Australia Indigenous Journeys | Hema Maps

The Australia Indigenous Journeys map by Hema Maps focuses on the songlines and cultural routes of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, described as the world's oldest living civilisation.

For more than 65,000 years, Australia's Indigenous peoples have travelled across the continent, establishing trading routes and sharing knowledge, skills and foundational stories. This map honours their deep connections to Country, encompassing land, culture and identity, through a detailed and respectful representation of ancient routes, cultural pathways, songlines and major Indigenous language groups.

• Trading routes and cultural pathways: routes shaped by trade, ceremonies, kinship and seasonal cycles. Some extend for thousands of kilometres, guided by water sources, gathering places and creation stories.
• Indigenous cultural and art centres: locations for continuing your exploration and deepening your understanding of local traditions.
• Cultural exchange and traditional goods: ochres, shells, stone tools, ceremonial objects and native plants illustrate the resources that circulated through the dynamic networks of pre-colonial Australia.
• More than 250 Indigenous language groups: names based on AIATSIS sources reflect the richness and complexity of Indigenous nations before colonisation.
• Authentic landscapes: a view of the Australian landscape as it may have been when inhabited exclusively by Indigenous peoples, including traditional names for key places.