Some of the oldest storytellers on the planet are Aboriginal Australians, whose stories go back thousands and thousands of years. The people themselves trace their ancestry to the Seven Sisters of the Pleiades, who came down to Earth long before humans appeared in what is called the Dreamtime.

Landforms and animals of the Outback that we see simply as rocks, waterholes, Perente lizards, kangaroos, even majestic Uluru are, for Aboriginal Australians, not what they appear and more than they appear. They are stories written throughout the natural terrain that enable the people to travel with absolute surety the vast, unmarked distances of the land.

The earliest Aboriginal Australian story I’ve personally seen “written down” is one that was told me by an elder of the Pitjatnjatjara tribe. It’s in a painting that covers every surface of a small rock grotto.

The story painting is at least 13,000 years old; every family that lives in the area is responsible for repainting the portion of the story that belongs to them whenever it becomes too faded or worn. This responsibility has been passed down from one generation to the next for at least 650 generations.

The story the elder tells me is not just in the painting, though; it’s written into the land itself. This is the Pitjatnjatjara version of the Pleiadean creation story that is told in numerous variations throughout the Outback.

Walking behind the elder whose tribe is the caretaker of the grotto, I learn about the hunter, Nirunja, who chased after the Kungkarangkalpa–the seven sisters who came down to Earth. The sisters eventually escaped back to the sky, where they became the constellation we call the Pleiades. Nirunja followed and became the constellation Orion, who chases them still.

» Read more: Story Time, Dream Time – A Journey Into the Outback of Aboriginal Australia