Book Club May 2025 Songlines, the Power and the Passion
Songlines, the Power and the Passion
By Margo Neale and Lynne Kelly
This is co-authored by indigenous scholar Margo Neale and she provides the safety, respect and authority to tell us of Songlines in more detail.
Western science tells us that Aboriginal people have been living on the Australian continent for 65,000 years, give or take a millennium or so. Can you take that in for a moment? Imagine bearing witness to all the geological and climate changes of the landscapes, and then not only surviving, but thriving.
The world’s oldest living culture.
How did they do it? How did they transfer the vital knowledge to live comfortable and abundant lives from one generation to the next?
The first known evidence of literate societies was in Mesopotamia, (now present-day Iraq) where writing was invented a mere 5000 to 6000 years ago. So how did Aboriginal societies transfer knowledge and wisdom through deep time and make sure that it was relevant, useful and authentic. Professor Lynne Kelly co-author of the book explains that aboriginal societies had Orality, an oral culture where song, story, dance and art were used to make information memorable and useful.
“Songlines are the means of storing and learning knowledges, ancient and modern. They are stories embodied in the land, sea and skies to be remembered and learned.”
Songlines have a deep connection to country, the Songlines and the link to County were such an integral part of Aboriginal thinking and surviving and being. This is explored more in the chapter Everything Starts and Finishes with Country. There are powerful real-world examples of stories as told by First Nations Elders throughout the book.
Reading this book is both a humbling experience and an eye-opening journey into the profound impact of settlement on Aboriginal culture and Country. Ultimately, it offers insight into how a path to reconciliation can be forged—if we're willing to educate ourselves about the rich and complex history of this land. It's absolutely worth the investment.
