33. Traditional Hunting, Fishing and Gathering Practices

Access to the country of one’s forebears provided substance for the Dreamtime experience and an identity based on the continuity of life and values which were constantly reaffirmed in ritual and in use of the land. Economic exploitation of the land to support material needs, and its spiritual maintenance were not separate aspects of people’s relations to country, but rather each validated and underwrote the other. The land was a living resource from which people drew sustenance — both physical and spiritual. The nexus between the two was shattered with the alienation of land by mining and pastoralists’ interests.[1454]