enjoying traditional Christmas stories such as Clement Clarke Moore’s ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas and Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, but children’s authors and illustrators are beginning to create truly Australian children’s Christmas literature. One favourite is Wombat Divine by Mem Fox, while a more recent addition is Aussie Night Before Christmas by Yvonne Morrison.
Major sporting events
The Christmas break is an opportunity for sports fans to enjoy two major sporting events. The 26 December is the opening day of the ‘Boxing Day Test’ between the Australian Cricket Team and an international touring side at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. This has been well attended since the first match in 1950, and watched by many others on television. In Sydney one of the world’s most prestigious ocean races, the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, starts on Boxing Day from Sydney Harbour.
Indigenous Australians
A. Shnukal, Celebrating the Coming of the Light at Kemus on the anniversary of the arrival of the London Missionary Society on 1 July 1871. Darnley Island, Torres Strait. Image courtesy of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies Unit, University of Queensland.
Indigenous Dreamtime stories obviously do not include Christmas. However, this date in the calendar coincides with other seasonal changes. In Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Yolngu Aboriginal people will observe the last season of their six-season cycle. Gudjewg, the wet season, begins in late December.
Many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities include Christian groups within them which celebrate Christmas. The Ntaria Choir at Hermannsburg, via Alice Springs, Northern Territory, has a unique musical language from mixing the traditional vocals of