Explore the Songlines of the World's Oldest Living Culture
For more than 65,000 years, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples - Australia's Traditional Owners - have walked the land, forging trade routes, sharing knowledge and caring for Country. The Indigenous Journeys Map honours these enduring connections with Country through a detailed, respectful and uniquely comprehensive representation of ancient trade routes, cultural pathways and songlines.
Map Features:
Detailed Trade Routes & Pathways
Follow the routes shaped by trade, ceremony, kinship and seasonal patterns across the continent - some extending thousands of kilometres, guided by waterholes, gathering places and creation stories.
Indigenous Cultural/Art Centres
Continue your learning journey with Aboriginal experience centres marked on the map.
Traded Goods & Cultural Exchange
Learn about the vast array of resources traded - from ochre, shells and stone tools to ceremonial goods and native plants - and the vibrant networks that made it possible.
250+ Indigenous Language Groups
Presented with cultural sensitivity and acknowledgment of AIATSIS sources, these names highlight the diversity and complexity of Indigenous Australia before colonisation.
Authentic Landscape View
See how the Australian landscape may have appeared when it was solely inhabited by Indigenous Peoples, including traditional names for key places.
A Collaborative Cultural Resource
Born from the collaboration between Hema Maps and geologist/explorer James Allen, this map was created with insights gathered during extensive travels across the continent (2020-24). It reflects guidance from Traditional Owners and cartographic expertise from Gunditjmara man, Craig Molyneux. We also acknowledge Shelley Thomas for her work coordinating the multiple stakeholders associated with this project.
Hema Maps acknowledges all Traditional Owners and Elders, past and present, and is committed to best practices for the protection of Indigenous cultural and intellectual property.
