Tjukurpa is the foundation of Anangu culture. It provides the rules for behaviour and for living together. It is the Law for caring for one another and for the land that supports people's existence. Tjukurpa refers to the time of creation as well as the present time. Tjukurpa is the relationship between people, plants, animals and the physical features of the land. Knowledge of how these relationships came to be, what they mean and how they must be maintained is explained in the Tjukurpa.
Tjukurpa has been translated as 'Dreaming' or 'Dreamtime'. This is inadequate, as Tjukurpa does not refer to dreaming in a conventional western sense; it is not unreal or imaginary. Tjukurpa is the traditional Law that explains existence and guides daily life. Tjukurpa is existence itself, in the past, present and future. Tjukurpa provides answers to important questions such as the creation of the world and how people and all living things fit into the total picture of life. It is the basis of the laws that sustain nature and all beings.
The Tjukurpa is all around using the landscape itself. When Anangu look at the land, and all the features and living things upon it, there is visible evidence that the ancestral beings still exist. Uluru, and its many different features, continue to tell about the Tjukurpa. In the beginning the world was unformed and featureless. Ancestral beings emerged from this void and journeyed widely, creating. All living species and the features of the desert The details of the activities and travels of the ancestral beings have been taught ever since, in story, song, dance, and ceremony. The knowledge of how to take care of the land, animals, plants and people has been passed down from generation to generation in the form of the Tjukurpa, Anangu Law.
Uluru and Kata Tjuta are part of a wide network of significant places linked by iwara (tracks), made by many different ancestral beings during their travels. Uluru and Kata Tjuta are linked with people and places in every direction. The sand plains and wooded areas within the Park and beyond are filled with the records of travels of ancestral beings.