Aboriginal sacred sites are areas or places in Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 of significant Aboriginal Australian

Australian Aborigines

Australian Aborigines , also called Aboriginal Australians, from the latin ab originem , are people who are indigenous to most of the Australian continentthat is, to mainland Australia and the island of Tasmania...

 meaning within the animist context of the localised indigenous belief system. Most are somehow related to Aboriginal mythology

Australian Aboriginal mythology

Australian Aboriginal myths are the stories traditionally performed by Aboriginal peoples within each of the language groups across Australia....

, known as 'The Dreaming, or The Dreamtime'. The Dreaming / Dreamtime is a term used to refer collectively to aboriginal religious beliefs. These beliefs endeavour to explain the questions of ultimate human reality, including the origins of humans and animals. The dreaming is a constant phenomenon which includes the past, present and future. They believed that the Spirits who initially inhabited the land were their ancestors and their identity was derived from the spirits from whom they were meant to be descended. Particular tribes had their own totem which was an animal often native to their tribe’s territory. Their way of life was based on their relationship with the land, which they believed to be their origin, sustenance and ultimate destiny. They in turn saw it as their duty to look after the land and take only what they needed. The beliefs of the dreaming are diverse as different tribes have different beliefs which may differ depending on variables such as gender, location and totem.

Many sacred traditions and customs took place at these sites.
Male sites may be forbidden to women (men's business) and Female sites may be forbidden to men (women's business - for example: birthing sites).

Some examples

Some documented examples of Aboriginal sacred sites in Australia include:

• Baiame's Cave
  Baiame
  In Australian Aboriginal mythology Baiame was the Creator God and Sky Father in the dreaming of several language groups , of Indigenous Australians of South-East Australia....
  
  : south of Singleton, New South Wales
  Singleton, New South Wales
  -Industry & Commerce:Major industries near Singleton include coal mining, energy generation, light industry, vineyards, horse breeding and cattle production. Dairying was once a mainstay in the area, but has declined....
  
  

• Ban Ban Springs
  Ban Ban Springs, Queensland
  Ban Ban Springs is the formally approved and current name given by the Minister for Natural Resources on the 24 September 1999 to a small community in Queensland, Australia, located at the junction of the Burnett and Isis highways....
  
  : near Gayndah, Queensland
  Gayndah, Queensland
  Gayndah is a town located on the Burnett River in Queensland, Australia. It is north of the state capital, Brisbane, and west of the regional city of Maryborough. The Burnett Highway passes through the town. At the 2006 census, Gayndah had a population of 1,745.-History:Exploration of the...
  
  

• Murujuga
  Murujuga
  Murujuga , is a peninsula often known as Burrup Peninsula in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, adjoining the Dampier Archipelago and near the town of Dampier...
  
   (aka Burrup Peninsula or Dampier Peninsula): in the Pilbara Western Australia.

• "Uluru
  Uluru
  Uluru , also known as Ayers Rock, is a large sandstone rock formation in the southern part of the Northern Territory, central Australia. It lies south west of the nearest large town, Alice Springs; by road. Kata Tjuta and Uluru are the two major features of the Uluṟu-Kata Tjuṯa National Park....
  
   - Kata Tjuta National Park is directly and tangibly associated with events, living traditions, ideas and beliefs of outstanding universal significance. Uluru - Kata Tjuta National Park was inscribed on the World Heritage List for natural values in 1987 and subsequently inscribed for cultural values in 1994."

See also

• Hindmarsh Island bridge controversy
  Hindmarsh Island bridge controversy
  The Hindmarsh Island bridge controversy was a 1990s Australian legal and political controversy that involved the clash of Indigenous Australian religious beliefs and property rights...
  
  
• Most sacred sites
• Aboriginal sites of New South Wales
  Aboriginal sites of New South Wales
  Aboriginal sites of New South Wales consist of a large number of places in the Australian state of New South Wales where it is still possible to see visible signs of the activities and culture of the Australian Aborigines—or Indigenous Australians—who occupied these areas before the arrival of...
  
  
• Customary Aboriginal law
  Customary Aboriginal law
  Customary law in Australia relates to the systems and practices amongst Aboriginal Australians which have developed over time from accepted moral norms in Aboriginal societies, and which regulate human behaviour, mandate specific sanctions for non-compliance, and connect people with both each other...