S Enjoy the Earth Gontly Mt The Aboriginal people of Australia have lived in harmony with nature for at least the past fifty thousand years. With the coming of the Europeans in 1788 the Aboriginal people were dispossessed of most of their land and threatened similation’. Native forests and wildlife habitats shrank, and with the ing and industry, many species of plants and wildlife became extinct Oodgeroo Noonuccal Oodgeroo was born on 3 November 1920 and grew up as a member of the Noonuccal tribe on North Stradbroke Island, Queensland. In 1964 her first book of poems, We Are Going, was published. It was the first book of poems published by an Aboriginal writer. Her third book of poetry, My People, was published in 1970 and has been reprinted man} In her life and in her poetry she spoke for Aboriginal rights. Much of her poetry voices her concern about the destruction of Aboriginal culture by white society. She is strongly opposed to assimilation and racial prejudice. In her poem ‘Assimilation — No!’ she wrote, ‘Do not ask of us to be deserters, to disown our mother’ Son of Mine To Denis My son, your troubled eyes search mine, Puzzled and hurt by colour line. Your black skin softas velver shine; What can I tell you, son of mine? 2360= Aboriginal voices I could tell you of heartbreak, hatred blind, could tell of crimes that shame mankind, Of brutal wrong and deeds malign, Of rape and murder, son of mine; But !'ll tell instead of brave and fine When lives of black and white entwine, And men in brotherhood combine — This would I tell you, son ‘of mine. Oodgeroo Noonuceal Understanding the poem 1 Do you think this poem was written from the poet's personal experience? Why or why not? 2. Why do you think her son's eyes are ‘troubled’? 3. How could a black child be '. . . hurt by colour line’? 4 What words in the second stanza show the violence (both emotional and physical) done to Aboriginal people? 5 What ate the poet’ feelings at the beginning of the poem? 6 How has the poet's mood changed by the end of the poern? 7 Do you feel that the poet is proud or ashamed of being black? Explain your viewpoint by giving evidence from the poem. 8 ‘When lives of black and white entwine’. What does the poet want to happen in our society? 9 Do you think ‘Son of Mine’ is a good title? Why? 10 Why do you think the poet has written this poem! The subject of the next poem by Oodgeroo is Aboriginal painter Albert Namatjira. He is famous for his paintings of central Australian landscapes. In 1957 heand his wife, unlike other Aborigines, were granted the same citizenship rights as white Australians. This new status gave him easy access to alcohol. The laws of his tribe demanded that he share his possessions and as a result, he was gaoled for six months for supplying alcohol to Aborigines ° 37flere Naraics 1902-1959 (Aranda Tbe), Glen Heles Lands New South Wales Enjoy tho Earch Gently Namatjira Aboriginal man, you walked with pride, And painted with joy the countryside. inal man, your fame grew fast, Men pointed you out as you went past. But vain the honour and tributes paid, For you strangled in rules the white men made; You broke no law of your own wild clan Which says, ‘Share all with your fellow-man.” What did their loud acclaim avail Who gave you honour, then gave you jail? Namatjira, they boomed your art, They called you genius, then broke your heart Oodgeroo Noonuccal 238s he, Corral Asal. Watercolour, Artarmon Galleries,+ * Aboriginal voices © Then and Now In my dreams I hear my tribe Laughing as they hunt and swim, But dreams are shattered by rushing car, By grinding tram and hissing train, And I see no more my tribe of old As] walk alone in the teeming town. Ihave seen corroboree Where that factory belches smoke; Here where they have memorial park One time lubras dug for yams; One time our dark children played There where the railway yards are now, And where I remember the didgeridoo Calling to us to dance and play, Offices now, neon lights now, Bank and shop and advertisement now, Traffic and trade of the busy town. No more woomera, no more boomerang, No more playabout, no more the old ways. Children of nature we were then, No clocks hurrying crowds to toil. Now I am civilised and work in the white way, Now I have dress, now I have shoes: ‘Isn't she lucky to have a good job!” Better when I had only a dillybag, Better when I had nothing but happiness. Oodgeroo Noonuccal Thinking about then and now 1 Why is the poem called ‘Then and Now’? 2 As the poem begins, what scene from the past is the poet describing? 3 What sounds from the present shatter the poet's dreams? 2390SS Enjoy the Ea 4 What are your feelings about the factory that ‘belches smoke’ in the second stanza? Why do you think the poet keeps repeating ‘no more’ in the last stanza? What does the poet mean by, ‘Children of nature were we then’? ‘Isn't she lucky to have a good job!” How does the poet feel about this? What are the poet’ feelings about white civilisation throughout the poem? Why do you think the poet has written this poem? What have you leamed about the poet herself from this poem? Somraauw Iris Clayton Iris Clayton was one of ‘the stolen generation’; as a child, she was forcibly taken from her natural parents and brought up in the Cootamundra Aboriginal Girl’ Home. Irissays: ‘We weren't allowed to see our parents... They tried to wipe us out in one hit, our whole family background. We were brought up with white outlooks.’ She is now concerned to make everyone aware of racial prejudice and the destruction of the Aboriginal way of life The first of her poems presented here, ‘The Black Rat’, describes the sad life of an Aboriginal soldier who helped to hold off the German army at Tobruk Because the Australian soldiers had to burrow into the ground and live in terrible conditions they became known as the ‘Rats of Tobruk’ The Black Rat He lived in a tin hut with a hard dirt floor, He had bags sewn together that was his door. He was a Rat of Tobruk until forty-five, He was one of the few that came back alive Battered and scared he fought for this land, And on his return they all shook his hand The price of fighting for the freedom of man, Did not make any difference to this Blackman,4% Aboriginal voicés He retumed to the outback, no mates did he find, Ifhe had a beer he was jailed and then fined He sold all his medals he once proudly wore: They were of no use to him any more. Confused and alone he wandered around, Looking for work though none could be found. The Anzac marches he badly neglected, Would show to his comrades how he was rejected. He fought for this land so he could be free, Yet he could not vote after his desert melée. And those years in that desert they really took their roll, He went there quite young and came home so old. This once tall man came from a proud Black tribe, Died all alone ~ noone at his side. Iris Clayton The Last Link The walls were the colour of dark burnt brown matching the skin of the old blackman the cracks in the wall he did not see but this old man loved to talk to me He told of the days Hooked at the walls when he was young all covered in grime when once the tribe and thought to myself of his deeds they sung this is a crime how they hunted and roamed this old blackman free as the winds is our living history he told of his battles so full of legends losses and wins the dreaming and mystery elsAs I was thinking the old man talked on moaning his sorrow of days lost and gone he asked if | knew how we came to be T answered my nanny told that legend ro me He said to me my days are near done let’s move outside to sit in the sun Pl have to tell you about tribal law but no one uses them anymore I was the best hunter did | tell you before I shook my head I wanted to hear more he looked at me so sad and forlorn I could tell chat his heart was broken and torn With tears in his eyes he spoke of his wives then sadly he told how both lost their lives he cried for his children a girl and two sons and how they were killed by whitemen’s guns This old blackman with his stories untold said let’s move inside I'm now getting cold he asked me to call again in the morn, but when I got there his soul it had gone. Tris Clayton Understanding the last link 1 Why do you think the is poem called ‘The Last Link’? 2. How do you know that the old man was once an important member of his tribe? 3. What does this poem show you about the old way of life of the Australian Aborigines? Why does the poet describe the old man’s living conditions as ‘a crime’? Why is the ‘old blackman’ seen as ‘our living history’? Why is ‘tribal law’ no longer used? Why does he feel ‘so sad and forlorn’? sane eo 42 28 Why does he speak of his family ‘With tears in his eyes’? 9 What do you think is the poet's attitude to the old man? 10 What is the old man’s attitude to the poet? 11 What are your feelings towards the old man? 12 Do you think this poem could have been written from a real life experience? Explain your viewpoint Bobbi Sykes Bobbi Sykes, born in 1945 in Townsville, Queensland, was one of the first Aborigines to complete a university education. All her life, she has struggled to achieve justice for the Aboriginal people. Her poetry has heen very important in her life ~ she has said, ‘My poetry is my biography.’ Prople Some of us eat Birds meats or Escargots or i Some of us wear Candied bees or ua Sarongs or Each other ~ Feathers or But we are all people Cheong sams or Muu muus or Dior creations or Some of us carry Bibles or Nothing ~ Rifles or But we are all people Swastikas or Spears or Some of us dance Bows and arrows or Waltzes or Love signs — Ballets or But we are all people Corroborees or Hulas or Bossa nova or Flamenco - We are all people. Bobbi Sykes| Kevin Gilbert Kevin Gilbert is one of the foremost Australian Aboriginal poets and playwrights. He grew up enduri poverty and prejudice of the worst kind. He describes some of this experience: living in old tin sheds, under scraps of iron, starving on what we could catch goanna, rabbit, kangaroo, or on what we could find ~ bread and fat, treasures of old lino and hesstan bags from the white man’s rubbish tip to keep us a little bit dry and warmer in the winter’, His poem ‘Kiacatoo’ describes the terrible slaughter of Aboriginal men, women and children by a band of evil white men Kiacatoo On the banks of the Lachlan they caught us ata place called Kiacatoo we gathered by campfires at sunset when we heard the death-cry of curlew women gathered the children around them men reached for their nulla and spear the curlew again gave the warning of footsteps of death drawing near Barjoola whirled high in the firelight and casting his spear screamed out ‘Run!” his body scorched quickly on embers knocked down