Last Day in Albany

We woke up Sunday to pouring rain which was kind of a buzz kill. Still, I knew I wanted to go to church in Perth and had found a service at Trinity Church on St. George’s Terrace that I could attend before we had to meet at the museum. So I dressed in my new yellow skirt, put on my raincoat and set off for church; within a block my skirt was completely soaked and my raincoat was starting to leak water onto my shirt. I made it the few more blocks to the church, stopping a few times to wring out my skirt. When I finally arrived I ducked in and began to wring my skirt again only to be asked if I was actually coming in or just avoiding the weather. I said coming in and the lady was very excited, but told me they didn’t have a spare set of clothes for me (not that I would ever have expected that at church), but she settled me in a seat right next to the heater. As I looked around the sanctuary, though, I realized she must have found me absolutely crazy; I was wearing what were obviously spring clothes – a light skirt and a short sleeved shirt – while everyone else was decked out in winter wear (sweaters and long pants). I later found it only necessary to say that I lived right next to the U.S.-Canada border for them to realize that low 60s really isn’t cold weather to me, but still I felt like a sore thumb in the church.

The service itself was interesting. I had researched churches a little bit before I came and discovered that I should find a Uniting Church, which combines several different Protestant faiths in Australia including Presbyterian. Therefore a number of churches from several denominations all work together and support each other in their faith, a principle which I find very cool. While I would have liked to attend the Presbyterian service (timing didn’t work out) it turned out that it was actually super-switch Sunday which is held once a month, so the Methodist minister in the cohort was leading the service at Trinity that month. He was a very jovial and approachable man and gave an interesting sermon which included watching part of a DVD – definitely a first for me to watch TV in church!

I had a little bit of time between the service and our class meeting at the Western Australia Museum which is just a few blocks away, so I walked through the Katta Djinoong exhibit on Australian indigenous peoples again to think some more about the musem project. I’m pretty excited about the assignment as it is right in line with what I am planning to go to grad school for, but on the other ahnd I’m wondering how much time I’ll have for such reflective work when I go home as I’m set to go to work right away. I’ve decided, though, that my exhibit will be based on a large flex room at the end of the Katta Djinoong exhibit, so that it really expands upon the museum’s permanent exhibit and enhances the themes already present.

After our group meeting in the lobby at the museum I had a little bit of time to kill before meeting Ellen to go to the markets in Fremantle. There is a great art museum next to the Western Australia Museum, so I took a turn through the gift shop there and a few of the exhibits on the lower level. I love visiting art museums by myself; there is something very peaceful about being alone with a piece of art. I like to think about what the artist is saying specifically to me through each piece.

I ended up being the only one to meet Ellen to go to the Freo markets, but it was definitely a worthwhile trip. There were a ton of cool booths at the indoor market and I was able to get my sister her Christmas present (ha! You thought you’d find out, Kim, but I’m not telling!). I just love the hubbub of everyone bustling around, the joy of the hunt, and the clamor of incidental and purposeful noise.

We made it baqck on the train just in time to not have to buy a return ticket (as best we could tell) but on the ride back train police got on to check tickets. I held my breath as they looked at ours and said we had gotten on the train at Freo, but a few people on the train either couldn’t find their ticket or had an expired pass and received fines – it was definitely a bit nerve-wracking wondering if we’d be next!

I headed back to the hotel once we arrived back in Perth to pack and tidy for our early departure tomorrow. Carrie, Margaret and I watched Sister Act on TV while packing, deciding what needed to be packed, what could possibly be left and how to make it all fit.

Our group met for one final dinner together at Balti, this Indian restaurant two blocks from our hotel. Over mountains of curry, we rehashed the trip, sharing our highs and lows. It was a great last meal and a chance to say goodbye to people I probably won’t see again for a few years!

Ok we have a very early departure tomorrow (in the 3 a.m. hour) so I need to get some sleep! All for now!

Peace,
Jill

Long, Long Bus Ride

Today was relatively unexciting. We left Albany this morning for Perth – the last stop on our whirlwind tour of Western Australia. Woke up early to finish packing everything and saw a beautiful sunrise over the bay. Then by 8 a.m. we all settled onto the bus for the long ride back to Perth.

We made a few stops along the road, including in Kojonup to buy kangaroo skins (a failure, as the lady wasn’t able to get any in stock) and at the Woolshed in Williams, which was a great series of stores with Australian wool products and craft items (interesting, but nothing worth buying in my estimation). Most of the trip, though, was pretty uneventful. I’ve been reading World’s Fair by E.L. Doctorow in the past few days, so it was nice to be able to spend a large amount of time with the book.

Our bus finally reached Perth around 3 p.m. and, after saying good-bye to Joe who has been an incredible driver and guide to Noongar culture for the past two weeks, Danielle, Leighann and I set off to finish some souvenir shopping.

The group met at 615 to go see the Sex and the City movie, which I must say, I enjoyed, as predictable as it was. The movie really reminded me of the greatness of friends, and I can’t wait to get back to my lovely friends at home!

This trip has really been a very incredible experience, but it has also been very interesting as it is one of the few times that I have really ever gotten very homesick. Every day has little battles, though, as I compare landscape and relationships to my own. It might be that this reflection is in light of the fact that I won’t be home for very long before I embark on a very long trip overseas or perhaps that the work we have been doing here is so complicated and challenging. Either way, while I am sooooo grateful for this experience, I am also VERY excited to come home so soon!

Peace,

Jill

Dog Rock Reflection

As one of our assignments for this trip, Ellen had asked us to write a memo considering the case example of Dog Rock – a significant site for Aboriginal people, but one that is located right in the middle of a city with a busy road next to it and a surrounded by shopping, a motel, and a vet’s office. How can and should Dog Rock be preserved, taking into account the interests of all concerned parties?

I found the case of Dog Rock particularly interesting as there it obviously lies at the complicated intersection between sacred belief and commercialism. While I am not clear exactly on the significance of Dog Rock in Aboriginal culture, the fact that it looks like a giant dog head makes it completely understandable, in my mind, that it is an important cultural landmark. Yet it is immediately adjacent to a major road and surrounded by businesses, the hallmark of our commercial society.

