Highs And Lows

November 2, 2001-Aborigine History

(photos:Kuranda Railway,
Toby with aborignes,
Toby throwing spear)

We found a great Internet place last night. There was a rainbow flag in the window, so we went in. It was gay owned & had really high-speed machines & A/C. It was a pleasure. We mentioned that we’d noticed the flag & were happy to patronize them even though they cost more.

We started out at the more civilized hour of 8:45 AM when a bus picked us up for a trip to Tjapukai, the Aboriginal Cultural Center. Tjapukai is the name of the tribe who lived in this part of the country. The facility is only five years old & is comprised of two indoor theaters, one amphitheater, & three shelters for demonstrations. There’s an area where you can try your hand at throwing a spear or boomerang, a snack bar, & a large indoor restaurant. Of course, there’s the over-priced gift shop. The indoor areas have A/C & most of the outdoor walkways are covered. This is all set at the foot of the mountains & around 2 small lakes.

The experience turned out to be somewhat emotional for me. We started out by watching a movie about the 40,000-year-old history of the indigenous people in Australia. Every seat had a set of headphones that let you choose the language for the narration. The movie was a compilation of live footage shot at the time it happened & showed the rape, murder, & pillage of the aborigines as well as tribes all around the world. It showed how the land they relied on for their life was appropriated. It was a familiar story & the words “Native American” could have been substituted. I don’t know if it was the origin of the word, snipes, but Australians used to call the Aborigines by many names. One of these was “snipes.” Yes, they went on snipe hunts. One fact I didn’t know was that missionaries stole adults & children from their tribes & enslaved them to build their churches, schools, & homes. In 1965, a dam was to be built by slaves where the missionary town was. Then the slaves were released into society with no support system. They became derelicts, alcoholics, & addicts. They still struggle to find a place in society today. The dam has never been built.

I don’t know how it came about that many indigenous peoples around the world don’t have a concept of ownership. Where did the idea come from? It was certainly there before the Judeo-Christian world developed. It’s common to most continents. It’s interesting these two economic systems evolved & are so at odds with each other. There’s no way they can co-exist.

Aborigine Lore

The next show was their story of creation. They believe in one creator & that life started from the egg of the cassowary bird. In the beginning there was one man. A baby boy sprung from the calf of his leg & he needed someone to feed it. A woman was sent down to feed the baby. After the boy grew into a man, he didn’t need to be fed by the woman, but he was lonely. The woman came back to earth & married the boy. I guess, technically, she wasn’t his mother, so it was kosher. The woman & boy had two sons who were polar opposites of each other. The brothers fought & one killed the other. How familiar is this? The show was presented with live actors & great special effects.

There were talks on natural foods, cooking, medicine, & a demonstration of didgeridoo music. My favorite medical remedy is for diarrhea. Grind up the mud from a termite nest & mix it with water. It’s full of magnesium & a lot cheaper than Phillips. One piece of advice from the didgeridoo player was that if you don’t want to buy one, you can get the same sound blowing on a piece of PVC or a vacuum cleaner hose. The didgeridoo may be the oldest instrument in the world, but to me it sounds like a cross between the vibration of an electrical hum & passing gas.
The dance exhibition was great fun. It ended on a humorous note. After performing old dances & singing in their native tongue, the dancers hauled microphones onto the stage. They then talked up their CD & sang one of the songs, “I Am Proud To Be An Aborigine.”

I have said this before, but I felt it again. I was happy that none of my own ancestors were ever a part of destroying Native Americans or owning slaves. I will add to that a sense of relief that none were in Australia hunting aborigines. I don’t know if they would have participated had they been in those lands at those times. But then, they were too busy being hunted, corralled, & killed where they were.

Going to Great Heights

The rest of the day was a bit more uplifting…literally. We took an hour sky ride up to the town of Kuranda. We passed over the top of the rainforest & gained a different perspective than the previous day. We were able to get off twice to walk on a treetop high path & see a waterfall. While looking out over the falls, I saw a streak of iridescent blue flash by. It was a Ulysses butterfly, a startling & lovely sight. They offered guided walks with a ranger, but we passed on that. After yesterday, we felt we could conduct them ourselves. I did realize one thing looking at all that green. I need autumn.

Kuranda is a town that closes at 3:00 PM when all the tourists leave. It’s one store after another. We took a pass on the butterfly farm ($A 12) & the bird exhibit ($A 11). There was nothing to do but browse until our train was due to leave. We did a good job. We managed to find a number of items we’d been looking for. We also found some things we wished we hadn’t seen. One stall had stuffed animals & purses made from kangaroo skin. They’re legal to hunt here. What really got to me were the kangaroo paw back scratchers. I can’t tell you what we did buy because most of them are Chanukah gifts for a special young lady in Akron. We did find a Purim hat for David to wear. It will start a whole new tradition here. He’ll be decked out in a cloth hat that looks as if his head is about to be swallowed by a crocodile.

There was a funny sign outside of a restaurant. It said, “We serve burgers the way they were before McDonalds stuffed them up.” We took a photo of it. Another sign said, “Don’t Panic. You are only 7 minutes from the train.” If you miss that last train back, you have to spend the night at the Kuranda Hotel.

We took the 1 hour 45 minute scenic train ride down to town. Again it was beautiful scenery. The trip seemed shorter because we were sitting next to people who had just arrived from Tampa, Fla. On the way down we passed a sign that warned, “Danger Smoking! No Naked Lights.” What’s a clothed light?

Toby