boulders is a place of unusual natural beauty, and also great significance for the Aboriginal people. The boulders are a fantastic place for a picnic and a refreshing swim, and free camping grounds are available on site.

The Kalkadoon Tribal Council and Cultural Keeping Place is a centre for the preservation of the culture and heritage of the Kalkadoon people. It is a display centre and a keeping place for Aboriginal artefacts. Today, descendants of this proud and splendid tribe are available for a chat and a lesson in their culture, which has been retained in the preservation of their traditional cultural heritage.