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The history of the Tjapukai company is one of Aboriginal Australia’s greatest success stories. Eleven years ago New York theatre experts Don and Judy Freeman combined with a group of Tjapukai dancers led by didgeridoo virtuoso David Hudson to form the Tjapukai Dance Theatre. The intention was to set up a small tourist attraction in the hinterland township of Kuranda.

In the beginning it was nothing more than a rented basement space catering for the tourists who travelled to Kuranda on the Scenic Railway. Then, after a couple of years of extraordinary success, it grew into a modern purpose-built theatre which cost over $1 million to build. And two years ago the entire operation moved from its mountain home down to the coastal plain north of Cairns (they’re located next door to the Skyrail cableway), where they created the world’s first cultural theme park.

By any measure the Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Park is an extraordinary experience. It cost over $8.5 million in total, is the largest private enterprise employer of Aboriginal people in Australia, and offers visitors a unique and compelling insight into Aboriginal beliefs, history and culture.

The visitor enters the park through the “Magic Space”, a carefully created environment with huge art works on the wall and an impressive display of Djabugay artefacts, many of which have been retrieved from the State Museum of Queensland. This is followed by a beautifully made, hard-hitting 20-minute documentary which, through a combination of rare historic footage, numerous early photographs and sketches, and contemporary images, charts the history of the Djabugay from idyllic rainforest dwellers to people who were massacred and marginalised by Europeans. It’s a remarkably honest portrayal of resilience in the face of European oppression.

Then there’s the Creation Theatre, where a combination of live actors and laser technology (it’s impressive seeing bolts of lightning burst from people’s hands) persuasively explains the belief system of the Djabugay, from the story of the Rainbow Serpent through complex explanations of genealogy and totem belief. The stories are told in the Djabugay tongue, with the audience able to listen to translations in seven languages.

Outside there’s a traditional village, demonstrations of didgeridoos, bush food and medicine, and lessons in spear and boomerang throwing.

The total experience is completed by a 20-minute dance and didgeridoo performance in which the Tjapukai Dancers (as they used to do in Kuranda) explain their culture and traditions with just the right mixture of theatre, good humour and pride.

This remarkable experiment has been a hugely empowering experience for the local community. It has offered jobs, self-esteem, and money for research. Importantly, it has been able to retrieve some of the Djabugay’s traditions which were all but lost. It is undoubtedly the best “Aboriginal experience” available in Australia, and its presentation - a clever mixture of professionalism, passion and understanding - is a role model which could well be emulated by indigenous peoples around the world.

Tjapukai Cultural Park is open from 9am to 5pm daily (except Christmas Day and New Year’s Day). It costs $14.50 for children, $29 for adults, and a family ticket is $72.50. Don’t miss it.