I was surprised to find that not only was there a shopping plaza named for the rock, but also a veterinary office located close by and a motel built into similar rock formations just across the road. I was struck by the question of whether such use and recognition of Dog Rock was a tribute or merely a marketing angle (it is certainly quite memorable to take your pet to a vet by Dog Rock.)

At the very least, Dog Rock is a local landmark. To each person who knows it, it might mean something different. But shouldn’t that personal attachment mean something, especially if it is a deeply held attachment felt by a whole group of people? At the very least, I believe Dog Rock must be preserved, however I am unsure how to proceed beyond that.

As a city grows around a natural formation, either the formation must be accommodated or accommodate. In this case, Dog Rock has been accommodated by the curvature of the road and sidewalk and the placement of businesses around the rock. Given this, the easiest route would be for Albany to continue to accommodate the rock, leaving it alone. As an educator and visitor, though, I believe that appropriate signage might make Dog Rock more understandable to the outsider and thus give it a place in the hearts of more people. By accommodating and educating, the city can honor the rock and the space and the stories.

Peace,
Jill

Koalas are so cute!

This morning it had been arranged for us to visit Whale World, a local museum here in Albany. Ellen had asked for us to go on a whale watch but this is what was placed on our schedule instead, so she made the morning optional but asked that at least some of us attend. Honestly, I was expecting it to be kind of lame and along the lines of the aquarium park in Free Willy, but it turns out that Whale World is really the last commercial whaling operation in Australia-turned museum. It is intended to preserve both the history of that whaling operation, as well as educating visitors about the place of whales in the world.

We were given our tour by the Director of Whale World who actually came into the museum business after working in carpentry for a number of years. I expected the museum to glorify the whaling business, an idea which I find odious, but he actually knew a lot about whales in general and presented a multi-faceted view of the industry. For example, when that particular whaling business closed down in the late 1970s, workers found out on the radio and were given no compensation whatsoever in losing their jobs. The economy of Albany was devastated for over a decade because of the loss of wages from the whaling company.

At the end of our tour, our guide shared that to help draw in more money to support Whale World, the organization was constructing another attraction, an zoo of all different species of indigenous Australian animals. He offered to take us to see the animals which were just brought into temporary housing to become acclimated to the weather in Albany, and of course we accepted. We saw wallabies and Tasmanian devils and wombats, but best of all, we were able to pet koalas! He had cleared it with the trainer a few days before, and carefully instructed us to only pet them on the back and not to let them try and climb on you (koalas are pretty mean and scratch and bite), but we spent a solid half hour taking photo after photo of everyone with koalas. In real life they are every bit as cute as they appear in pictures, but they weren’t as soft as kangaroos to pet. One particular koala did, though, try to climb up to eat more eucalyptus leaves by sliding up his sleeping friend and sitting on the sleeping koala’s head to reach the high branches. Adorable!

Needless to say, we left Whale World a little behind schedule, but we still managed to stop at the Gap and Natural Bridge, this park with incredible rock formations. At the gap, especially, the waves can crash up higher than you would ever think possible and a number of people have been swept away and died. Still, it was an incredible sight to see and another vivid scene that a camera just couldn’t capture. I can only really equate it to the majesty of seeing Niagara Falls with white beaches and waves crashing along the rocks, and even then I’m afraid the explanation is very inadequate.

We made it back in Albany in time for some shopping and a quick lunch before we had to head off for a reception and the final event of our trip. I set off and literally ran up and down the streets of Albany to get my final shopping done – the group presents for Ellen and Joe (framed pictures of our group and a necklace for Ellen).

We arrived a bit late to the reception – apparently some the mayor of Albany had been there but had to leave when we were running late – but it was still a powerful end to our program. Ezzard presented all of us with gifts from Mungart Boodja – copies of the Koorah Coolingah catalogue and Little Black Fingers, the first pamphlet written about the child artists of Carrolup. Eugene, who couldn’t be there, also sent us all soaps and essential oils that he made from bush plants. Our group was further given a beautifully painted didgeridoo, to be added to the mountain of artwork and loving gifts which have been passed on to us. It was difficult to think that this was our last interaction with people like Ezzard who we have spent the last few weeks working with so closely, but at the same time, I’m getting to the point where I am ready to go home for a while.

On the way back to our hotel, Ellen had Joe drive us to Dog Rock, which is a sacred site in the middle of downtown Albany. It is really interesting, as it obviously holds cultural value for Aboriginal people, but in past decades there had been talk by the city of demolishing it. As it stands, it is currently next to “Dog Rock Shopping Centre” and across the street from the Dog Rock Veterinary office. I couldn’t stay for too long though, as I had to run and pick up the pictures and check off a few more errands before dinner.

Our group decided to have a nice last dinner in Albany together at the Tanglehead Brewery. We had liked the pub menu, but ended up eating in the restaurant which was a bit fancier and definitely more expensive. Fortunately, Ellen found money in the budget for us all to have a nice dinner together. After everyone had eaten we gave her the presents – this really cool red necklace and the group picture, and I think she really enjoyed them. It is always a very nice feeling to find the right gift for someone.

Peace,

Jill

Many Peaks of Albany

This morning David Guilfoyle and Harley Coyne gave us a presentation on their Restoring Connections program, which involves the preservation of sacred sites through a partnership between the government, the traditional land owners and sometimes current landowners. Harley and David shared a number of examples of projects, showing us pictures and describing the work that was done at each site. Often times it was just simple physical work like putting a fence around a rock outcrop in the middle of a cow pasture to preserve the site, however the collaboration necessary to produce such a basic result was impressive. I left the presentation feeling uplifted at the concreteness of Restoring Connections – that Aboriginal culture can and is being preserved through the collective work of several different groups, and that amidst all of the negative impacts still lingering from the Stolen Generation, there are people working to improve, preserve and conserve.

After the presentation we climbed on the bus and headed out to a site called Many Peaks, one of those sites that Restoring Connections has helped to preserve. Harley had been familiar with the site for many years, and when it was sold to a man who started mining the rock and defaming the site, he stepped up and Restoring Connections became involved.

