Which Aboriginal language group uses the term 'Tjukurpa' for the Dreaming?

The Pitjantjatjara language group uses the term “Tjukurpa” for the Dreaming. The word refers to far more than dreams or a distant mythical past: it encompasses ancestral law, creation stories, moral obligations, ceremony and continuing relationships with Country.

Pitjantjatjara is a Western Desert language spoken principally in central Australia, especially in communities across northwestern South Australia and nearby parts of the Northern Territory and Western Australia. At Uluru, Tjukurpa explains how ancestral beings shaped the landscape and established the rules by which people should care for one another and the land.

The term is sometimes written with related spellings such as “Tjukurrpa” or “Jukurrpa” in other Western Desert languages and cultural contexts. That variation is why “Dreaming” is only an approximate English translation. A common mistake is assuming that every Aboriginal language uses one identical word; language groups have their own terms, although related groups may share cognates and overlapping traditions.