Aboriginal Australia

The firsts of all Nations, Aboriginal Australians are the most ancient living societies in the world. They have taught me connection to land, family and spirituality.

Aboriginal culture is rich, their cosmology is profound. Some lost their way, not able to ‘integrate’ into western civilisation, others are striving to keep knowledge, practices and Country alive. We have no modern words to translate some of their concepts. ‘Country’ is one of those words. On Country people live their history, ancestors are in the land, they are the land. Each stone, river, each hill is alive and has a story.

Stories encompass all Aboriginal lives. ‘Songlines’ are songs, stories and maps: a Bible, sat nav, passport and more. They are sacred stories of Creation that carry teachings at many levels. Songlines are routes, they cross the whole Australia leading the way to waterholes and ceremonial sites. Songlines could open invisible gates into other tribe’s territories and they are shared between tribes: each tribe sing their verses in their own language, all together they make the bigger story.

Aboriginal people are some of the last custodians of invaluable knowledge on plants and natural medicine. They were able to select fruit plants in the desert through the use of fire. Ceremony is a vital part of culture, Aboriginals practice ancient rituals of passage and initiations. Since the dawn of times, stories have been the language to reach the soul. Humans have always had a need to tell and listen to stories. Today, as we have lost old practices, we have been seeking different ways, more or less successfully.

With the arrival of Europeans, with the so called civilization, its products, cities, minings and now the search for fossil fuels in sacred land, the delicate balance and connection between people, land and sky has been broken. Nearly all Aboriginal communities were taken away from their land.

I’ve had the privilege to work with various organisations who support today’s Aboriginals in carrying on their traditional practices on Country, to record and safeguard ancient knowledge, which is recognised to be a contribution to environmental management and health.

With NT Central Land Council, on an Industrial Cuts and Crossfades production, with Watsonville Aboriginal Corporation, the Tropical Indigenous Ethnobotany centre and more, I had the honor to camp out on Country, listen to stories, document ancient practices and witness collaborations between modern scientists and traditional elders for a common goal, meeting some of the last Indigenous people who were born wild.

With immense gratitude to the many people who made me a part of the family, sharing culture, Country, knowledge, stories.

When the first westerners arrived on Australian lands they described it as looking like an ‘estate’, so much it was taken care of, as if someone had carefully mowed grass and planted fruit trees just in the right place. This had all been done by Aboriginal people through the use of fire. Most Australian plants have adapted to germinate only after burning, thousands of seeds are dormant underneath arid land, just waiting for the right conditions to sprout. These seeds give desert fruits, tubers, and grains which Aboriginal people used to eat. Through fire management they could choose what to grow just like in a huge natural agricultural farm. Man-made fires also can be of huge aid to prevent natural fires to spread through large areas when they do occur. But there are hot and cold fires, there are fires that burns slower than others, all fires are different and most importantly there is always the right time to burn. If we do things wrong, if we don’t respect the timing, land and climate conditions, burning can lead to the opposite result, aiding the spread of invasive species which take over the whole country, and making the land even more arid and harsh to live in. Unfortunately this is what has been happening in central Australia since Aboriginal people were not allowed to manage their Country anymore.

BANDJIL – ORIGINAL WOMEN OF AUSTRALIA

2017

“Bandjil” and “Djambul” are Aboriginal words for “Woman” in two neighbouring tribes in the North Queensland Wet Tropics around Cairns, Australia. BANDJIL is an experimental documentary film on Australian Indigenous women. It provides a woman’s perspective on how it feels and what it looks like to carry Indigenous culture forward in the context of modern Australia. 

PUBLIC SCREENINGS: Laura Indigenous Dance Festival 2017, National Remote Indigenous media Festival 2017, ICTV 2017

PLANNING FOR FUTURE ON MBABARAM COUNTRY

2017

A project to care for land and train indigenous land managers to take care of country through wildlife surveys, archaeology, traditional burning, plants uses and archaeology research.

PUBLIC SCREENING: online news – The Conversation 14 Jan 2018

KEEP NYEWENTE ON THE COURT

2016

A fundraising campaign launched by Charity Bounce to promote healthy eating and build a basketball court in Alice Springs’ town camp Nywente.

PUBLIC SCREENING:  ICTV – 2017

STAND TALL- CENTRAL AUSTRALIAN TOUR

2017

Charity Bounce’s community programs expand in Central Australia using basketball to bring change to Aboriginal remote communities.

THE CUSTODIAN

2016

Gerry Turpin is the first formally trained Indigenous ethnobotanist in Australia. His job is to record and keep Indigenous knowledge for future generations. He is off on a trip to Stratford, Central Queensland, to support traditional owner Suzanne Thompson walking on her Country.

PUBLIC SCREENING: ICTV Indigenous Community Television (2017)

ON COUNTRY

2016

Suzanne holds the women’s Lore and has come back to her Country following the Dream. In the spirit of reconciliation between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people, she organises camps out on Country, song and ceremony, to re-awaken ancient song lines and share her ancestors practices and respect for Country.

PUBLIC SCREENING: ICTV Indigenous Community Television (2017)