We were accompanied on our visit by both Harley and David, as well as a number of elders. I was also excited that my little friend Taadjiduk (who I had built sand castles with in Katanning) and David’s son also joined us on the trip. The outlook from the rock outcrop at Many Peaks was really very beautiful, and as we hiked down the hill, Harley and David pointed out a natural amphitheater and a cave where the remnants of a campfire were dated to several thousand years ago.

Many Peaks overlooks a marshy lake, so David and Harley also arranged for two women from the Department of Water to meet us and show us how water is tested and monitored at such locations (though this was not a regularly monitored spot). The lake, though, was dry and so they took a sample of water from a nearby stream to show us. We were able to look at different water organisms under microscopes, as well.

We returned to Albany with quite a bit of the afternoon left so a few of us left to go shopping. There were a lot of great stores to look at and I picked up some more souvenirs for family and friends at home. After window shopping for a few hours found a cute purse for Kim and a pair of red patent leather flats for me.

Ellen asked us to attend her presentation on the Colgate-Carrolup Connections at 630, so we met just down the street from our hotel for her lecture. A number of people in the audience were especially interested in what we had learned so far and how we will use this experience when we go home. It was great to be able to share that this is something that I will be able to bring to my students as a teacher, using the concrete example of sending a postcard to my classes at Hamilton. Some of my students may never leave Central New York, but that I could send a postcard back to them might encourage a few to think beyond what is so close and familiar to them and maybe even start to think and act globally.

After the lecture Danielle and I had dinner at a popular local restaurant called Dylan’s on the Terrace. Good food, which was perfect as we were both very hungry. And even though I am enjoying the trip, it was also nice to have time away from a large group and just have a quiet dinner.

Tree Top Walk and Albany

We are officially out of the bush as of today, as we left the Stirlings this morning for Albany. Ordinarily it wouldn’t be a very long drive, but we took a detour to Walpole which added a bit of distance to the trip, but the pleasurable result was that we were able to see the giant tingle tree forest which is unique to that area of Western Australia.

The bus ride was especially interesting as the scenery changed rather suddenly from bush with low trees and shrubbery to taller and taller trees until we arrived in the tingle forest. There we went on a tree top walk which was very cool. Because the tingle trees have a very shallow root system, the park administrators needed a way to share the beauty of the trees with the public, while not harming the trees. A boardwalk-type trail was constructed through part of the woods, but then to allow people to experience the different levels of the forest, a suspension trail was built that gradually climbed up into the canopy.

I was so excited about the tree top walk that I was the first one from our group in line. And while I wasn’t scared of the height at all, the suspension track would sway as people stepped and signs indicating weight limits of just 10 people and 20 on end platforms added this sense of apprehension and adrenaline. Overall, though, I was most scared that I would drop my camera into the forest and not be able to retrieve it, and I spent most of the trek carefully clutching my camera strap which was also around my wrist.

Not everyone was as comfortable with the height – Carrie, who was right behind me, was very scared and almost got stuck – but everyone went through and was incredibly brave. I don’t think the pictures we took can convey adequately the size of these trees or high off the ground we were or how much the bridges were swaying. I found the experience all together remarkable and a worthy detour!

We had lunch in the town of Walpole and then set off for Albany and our new hotel. We are in apartments at the Frederickstown Motel which is set on a little hill just a few blocks above the bay. The view is absolutely incredible from our front windows and it is so nice to be in a city again!

Once we moved into the hotel we had a free evening, so I set up the internet (the hotel has wireless access which is also incredibly civilizing) and ten of us went to dinner at a nice Italian restaurant called Nonna’s. I had this incredible pasta dish with spinach linguine, chunks of pumpkin and cashews – mmm! We walked around the town a little after dinner and stopped at the Tanglehead Brewery for a beer before calling it a night. I can’t wait to explore Albany some more tomorrow, as it is already probably my favorite place in Australia!

Peace,
Jill

Night Well and an Amazing View

We had a bit of a late start this morning, as our schedule today seemed to operate on “Noongar time.” After Eugene arrived with two elders, Auntie Winnie and Auntie Mary, we set off for a day of touring a number of sacred sites.

Our first two stops were at Noongar burial sites – one marked only by plants and protective posts, and the other commemorated by statues and flowers. It is said that you can learn the most about a culture by how they handle the dead, so in that vein, these were very important stops. Eugene shared that there is a particular plant that is planted at a grave site, so that Noongars walking through the bush will know it is a grave and will take care, making sure it is kept up and not disturbed. While, he shared, it is a family obligation to maintain the graves of deceased family members, it is also the responsibility of all Noongars to care for any grave they come across and ensure that it is properly maintained and honored.

In this sense, it was very important to see the grave sites, however I found today to be particularly challenging as we visited a number of sites, but the importance of some was more obvious than others. For example, a grave is a very important, sacred site in Noongar culture, but from my wadjella eyes, at first all I could see was a plant in the bush. It was unlike visiting, for example, the woman’s place yesterday, in which you could tell how important a place was just by looking. Each time the bus stopped, it became a mental challenge to get off and be fully open about the place we were visiting. I want to be as open as possible to this experience, but I struggled a bit today in accepting the importance to an otherwise seemingly meaningless piece of land to which I have no attachment whatsoever. An important battle, yes, but still a fight with which I was faced.

After we saw the second grave site, we walked a few hundred yards to Night Well. Alongside a salt river, Night Well was a remarkable fresh water pool that vanished during the day and refilled itself at night. Many Noongar families would camp at the site, as there was a consistent supply of fresh water, as well as animals which came to drink at the well. In the first few decades of the twentieth century, though, a wadjella man was contracted to dynamite the well – which he did – and has resulted in a complete change of the well’s pattern of flow. Instead of the rushing of water which used to occur naturally, there is now just a small trickle. Eugene shared that geologists are currently consulting on how to possibly restore the Night Well without salinating the reserve of water, a very interesting prospect from a cultural preservation perspective.

Additionally, Auntie Winnie shared her personal story with us as we sat on boulders around Night Well. Her family had camped at this spot when she was a girl, and she had memories of her mother collecting the water, as well as other stories of how her parents earned a living by trapping and how she avoided being forcibly removed due to an illness.

