Pic above: Local sentiment is clear at the proposed site for a huge gas processing plant on top of the red Pindan cliffs at Walmadan (James Price Point).
4th - 12th July 2009
I have been sitting, trying to start writing this entry for several hours. How to share an experience that has been so special, whilst respecting the 'privacy' of those who shared their lives with us so willingly. Since we arrived in Australia back in the Eighties I have wished it were possible to meet aboriginal people. It seemed impossible. Why would any blackfella want to spend time with me a whitefella, when whitefellas have been responsible for such long term persecution. My experience was restricted to professional 'helper/helpee' relationships - certainly not a meeting of 'equals', & the occasional tourist brush with aboriginals who viewed me as a means of income. This has been a matter of regret for me, as I have always believed that there is much of importance that we could learn from a people who have successfully existed & managed their environment for millenia. When the opportunity arose for us to participate in the trail, it felt like a dream come true. And so it was. No tourism here, just travelling through country, on foot, as has been happening for thousands of years, with the people from that country. Stories from the dreamtime (Bugarregarre) had real meaning, acting as the maps for survival in that country. There were no flashy dance groups, no commercial corroborees, in fact no ceremony at all, but we moved through country quietly, learning to read it & respect what for us visitors was an alien place. We caught fish with spears & nets, we ate turtle, kangaroo & mud crab. We camped in places where physical evidence of thousands of years of habitation was all around us, passed through burial grounds & learned of hidden water sources. We observed whales, dolphins, dugong & turtles. Throughout we were privy to seeing the way in which the Goorabooloo people interact with each other & with country. We came with respect & open hearts. We left with huge respect & hearts that had been nurtured.
We learned something of family relationships & structure, & were accepted for who we are. Statements about the country being happy to have people moving through it again were commonplace, telling us of the the pride in sharing country with us.
At times I was reminded of my father. He is a 'country boy' back in England,who takes pride in his knowledge of 'his' countryside in Essex. Having this knowledge of the 'nature' around him is 'normal' for him, but unfortunately it is knowledge that is being lost in this era of ipods & mobile phones. Most pass through his country without seeing very much today. And so it is up here. Just more so. The Goorabooloo have a depth of understanding of country that only comes from generations of living in that place. BUT unlike my father the Goorabooloo also link their whole world view to their understanding of country. Spirits of ancestors are still in country & continue to influence. No-one could doubt such an assertion if they had been privy to walking the country with us. This is a 'model of existence' that makes our 'civilised' western culture look both overly complicated & shallow.
The walking was tough going at times, taking us along seemingly never ending beaches, over tall energy sapping dune systems, through paperbark forests, scratchy wattle thickets & open salt plains where the northern sun was unrelenting. Organisation was phenomenal, the next time anyone tries to tell me that Aboriginal people can't organise anything (a common racist slur) I'll know what to say to them. We were a big mob, in total there were 36 'visitors & more than 60 Goorabooloo who needed feeding 3 times a day, all from open fires. We ate like kings whilst smelling of the country we were sitting on! Most of the visitors were students from Melbourne, plus a small handful of the likes of us. Also a a few whitefellas who live with the Goorabooloo walked with us, providing a useful joint black/white interpretation of issues.
We have learned so much...... but what is essential knowledge in one place can have little relevance elsewhere. So what to share? Why for example would most people want to know how to identify a Jigal tree, when it flowers & the fact that it produces an exquisite yellow nectar, best collected in the early morning? Out there in the bush, after several hours walking, at a heavily flowering Jigal tree we were like kids in a lollyshop for the first time, with yellow streaks of nectar running down our chins. There were many such learning experiences.
The colours of this west Kimberley coastline are striking in their richness. The multiple textures intriguing. Just when you think their can’t possibly be a type of sand you haven’t yet encountered, along comes another!
Most importantly we have been able to establish relationships which will be ongoing.
For more info on the Lurujarri trail check out this website www.environskimberley.org.au/lurujarri/lht_home.htm
Walking the trail is without doubt one of the best things we have ever done.
Now back in Broome. We are planning to move to the Millinbiyarra property for the next week or so, to spend more time with the Goolarabaloo friends we have made, before taking the bus back up the peninsular to Quandong Point for a little peaceful whale watching.
For more photos please click HERE (If the WA government & the oil companies get their way photos of country may be all that is left. Please act now to stop the profit driven destruction of country & culture).
http://handsoffcountry.blogspot.com/
http://www.wilderness.org.au/campaigns/kimberley
http://www.savethekimberley.com/
http://www.environskimberley.org.au/
http://bk-bkpricespoint.blogspot.com/
