A Cultural Day

Allison

I decided on Wednesday evening that it was time to make the effort to see more sights of Alice, an air of ‘Yeah, I’ve seen it before’ has been slowly settling over me which has seen me swap my walking shoes for a book, a glass of wine or a nana nap.   So I gave myself a shake and said “Get out and do something different” and so I did. 

I had hoped to do a free walking tour of Alice Springs however that’s no longer available so I decided to attend the first ever ‘Journeying to the Dreamtime’ walking tour guided by an Indigenous lady – Allison.  Allison’s country is 60km north of Alice Springs which means that this is not her land which is very significant in Aboriginal communities. 

Allison explained the extent to which boundaries apply in their life – her people can only tell the stories of their country as there are natural boundaries that kept her people in that region and therefor their stories within those regions – they may have been hills, rivers or other natural land formations.  These boundaries were a means of making sure each tribe had their own food and water sources and one tribe didn’t take what another tribe needed. 

River Red Gum,
at the top of the mall

She also spoke about the boundaries between men and women and their stories.  She took us to the corner of Todd Mall, right next to the shopping centre to show us a tree of significance to the Aboriginal people of Alice Springs. (I’ve been down the mall countless times, stood under the tree to watch excavators work but hadn’t noticed the tree!!)  She could only say that it is a men’s story and that it is about two boys – because she is not male it is not her story to know or tell.  Similarly, she was able to say that the Dreamtime story of the West MacDonnell Ranges is about a caterpillar, but as she is not from this Country it is not her story to tell.

We then went into an art gallery (which sells great earrings – another new pair this year) where Allison explained how Aboriginal Art is based on telling the artist’s story – whether that is a story from the Dreamtime or a story from their own life. She also said that their markings are traditionally the marking that would be left by the object if it was imprinted in sand – the curved shape is the shape of a ‘rump’ mark in the sand, as she explained.  When I look at their art work now it makes a lot more sense.

We continued our wandering past the civic buildings where she pointed out the Coolamon shaped seats I had photographed last year. She also had us smelling and tasting lemon grass and she pointed out that most of the plants around were used in either medicine or for food.  She pointed out the natural supermarkets – River Red gum trees.  She explained how as a child she would scrape the white dots of the leaf at a particular season and her siblings would see who could make the biggest ball, it was then popped away as it was their ‘lolly’.  She also pointed out the Witchetty Grub Tree, an acacia.  She prefers her grubs cooked and she explained that a grub broken and rubbed on a wound is very good at healing.  (Maybe Will should try it on his finger – he thought he got all the alloy out of it after a bit of panel beating but as it is getting bigger and sorer every day I think maybe he missed some of it!)

As we wandered over to the other side of the Todd River she explained it flowed frequently when she was a child.  She also mentioned that there is a board walk being built on sacred ground so she had asked her grandson not to work on the site out of fear something bad would happen.  And so he isn’t working there – it made me wonder how accommodating employers would be in this regard. 

After Allison explained a little about the skin system, which is passed down from father’s and is another way of having boundaries, as you can’t marry someone of the same skin, she explained a little about the Dreamtime. She explained how there are three components to their law and life – 1. Human World, 2. Physical World, 3. Sacred World (which incorporates the Dreamtime).  It was a very informative hour and a half.

I then popped into the art gallery briefly where an exhibition titled ‘Unfinished Business’ really caught my attention.  I plan to go back for longer and to read each of the stories and look more carefully at the photos – I think my artistic sister should pop up for a visit too!!

Back to reality for a while – a bit of cleaning and mopping before some more culture.  Rikki and David had organised a group of us to go to the RSL for dinner and to attend the Navy Band performance in honour of Vietnam Veterans Day.  We danced the night away!! Will even joined me for a few dances.  When Graham, who really can dance, asked me for a dance I warned him I couldn’t!! He said he didn’t mind, but it wasn’t long before he suggested ‘Just listen to the beat, can you do that?’  When I informed him I couldn’t he gave up with a laugh and we just jiggled around a bit.  So after a late night and a full day at work, clocking up over 8kms again, it is time to crawl into bed to watch a DVD.



Not a local,
but one I didn't notice
last vist!



Sturt Desert Pea outside the
art gallery