Today’s dispatch is Sheep. Originally dispatched on 24 October 2015
He pai ra oku hoa,
Today’s theme is ‘sheep’, but don’t worry, am not about to bore you with a salvo of recycled Aotearoa sheep jokes.
I will however mention that when Warren Mundine was asked what he thought of Gary Foley having called him “the white sheep of the family”, Warren laughed and thought it was funny.
Rainbow… Black sheep of the family…
…”you got to play by the rules or pay the penalty…”
What family? ‘Family Australia’?
Whose rules?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gA_U-Eaato
Once again I recycle one of my all time favourite quotations:
“Cultural survival is not about preservation, sequestering indigenous peoples in enclaves like some sort of zoological specimens. Change itself does not destroy a culture. All societies are constantly evolving. Indeed a culture survives when it has enough confidence in its past and enough say in its future to maintain its spirit and essence through all the changes it will inevitably undergo. ”
This by Wade Davis, author of that seminal tome: The Wayfinders: Why Ancient Wisdom Matters in the Modern World
The Yuendumu Magpies made it to the grand final in Alice Springs.
Months earlier invitations went out for the re-opening of Yuendumu’s Men’s Museum.
Some years ago Yuendumu’s Warlpiri Media Association (now trading as PAW-Media) http://www.pawmedia.com.au/ produced the widely acclaimed video series ‘Bush Mechanics’
When it was shown on national television many comments were made about the cleverness of the protagonists. Some commentators took it all too serious and failed to fully appreciate the exhilarating sense of humour and delicious sense of irony that is a hallmark of Warlpiri society. I hate to disappoint those that saw Bush Mechanics and swallowed that there ever was such as a functional clutch plate carved out of mulga wood. Call me cynical, but the “aren’t they clever” (surprise surprise!) comments bring to mind the kind of comments one hears at the zoo when seals perform clever tricks.
Not all that long ago the disempowerment, stigmatisation, stereotyping and marginalisation that tear at Warlpiri social fabric was temporarily eclipsed by the brief but spectacular AFL career of Yuendumu’s native son Liam Jurrah https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NF-_HszEC9s
Yuendumu received a much needed boost to its self esteem and the esteem it is held in by others.
Aussie Rules Football has been an integral part of Yuendumu’s cultural landscape for over half a century. It is social glue.
Thus when Yuendumu made it to the grand final, there was a mass exodus from Yuendumu. A month later under the headline ‘Community deserted as illegal camping spikes in Alice Springs’, the Centralian Advocate quoted Alice Springs Council’s Corporate Community Services director: “The biggest thing we believe was driving that spike, what we heard from police and rangers, is that virtually the whole of Yuendumu had decamped and were in Alice Springs due to payment of royalties”
Later in the article NT Police Commander Danny Bacon, mentions the finals match as being a significant factor. As for the ‘royalties’ furphy, these are usually not paid in cash and were not the main driving force behind the exodus nor in the implication (in the article) that some people chose to camp illegally as they couldn’t consume alcohol in regular accommodation.
The result of the grand final coinciding with the Men’s Museum opening was that the latter was attended by more non-Warlpiri spectators than Warlpiri people. The visitors (and locals) were regaled with traditional women’s dancing at the Warlukurlangu art centre http://warlu.com/ and after lunch proceeded to the museum (and in so doing walked past the $7.6M Yuendumu Police Complex which was officially opened yesterday).
Jakamarra had been much involved in the preparations for the Museum re-opening, and as the President of the Yuendumu Football Club, was torn as to where he wanted to be on that day. He opted for the museum and gave one of the opening speeches.
Two Jangalas had brought their karli (boomerangs) which they started to click on conclusion of the speeches in preparation to singing traditional Warlpiri songs. They were joined by Jakamarra and Japanangka. Just as a group of kardiya (whitefellows) might sit around a campfire with a guitar: “What shall we sing?” “Kumbaya?” “The lion sleeps tonight?” , so the foursome discussed “What shall we sing?” “What about Bah Bah Black sheep?” was Jakamarra’s suggestion… most people laughed but not all. A visitor was overheard whispering to her friend “Did you hear that? How disrespectful to those traditional song men!” Yes indeed, and if you burn out your clutch in the bush, you carve one out of mulga wood.
I’m very pleased to inform you all: The Yuendumu Magpies won!
The lost sheep (Adrian Munsey)…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqVKvRTmbj0
When Mary had a little lamb
The Doctors were surprised
When old MacDonald had a farm
They couldn’t believe their eyes
Kite ano koutou wawe tumanako ahau
Frank
PS- I haven’t had a chance to comment much on Australia’s leadership change. Suffice it to say that Nigel Scullion remains the Minister for Aboriginal affairs and Mal Brough has been elevated to the front benches. Aborigines remain the black sheep of the family.
I did however remember a quote that encapsulates my opinion:
“A new society cannot be created by reproducing the repugnant past, however refined or enticingly repackaged. NELSON MANDELA, Nobel lecture, 1993