by the shot of a gun the screaming curlew’s piercing whistle2 ® Aboriginal voices: was drowned by the thunder of shot men women and child fell in mid-flight and a voice shouted "We've bagged the lot’ and singly the shots echoed later to quieten each body that stirred above the gurgling and bleeding a nervous man’s laugh could be heard ‘They're cunning this lor, guard the river’ they shot until all swimmers sank bur they didn't see Djarrmal’s family hide in the lee of the bank Djarrmal warned ‘Stay quiet or perish they're cutting us down like wild dogs put reeds in your mouth ~ underwater we'll float out of here under logs’ a shot cracked and splintered the timber the young girl Kalara clutched breath she later became my great grandma and told the story of my people's death ‘The Yoorung bird cries by that place now no big fish will swim in that hole my people pass by that place quickly in fear with quivering soul Wao at night when the white ones are sleeping fac Slee content in their modem day dreams we hurry past Kiacatoo where we still hear shuddering screams you say ‘Sing me no songs of past history ~ let us no further discuss’ but che question remains still unanswered How can you deny us like Pilate refusing the rights due to us. The land is now all allocated the Crown's common seal is a shroud to cover the land thefts the murder but can't silence the dreams of the proud. Kevin Gilbert eo U5 o| 2 Enjoy the Eareh Gently Witnessing Kiacatoo 12 13 Cemryraurune The curlew is a bird. What does it do in the poem? What happened to Barjoola? Why did the Aborigines have no chance against the white attackers? What words of the poet show the violence and brutality of the attack? What is the meaning of “We've bagged the lot”? What are your feelings towards the white attackers? How do Djarrmal and his family manage to survive? How did the poet come to learn about the massacre? no big fish will swim in that hole’. What is your explanation for this? Explain the different reactions of the ‘white ones’ and the Aborigines to the massacre. What does the poet mean by ‘land thefts’? What is the meaning of‘... can’t silence the dreams of the proud” Why do you think the poet has written a poem about the massacre? Eva Johnson When Eva Johnson was three years old she was forcibly taken away from her mother by white authorities. She was brought up on Croker Island Mission. In her poetry, she often writes of her need to be free as an Aboriginal woman. Trails Tonce walked along the trails of my ancestors through deserts, mountains, rivers and sands where food was plenty, where goanna tracks led to waterholes where the bandicoot whistled its name. I gathered nuts from the kurrajong tree and suckled wild honey. I swam with catfish in billabongs of waterlilies and tasted cooked food from ovens underground. I smelled the promise of the winds along trails of the dreaming and traced my mother’s footsteps embedded in the sand 246 ©© Aboriginal voices once walked along the trails of my ancestors that now have blown away with the winds of time. Only in memory will I walk along the trails Only in memory will they remain. Eva Johnson Archie Roach Archie Roach is a popular Aboriginal songwriter. Through his song ‘Beautiful Child’, he draws our attention to the heartbreak and loss of Aboriginal families whose people have died in police custody. The song also makes us wonder why so many Aboriginal people have died while in prison, Beautiful Child Oh my beautiful child My beautiful child The brightest of stars, couldn’t match your sweet smile But you grew up too soon, far beyond your young years Now all that remains is your memory and tears You were always to blame And they put you through hell Then they locked you away in a dark lonely cell But you weren't really bad, just a litele bit wild Now they'll hound you no more, oh my beautiful child Beautiful, beautiful child now you are free Free from this heartache and pain and misery When they found your body that day, some said you'd smiled And I wish I was with you right now my beautiful child euT© Enjoy the Eareh Gently = You'd been locked up before But you always came back With your head held high and so proud to be black Bur the last time they came, how could I have known When they took you away, that you'd never come home Yeh, they pushed you around ‘cause your skin wasn't white And although you were gentle, you learnt how to fight ‘And you fought all your life though you didn't fail But you deserved better chan to die in some jail Oh beautiful, beautiful child now you are free Free fromm this heartache and pain and misery When they found your body that day, some said you'd smiled And I wish I was with you right now my beautiful child And I wish I was with you right now my beautiful child 4 if Archie Roach Appreciating the beautiful child wa wn cme Why do you think the words ‘riy heautifill child’ are repeated throughout the song? nee Who are ‘they? i ; 1 What words of the songwriter stow the horror of gaol (spelt jail’)? Why has the beattifut child ‘smiled in the third stanza? “With your head held high and so’proud to be black’. What does this show about the dead person? Why is the beautiful child now ‘free’? Why do you think the speaker wishes to be with the beautiful child? What do you think is the overall mood of the song? Why do you think the songwriter wrote this song? © 4B o