After listening to Auntie Winnie’s story, Eugene took our group to do some informal cultural mapping at the site. Though found artifacts are normally measured and documented by GPS, we practiced looking for remnants of Noongar culture. Chipped stones and flint heads, as well as out of place rocks are excellent indicators of travel and trading, and are therefore looked for. To be honest, my eyes were not top notch at spotting the artifacts, although I was very skilled at spotting roo poop. I also found a very cool, more recent artifact – a broken bottle which had melted in a recent bush fire. (Unlike in the U.S. where forest fires are often viewed poorly, bush fires are often natural measures of control and seen, especially when controlled, as necessary for the environment.)

After Night Well we left and went to an area of land at Gnowanup that is being reforested. At the Noongar meeting place that was recently installed there, a number of different people explained the reforestation process and the collaborative efforts between the Department of Resource Management, the Nature Conservancy, local farmers, and others. The talk was actually incredibly interesting, but unfortunately the weather was very windy and chilly. Sitting still with a cool wind whipping through our jackets was very difficult, and when we finally broke for lunch the change wasn’t unwelcome!

We all ate together at the DRM shed a few kilometers up the road. While I’m at a physical breaking point as far as sausage is concerned, Cheryl made a lot of delicious bread and we had damper from yesterday, as well! While I greatly appreciate that we have had our meals prepared for us, I am actually looking forward to going home and cooking and controlling my diet on my own. It is weird to relinquish such control, and almost offers and uneasy feeling, even though we have been fed with such care.

After the late lunch, we left for our last site of the day – a lookout at Mount Trio in the Stirlings. We stopped on the way to look at the oldest sandalwood tree in the area which is about 140 years old, but then got back on the bus and continued to Mount Trio. I fell asleep on the way and as I woke up and stumbled off the bus, we were suddenly facing a huge rock. As the people in front of me gradually climbed up the rock, I realized that we were going all the way up to watch the sunset. Though not a difficult climb, it looked challenging initially; we first had to climb up about twelve feet to a ledge, then follow the ledge up to a small cave and wiggle up through an opening in the roof of the cave to the top. Once up there, the site was incredible, although we missed the sunset by the time everyone got up there. When they gave the call to begin to climb down I was the first to volunteer as I didn’t want to get stuck up there in the dark, so I got to pave the way on the downward trek, which was actually quite easy. Overall a very cool, though somewhat frightening experience.

We had dinner back at the retreat and then everyone went back to the cabins to pack and get ready for bed, as we are leaving tomorrow for Albany. This time in the Stirlings has been very incredible, although I am excited to be in a more civilized area again!

Peace,
Jill

Mountain Climbing and Intimate Stories

We had this morning off as a “free morning,” but a number of us decided to accompany Ellen on a hike up Bluff Knoll, or Mula Billa (“many faces”) as it is known to Noongars, which is the tallest peak in the Stirling mountain range.. The day started off pretty rainy, but we bundled up and set off. As we approached the mountain the rain let up a bit and only sprinkled a little bit at we took on the first part of the trail. The physical trail is a pretty well maintained track – mostly stairs built into the natural dirt and rock.

Our group quickly spread out a little bit – I was second in the pack – and I found it very peaceful to have the solitude to myself as I climbed. As the weather wasn’t great, we were only going to climb part of the trail and not summit. (Ellen has climbed Bluff Knoll before and said it is very windy at the top normally, let alone in such weather.) Our initial stopping point was the waterfall, but after we reached it, the group decided to press on a little further.

As we ascended up an uncovered part of the trail that snaked around the mountain, we were treated to incredible views of the rest of the mountains and the surrounding countryside. After a climbing a bit further though, my knee started to hurt, so when Danielle and Elise agreed to head back down, I went with them. The rest of the group climbed further, but we made it to the base of the mountain right as the clouds opened up and really started to rain. All of a sudden these thick clouds moved in around the peak of the mountain, and we were really glad to be sitting at the bottom, waiting for the bus.

Slightly soaked and cold, Joe drove the five of us (Jake and Chris came down a little behind us) back to our chalets and I climbed right into bed and took a very nice nap where reading merged with sleep in a really fluid way.

I woke up to a call for sandwiches around noon and we headed over to the pavilion where Cheryl, Eugene’s sister, had made lunch. As everyone trickled in, we gradually found ourselves sitting around talking and Cheryl shared her story of her experience as part of the Stolen Generation with us. We’ve heard a lot of personal stories by this point, but this was probably the most impressive one so far. She spoke with such passion, connecting both her own experiences with the present. This is really the first time that someone has personally spoken about the lack of sharing of stories, in addition to the terrible affects on family members including suicide and alcoholism. I really appreciate the depth and candor with which she spoke; it made her story all the more real and understandable.

As Cheryl concluded her story, the room fell silent as we all took in the power of her words. Eugene, sitting beside her, broke down into tears as he shared with the group that this was the first time he had ever heard Cheryl’s personal story. Despite being brother and sister, this was something they had never talked about before, as the pain was just too much to bear. It was really incredible to be a part of that first sharing experience between family members.

After lunch, we piled onto the bus and Eugene took us to one of the most impressive sites I we have visited so far, a woman’s birthing place. Though Eugene didn’t know much about the site, we were able to surmise that women would give birth in the natural freshwater pools that formed in the rocks next to the flowing river. The area, though, had this incredible feeling of secretness, perhaps because we were the first wadjellas to see the site, or maybe because the many shades of lush greens reminded me of the secret garden. Either way, I couldn’t take enough pictures, even though those pictures could never do justice to the beauty of that site.

We went back to the retreat and Cheryl taught a few of us to make damper before dinner. She was an incredible teacher, full of patience and compliments, and we made a surplus for our group dinner. After I lit a bonfire and we feasted on s’mores at the chalets. It took some time to light the fire today, as all of the wood was so wet, but it created really beautiful flames as well. Ok, bed time…it’s been a long day!

Peace,
Jill

There should be more adult-sized playgrounds in the world.

