When the British landed in Australia, they declared it 'Terra Nullius' - "Land Belonging to No One" - meaning it was officially proclaimed to be devoid of previous inhabitants and therefore legal to be appropriated by Her Majesty. Forget the fact that aborigines had lived here since long long before England was even a twinkle in anyone's eye; the queen needed somewhere to send her prisoners. Picture young America and how it handled the Native Americans, but with only half the time gone by to heal. Australia has only officially been a country for barely 100 years, so many wounds are still fresh. Obviously the "civilizing" of Australia has had its myriad negative and positive effects, but whatever the result it's difficult to change a culture with a 60,000+ year legacy in the blink of a century.

These girls chatted with me on a walking bridge above the dry Todd River in Alice Springs, Northern Territory.

© Dominic Arizona Bonuccelli