reflecting on past present and future deeds
….fishing camp at Garranali, home of Baru – the ancestral Crocodile.
The mutilated remains of a saltwater crocodile were found at the site.
“The Balanda (European) response to such a discovery might well have been violent.
With inherent restraint, the Yolnu reaction was generous.
They would use their sacred art to explain to outsiders the meaning
and the lore that underpinned their society:
they would paint their sacred stories to share with the outside world,
so it could understand the magnitude of such destruction.”
Words under the Yirrkala Bark Painting of sea country, 1999
one of the informative displays in the Indigenous section of the Australian National Maritime Museum, Sydney
reflecting on past present and future deeds
….fishing camp at Garranali, home of Baru – the ancestral Crocodile.
The mutilated remains of a saltwater crocodile were found at the site.
“The Balanda (European) response to such a discovery might well have been violent.
With inherent restraint, the Yolnu reaction was generous.
They would use their sacred art to explain to outsiders the meaning
and the lore that underpinned their society:
they would paint their sacred stories to share with the outside world,
so it could understand the magnitude of such destruction.”
Words under the Yirrkala Bark Painting of sea country, 1999
one of the informative displays in the Indigenous section of the Australian National Maritime Museum, Sydney