This morning we left Katanning for our next stage of the trip, which is a few days in the Stirlings. A bunch of us woke up early to go to Mungart Boodja to check email and go to the adult-sized playground before we left Katanning. I had been really excited about this playground even before we left for Australia as I first found it while googling Katanning. It turned out to be less than a block from our hotel, but we got back so late at night that we never had a chance to go, thus necessitating a visit this morning before we left the town for good.

The capstone of the adult-sized playground was definitely this huge slide that is at least two stories tall. I rode on a metal kangaroo rocking ride, though, while Leighann and Jake and Megan went down the slide (it turned out to not be a very slippery slide). Jake and Megan and I then climbed on this death contraption that can only be described as a hamster wheel ten feet in the air and on an angle. After we got it started, we spun so quickly we were stuck to the sides, but then we couldn’t figure out how to make it stop. I concluded the trip to the playground with a very graceful injury, as per the usual. One of the rides was a seat with bicycle pedals; as you pedal, you spin around and power a wheel which rotates your spinning seat around the middle point. Of course, the joint was a little sticky, and as I was unsticking the pedals I spun around and slammed my head into a metal pole. Painful, but overall a worthwhile experience!

We had another long drive back to the Stirling Range Retreat (the girls’ fashion project schedule wasn’t finalized until after our schedule was made, so we spent a lot of time driving back and forth). We stopped on the way, though, in Onerup at a museum about the malleefowl and then went to Kelly O'Neill's farm to see malleefowl nests. The mallee fowl is a very endangered bird on the edge of extinction, but through the efforts of Kelly and others, the malleefowl is making a small comeback. The farm has a number of nests on a piece of carefully preserved bushland; the malleefowl builds huge piles of forest debris into a large mound, and we saw a number of these incredible examples on the farm.

When we arrived at the Stirlings we had a dinner prepared for us and a Welcome to Country ceremony sponsored by Eugene Eades, our next host on this leg of the trip. After dinner, a didgeridoo player performed and then Eugene’s band played. Jake got up to jam with the band and led them in performing “Hey Ya” (this was really funny as the band performs early rock and roll music). After the concert, I went back and built a bonfire at our chalet campsite, and our group spent some time sitting around the fire relaxing before bed.

Today was pretty tough in the sense that I’m getting burned out on talking to new people and listening to the same stories over and over again. I know that the work we are doing here is very important, but I’m just feeling a little overwhelmed. Tomorrow is another day, though, so I think I’ll call it a night and get some rest!

Peace,

Jill

Booditj Noongar Yorgas: Day 2

Today was day two of the girls’ fashion project, but today we went all the way to the Stirling Range Retreat. The girls stayed over at the campground the night before, and we joined them the in the morning for a bush walk with Auntie Averil Dean. She showed us all different kinds of bush tucker – food that you could find in the woods to survive – from fruits to the remains of a blue-tongued lizard. The coolest plant that I saw, though, was a tree that, when it blossoms, would alert Noongars that the emus were fat enough to hunt. The flowers were absolutely beautiful and I got some really good pictures. We also saw a wild orchid and a succulent that, like aloe vera, has great medicinal properties.

After the bushwalk we had lunch and then Glenda gave our group a presentation on problems surrounding Noongar people, especially health issues. In the meantime, the girls drew their own tank top designs which incorporated a plant they had memorized on the bushwalk. (Each girl was assigned a plant that Auntie Averil pointed out and had to remember it’s Noongar name, what it looked like and what it was used for.)

When we finished our discussion with Glenda, we went and helped the girls execute their tank top (singlet) designs. I taught Pattie how to bead so that she could bead the fruit of her plant onto her shirt – it turned out really cool, even though the process was very time consuming and she only got a small part done at the workshop and had to take the rest home. I also taught a few other girls how to do different stitches or thread needles.

I think the best part of the fashion project, though, was just talking with the girls. They were giggly, middle school-age girls eager to tell us about their lives and ask about ours. The program is intended to build self-esteem in the girls, requiring them to commit to a project, speak for themselves and stay in school. As I spoke with a few of the girls throughout the day, asking them what they want to be when they grow up, their sights weren’t limited. Pattie wanted to be a traveler, Joedell wanted to go into fashion design. They wanted to see New York, which is a huge deal, as many Noongars never leave their own country (tribal part of Australia).

We left the Stirlings around 430 and dropped Marley, Nadia and Pattie off in Tambellup before going for a group dinner at Henry Jones in Broomehill. We stopped to see a beautiful sunset on the way though...absolutely gorgeous how the light reflected off the water of the lake we found. Dinner was another delicious meal of pumpkin soup and scrumptious chicken, as well as wine from their vineyard. Mmmmm!

Peace,
Jill

Booditj Noongar Yorgas: Day 1

We went to Borden today to work with Jaime Phillips again, this time on the Booditj Noongar Yorgas program, also known as the Strong Noongar Women fashion project. Jaime started the program with Lynley Pickett a few years ago, and last spring two of the girls came to Colgate for the opening of the Picker Art Gallery’s exhibit on Noongar art, past and present. (Unfortunately I was abroad, so I missed this exhibit.) Girls learn about their Noongar tradition and family stories and incorporate this information into dresses which they design and model. Some of the dresses the girls created are truly incredible!

It was quite a haul to get to Borden, but once we were there, the facility was absolutely gorgeous. Having spent quite a bit of time in rural Australia, I am very impressed by the quality of the public recreational and cultural facilities. For example, the pavilion that we were in today was very spacious and functional, yet simply elegant.

About 15 girls participated in the program today; they came from Katanning, Tambellup, Mt. Barker and Wagin, all of which are little towns scattered within a pretty wide radius. We already knew two of the girls – Marley and Nadia – as they have been around with Ezzard this week. The other girls from Katanning and Wagin, though, were very welcoming and fun to spend time with. The girls from Mt. Barker came off as a bit more haughty and distant, though, which was an interesting contrast. (Mt. Barker is a tougher town, which I bet is part of the reason the girls were more standoffish.)

