Aborigines believe that each food was created by the ancestral spirits. All food has meaning. The animal and plant kingdoms are one with people and are linked totemically as relatives. The laws that govern Aboriginal society are strict and include many rites and observances relating to food. There is indeed a time and a season for everything living.
Aborigines have an extensive and intimate ecological knowledge of the Australian landscape.
Common is the view of Aboriginal culture that prior to European settlement people wandered constantly in search of food to survive in a harsh and desolate land. The country was not exploited continuously. Each clan or language group lived in a well defined area that is owned according to ancestral law or Dreaming. Each had a detailed knowledge only of the resources of its own area and a limited knowledge of surrounding areas. Many rules concerning food are taboos on eating certain types of meat.