After some introductions, I led a few icebreakers with everyone which was pretty cool as this was a way in which I felt I could really contribute my expertise. We played Counting Coo and Have You Ever?, although I had hoped to play People to People, but I cut it at the last minute as I realized I wasn’t sure how close contact would be viewed by the Noongar girls. This is really the first time that I facilitated a group with such diverse cultural backgrounds, and as I thought about different behaviors acceptable in a group, it occurred to me that touching strangers might not be culturally acceptable, and that it was better to be safe than sorry.

We had a presentation from Lynley and Jaime on the history of the program, and then broke for lunch. A few of us walked into town to get lunch at the restaurant (Borden is very hopping with a general store and a restaurant and that’s about it). After lunch, though, we had a chance to actually make brooches and badges (pins) in a really fun, hands-on, creative workshop. Some of the pieces the girls made were absolutely beautiful, combining buttons, emu feathers, quandong nuts and other parts of Australian nature. I made a bracelet that I really love from a piece of leather and a sunset scene that was painted on a piece of cotton. It’s very campy, but the radiant pink sky reminds me of both Australia and sunsets over Ontario.

When we got back, eight of us went to the Blue House Diner for dinner. Shev and I split a delicious pizza that had a great mix of chicken, sweet and sour sauce, pineapple, onion and peppers on it. Mmmm.

Peace,
Jill

Sacred Sites and Sandcastles

Today was interesting, but really a mixed bag of events. Things started off kind of slow as we set off to spend the day touring important Noongar sites in Gnowangerup with Ezzard, Uncle James, Uncle Owen and Darrell. It was definitely important that we see these sites and listen to the stories, but standing in a field looking at more field, the past seemed rather remote. While at a tiny triangle of land adorned with a small pavilion and two picnic tables, for example, we were told about how the surrounding land had been camp grounds for several generations, the birthplace of many children and the site of injustice as a policy of reservations was employed and the location of many corroborees.

The challenge of the first few sites we visited was that there was such a disconnect between our experiences on the land. We saw field or bush or a pit where dead sheep from the agricultural school were dumped, whereas the elders related the sites to Noongar history. And yet, our visit to these sites was important as it gave the elders a chance to rehearse and reclaim their history. So much of Noongar history and tradition is decentralized, that even efforts to map sacred sites have been delayed. Most of the places we visited today were unmapped and unrecorded, except in the minds of those who experienced the history. We served as an important step in sharing and reviving that history.

After lunch, though, we went on a bushwalk to the ochre pits, which is probably the most memorable place we have been in Australia so far. At the end of this trail, the path sloped down to the beach of a salt lake (once a freshwater lake, but salinization has really impacted the countryside here). Not only was the view incredible, but the beach itself was this incredible mixture of red, yellow and white ochre rocks. The stones were traditionally gathered by Noongars for paintings and body paintings before corroborees, even at the heavy cost of traveling many miles to reach the pits. The patterns on the beach were vividly inscribed in stone; it looked as though paint had been splashed across the shore. As we visited this site, it was very evident to all of us that this was indeed a very sacred site. The history was visible and apparent to all, while the beauty of the scenery was overwhelming.

We had a long car ride back to Katanning and a few of us did some laundry and window shopped for a few hours before we headed to dinner at the Noongar Center, sponsored by the Shire council. It was a small gathering with the staff from Mungart Boodja, but still very nice. I made friends right away with the son of Kim, one of Mungart’s staff members. Though we’ve met Taadjiduk, who is nearly five, a few times before, he has earned the nickname of “the sour patch kid” from our group for the harsh faces that he makes to strangers. As soon as I arrived though, I started playing with Taadj and after a little while he warmed up and was spent the rest of the night talking and playing with me. We made sandcastles and volcanoes in the sand pit outside, and I taught him high fives and low fives and to “pound it” as an alternative to punching people. Though I did also talk to the adults at dinner, it was fun to just play with a little kid for a change.

Peace,

Jill

Planting Trees

We started today with a nice lay-in, as we didn’t have to meet Joe and the bus until 1145 a.m. Megan and I woke up pretty leisurely and then a few of us headed into town to get stamps at the post office. Good news: most of my postcards are in the mail and should arrive within a week (hopefully!).

Joe met us in the motel parking lot just before noon and we headed off for Gnowangerup. It is a bit of a hike from Katanning, but the countryside offers such a pleasant backdrop for traveling that I don’t mind the bus rides. Once there, we were met by a large contingency of elders, community members and conservation workers at the local swimming pool. While this may sound like a strange place to do conservation work, the pool was actually the second pool in the whole state and was fed by natural springs that have been flowing in Gnowangerup for hundreds of years. According to one of the community members, the springs produce 20 gallons of water every 4 seconds and have been doing so for years.

Western Australia was once covered in bushland, but as it was settled, trees were cleared away to make room for pastures and fields. After more than a hundred years of this, though, this clearing has taken its toll on the land as the lack of trees has led to salinization of the earth. Therefore, in the past few decades efforts have turned from deforestation to reforestation. We contributed to this effort by planting trees on one plot of land at the swimming pool site, helping to reforest and care for a sacred Noongar and important community site.

After we planted trees, we had a delicious lunch that of course included sausages, but had a wider spread, as well, including fruits and veggies. Having been so overwhelmed with lunches of salty meat and mayonnaise-y salads, our plates were heaped with green salads and fresh fruit.

Our day was pretty relaxed, though, so after only a few hours of work and lunch, we returned to Katanning and were able to explore the town a little bit. Danielle, Leighann and I found a really cool store that had a hodge-podge of cultural artifacts from around the world. As I was speaking with the owner, he said “Katanning has such a mix of cultures, so I wanted me store to have a little of everything too!” Overall, very interesting to explore.

We ate dinner again at our motel’s restaurant, and fortunately the meal was a lot better than last time! Ellen’s husband also arranged for us to have a cake to celebrate her birthday, which was a great surprise for her! Overall, it was a more relaxed, but still very nice day.

Visiting Schools: Katanning High School and Carrolup Mission

Today was rather interesting, as we spent the morning at Katanning High School and the afternoon at Carrolup (now called Marribank). These were really the two ends of my trip – visiting the school where the art was created that ultimately links us to here, and also visiting a present day school so I could observe an example of the Australian educational system and ask the scores of questions I’ve accumulated in the past week and a half.

When we arrived at the high school everyone seemed rather surprised to see us, which was surprising to us as we didn’t really know what we were supposed to be doing there, other than that the school had requested for us to visit. Hillary, the deputy (vice) principal finally came out and explained that a number of students are in exams today, but that we could observe in the physical education classes and that they were playing basketball today (two of the girls on our trip were on the women’s basketball team at Colgate). I’m not going to lie, I was a little disappointed, as this was such a great professional development activity, and to miss out on a content class seemed like such a waste. After we asked Hillary a number of questions about the school itself, though, I explained that I just finished my teacher training and asked if I could sit in on a social studies class (that was the exam, so no) or an English class. So after some arranging, Chris and I were able to sit in on an English class on Current Events. The teacher, Allison, explained to us that this was a lower level class and that her focus was on getting students to ask questions. They had been studying issues surrounding pensioners and consumer schemes, so she encouraged us to share current issues in the US and bits about our background. So while we didn’t end up observing an actual class, Chris and I were able to speak with some students and learn a lot about Australian education.

We left the school around 11 and went to Carrolup. We picked up Uncle Angus on the way and he entertained us on the bus with his harmonica. At Carrolup he took us around some of the old buildings, sharing some of his experiences when he was at the mission, and also stumping that Noongars in the area should move back to the Marribank complex and turn it into a self-sufficient farm.

After our Uncle Angus tour, we were invited to a barbeque hosted by the Southern Aboriginal Corporation (SAC) and Les. We had mores sausages, some salads, and fresh damper. I joined Margaret at a table and met her friend June, Val who made the damper, and Sheryl who lives in Queensland but has recently traveled cross-country to be reunited with her father. Sheryl very openly shared her story with us: how she was taken in the 1970s, how she was separated from her seven brothers and sisters, and how this year everyone was going to reunite with her father, but some of her siblings started coming over sooner so she drove across the country with her husband and will stay here for a while. Val and Sheryl also explained the process of making damper to us: you make the dough, knead it with flour and then place it in the ashes and cover it completely. When it starts to pull away from the ash on the side, flip it over. I want to try to make damper at camp this summer…it might be interesting, but I’ll have to experiment with the dough mixture.

Once everyone ate, Les called us over for what we thought was a welcome to country, but actually turned out to be a gift presentation. He made us beautiful jamwood sticks used to keep the beat in dances and with the didgeridoo. We were then able to decorate them with heated wire in the campfire. It turns out that I was very uncoordinated with the hotwire, but I think I can go back over my design with a woodburner when I get home. It is still a very cool gift, although most of us think that Les is a politician angling for an agenda: to have the paintings given back. Still, he gave us a beautiful gift that I know we will all treasure.

As everyone was finishing their woodburning, Margaret pulled me aside and presented me with a large wooden snake that had been her late husband’s. She had told me at dinner that she wanted me to have it after she found out I was going to be a teacher ( he had been a teacher). “This way,” she told me, “you’ll have something that you can tell your students came from Australia.” Even more than this, I can share the snake (which doesn’t look exactly like a snake and thus I am ok with) with my students as a tangible example of the importance of building personal relationships.

After lunch, Frank took us on a tour of the rest of Carrolup, showing us some places like the old hospital and the girls’ dormitory. A man named Gary also joined us; both had been at Carrolup in the late 1950s after it was renamed Marribank, but both had incredibly personal stories to share. Frank talked about standing with his mother and watching her cry, while Gary explained that he had been taken here when he was one and spent thirteen years at the mission. As Frank indicated graveyards around the complex, I thought about what it would be like to grow up in a place that seems so much like a rundown summer camp, but is actually more like a prison complex.

I continued to think about this as Uncle Allen Kelly spoke to us with the backdrop of the schoolhouse. While he had shared his story at dinner, telling about being taken from school, told by his teacher to go outside and being greeted by a man and a woman in a black car, being taken by train to Carrolup, facing abuse while there (he showed the scars on his legs), but on the other hand, learning to create art using just a bit of charcoal and a piece of cardboard. While parts of the visit to Carrolup had been rather unemotional, much to my surprise, Uncle Allen’s account brought me to tears and made the pain real. This really connected the final dot in the story, to see the buildings and here the stories of several generations of stolen children. And yet, the visit was mixed with great joy as we celebrated great friendships with people like Margaret and such a gracious gift from Les.

Peace,
Jill

Barbie in the Bush

Day two of the art workshop today. Lance showed some more examples today, this time using a number of different colors that warmed into the foreground. His work is truly beautiful; no wonder he is such an important Noongar artist!

With renewed vigor, I approached my painting. Some splotches of acrylic paint had accidentally ended up on one of my lakescapes yesterday, and Troy had suggested I go back in and turn the yellow and red into a fire. That didn’t seem to fit with my scene, though, and as I thought more about it, it actually seemed that the colors were perfect – they are exactly the colors of the kayaks at camp which are such an essential part of that lake scene. So the first thing I did was add a row of kayaks on the lake. Though Noongar art focuses more on land than people, my painting still shows people interacting with nature and I’m quite proud of it.

I then took on a new painting and with the addition of color I was finally able to paint hills. They weren’t quite Australian hills and my bold use of colors made me the rebel child in the art workshop, but I really love the scene. It reminds me of Colgate in the fall. As I was working on my sky, Uncle Allen came over and gave me some instruction on color – to make it as light as possible where the sky meets the hills. My colors were still bolder than I think he had hoped, but it was still great advice. As we drove through the countryside later, I looked over the hills and noticed that he was right: the sky is lightest where it meets the hills.

After the morning workshop, we left for a lunch in Broomehill on the farm of Annabelle and Jim, the owners of the restaurant from the night before. Joe, our bus driver, drove us over these beautifully winding hard-packed red dirt roads to the farm, although once we were at the farm we still had to drive along side sheep pastures for a number of miles. When we finally arrived at the farmhouse, no one else was around, so Leighann and I wandered off to go find the sheep while Joe and Ellen (Professor Kraly) tried to figure out where we were supposed to meet everyone. Leighann and I approached the sheep as quietly as we could, but when we were still 20 yards off, one sheep noticed and alerted his friends. They stared us down as we kept walking closer, until finally one gave the signal to run and the whole flock took off in a light stampede. We never got closer than 20 feet from the sheep, but even as the whole flock ran (we called our efforts “herding”) they made such little sound it was like the trickle of a brook.

Jim came to get our group after a while and took us up to Rock Hill, an outcrop off the main road of the farm. The bus had to off-road for a bit through fields and a small wooded area, but when we arrived at the site, the view was truly worth it. A sacred site for local Noongars, Annabelle had also been picnicking there since she was young. It was awesome for everyone to come together, though, for another delicious meal in such a beautiful place.

We spent a few hours on the farm, and then set off for Kojonup, which is another small town a few miles away. There is a fabulous visitor’s center there, though, that does a really good job at interpreting local Aboriginal and agricultural life for white folks (called “wadjella” in Noongar) and out-of-towners. The exhibits were very family friendly and accessible, but we had the further benefit of a tour guide. Though Jack’s jokes were somewhat off-color, he had great perspective on life in the town over the years, especially as a Noongar man (and featherweight boxing champion!).

The bus ride back to Katanning was rather sleepy, but our group dined at the motel restaurant (I tried a Toohey’s Extra Dry…pretty good and the closest to a Blue Light I think you’ll get here) and then a few of us went to the art center to check email and look at the art for sale. While I will have to be an admirer and not a buyer, there were a number of absolutely beautiful pieces that I would hang in my house in a heartbeat! Looking through the price lists, it was also very cool to see a number of names listed of men and women who I have gotten to know over the past few days.

Peace,

Jill

Spoiler Alert: I pet a kangaroo!

Today was a bit more relaxed than the rest of our trip has been. We had a nice lay-in today (sleeping in) and went to the Mungar Boodjt Arts Center, which is just a few blocks away, around 1045. There we were met by Patricia House, the director of the Arts Center, as well as a number of members of the Noongar community, many of whom we met last night. Patricia had arranged for a workshop at the center to coincide with our visit, so we went upstairs to a bright workroom and were greeted by Lance Chad, a prominent Noongar artist, and Uncle Allen Kelly, the last of the Carrolup child artists still living today.

Lance showed us a technique he has developed to paint landscapes using a monochromatic watercolor wash and Japanese calligraphy brushes. With just a few flicks of the wrist, he deftly created a beautiful landscape that showed light glimmering on water and the hills of Western Australia. After the background dried, Lance then painted in various trees and kangaroos to complete the scene.

We had a chance to then practice the painting technique on our own, using small pads of paper to practice before graduating to large pieces of watercolor paper. While Margaret and Glenda, the two Noongar women at my table, deftly created beautiful scenes after just a little practice and other Colgate students also began painting beautiful blackboy trees, I carefully practiced my wash technique. While I really admire the landscape here, I felt very restricted in my ability to paint something I don’t know. Feeling slightly discouraged, I took lunch.

When I went back upstairs after lunch, though, I committed to starting a large piece. Lance had created the wash technique to show land with glimpses of water, but I adapted it to paint a view of Lake Ontario, an all water view. That lakescape which I have grown up watching every summer means as much to me as the landscapes mean to the Noongar people. With that idea, I was able to paint three different views of the lake and was proud of my work.

After the workshop we climbed on the bus and Joe took us on a small expedition to his friend’s farm so we could see kangaroos! With the leftover bread from lunch, we were able to feed these animals which have been reared on a farm as pets. There was a huge fenced in pen of more than twenty roos; Joe said that when men go hunting, if they come back with a baby, they will bring it to the farm. A number of the kangaroos were very friendly and came right up to us (or the bread!), although there were a number that were a lot more skittish and held back. The first kangaroo that I fed was carrying a baby which you could tell because of her low-hanging belly. We had a lot of great pictures taken of us with the kangaroos, but honestly it was very cool just to see these beautiful animals move around. They are even more adorable up close than in any picture!

We came back to the motel for a while before dinner and Megan, Danielle, Leighann and I started watching Clue. While Megan and Danielle had never seen it before, Leighann and I quickly got them hooked on the movie. We had to leave it half way through, though for dinner.

Getting back on the bus, we drove about ten minutes to the neighboring town of Broomehill. We arrived at a lovely restaurant, newly renovated after years of neglect. The building had originally been the general store, and has been beautifully restored and converted to a very nice restaurant. We feasted on pumpkin soup and chicken, snapper or lamb in undoubtedly the best meal we’ve had since we have been in Australia. Absolutely delicious!

Dinner was especially cool, though, as our group split up and mixed with members of the community. I sat with Frank who will be showing us around Carrolup on Tuesday, Carolyn whose mother was Bella Kelly, Margaret who was as the workshop with me, and Uncle Eddie, an elder from Broomehill, as well as Elise. We had some incredible conversations throughout the night with a lot of good laughs, but even more importantly, a lot of sharing of stories. Frank told me about everything from kangaroo hunting to why he works at Carrolup even though it holds such painful memories, and Carolyn told Elise her own personal story about being a member of the Stolen Generation. She was cautious in telling the story, afraid of seeming weak, but Elise stressed the importance of sharing her story as a sign of strength. It was just such a great learning experience for all of us!

I was very tired after dinner, but very grateful for everyone at my dinner table. I had felt a bit homesick in the morning as I struggled with painting an unfamiliar landscape, but dinner reaffirmed why I am here: to engage in really meaningful learning and cultural sharing with people who have experienced so much oppression in life. This is a really important trip for me, so that I can both bring stories back with me, but also so that I can share those stories as a witness to damages caused by Australian government policy which treated Aboriginals as simply “flora and fauna” until 1967. Still, despite small progresses including the Prime Minister’s apology for the Stolen Generations on February 13, the Aboriginal community is still plagued by health, housing and cultural issues. I have decided that I want to write an op-ed to submit to the NYTimes and other papers for June 13, the four-month anniversary of Prime Minister Rudd’s apology.

Peace,
Jill