Ancient Artwork and Law for Kids

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We were up early today so we could get to the Nourlangie Rock Art site for the Ranger talks that were to start at 9.20am up at the Gun-warddewardde Lookout. We got there just in time and sat in whatever shade we could find while our Ranger Guide, Christian, told us about Aboriginal Views of Country and Culture.



Christian was very enthusiastic about his subject and made sure that he used the Aboriginal terms for everything he spoke about. He has been fascinated by the culture since he saw the white ship rock artwork as a boy. He spent 14 years in the desert country at Uluru learning the language and being taught the culture by an elder that accepted him into the family. He said that he even dreamt in language but that he only knew as much about the culture as a three year old. Since moving to Kakadu, where there are three languages still in use, he doesn’t dream in them and has found the culture even more difficult to get his head around so he is at the one year old stage.



He explained that everything about the land and country is embedded into the culture and language and can’t be separated. The country has produced the culture and the language. This is passed on from generation to generation with all the stories being told at different levels of complexity: easy for little kids and white man; more complex for older and initiated kids; and so on through the elders and up to the most complex which belong to the Song Man or Woman and the Dance Man or Woman, who have undergone a series of initiations. In each generation, the most complex songs and dances are taught only to the most gifted student, who then becomes the keeper of that knowledge. This has created an unbroken line of culture that stretches back more than 20,000 years.



After the first talk, we followed Christian down to the second at Anbangbang Gallery of rock art. Here he continued with “Law, Land and Family”. He repeated that language is everything, embedded in all aspects of life “On Country”. It showed people when and where to do things, including the six seasons of the year which explained the foods that could be found or caught, the preparation needed, the ways to ensure there would be more for the future and that everyone was provided for.

He gave a couple of examples: when the yellow Kapok flowers are blooming it means that turtles and crocodiles are fat and good to eat and may even have eggs inside as a bonus; when the Kapok seed pods are there the eggs have been laid and can be dug up for food; when the Red Woollybutt Trees are flowering it is time to patchwork burn country. Burning is a sacred duty to preserve the country for the future. The fires are cool, grass fires at this time and help to reduce the fuel and likelihood of out of control bushfire later. They also encourage new vigorous growth in the plants, which in turn provides fresh tender shoots for animals. They burn everywhere every three to five years in patches, carefully managed, so there is always an escape route for the animals. The National Park work with the local clans to do the same as it has been found that the land is much healthier when it is done. We saw a lot of smoke around the park and have passed a few slow burning fires. Christian said the Rangers burn along the main roads every year to protect the tourists and towns but otherwise they follow the law way.



If the fires are not done by law way Namarrgan, Lightning Man, will cause bad fires and rip through the country when he comes looking for his children, the Leichhardt or Splendid Grasshopper, later in the year. He is depicted in the artwork with a circle of lightning around him and with axes on his head, elbows and knees so he can tear through the land.

Fire is carried by taking the husks off Banksia seed pods and stripping them down to the soft core which will smoulder when burnt. This can be then wrapped in paper bark to make a torch or carried in a hollowed out Pandanas stem so the fires can be set as they walk along. Nowadays they also use fire bombs from planes or walk the line with paraffin torches.



Another part of Law which is very complicated is the Family System. Family relationships are not like ours at all and are based on a system of eight groups. Each person belongs to one of the groups with the mother’s group determining which the children belong to (NOT the same one as the mother). This also dictates who you can or can’t marry and even talk with and who is responsible for whom within the clan. Your sister in your group is to be avoided and is taboo (once initiated, it doesn’t apply to young kids). The same relationships are accepted even for complete strangers from another clan so that you could have a woman from the group your mother belongs to, that you have never met but would now be your mother, too, and could make requests of you to provide for her. Or who comes from your group and is therefore your sister and is to be avoided, thus reducing any chance of in-breeding.



These same complex relationships determine who is responsible for teaching what to whom as well. However, there are also other factors that can alter the relationships in particular circumstances. Anthropologists have discovered that this system of family is the most complex in the world and as much of the Law connected to it is only for the initiated, they will never understand it properly.



It explained for me how someone like the boxer Lionel Rose, could make millions but die penniless. The Law ensures that no-one has a lot of possessions while others go without so any Aboriginal who abides by the Law and Country will never be rich. This all makes it very difficult, if not impossible, for them to assimilate into our culture without abandoning their own.



The final talk, “Jigsaw in Time”, was given at a very old rock shelter which was very deep with lots of shade and caught the strong breeze really well. It was very comfortable sitting there even though it was about 34⁰ outside. The shelter had been the site of archaeological digs and had found artefacts going back 20,000 years or more. It was one of the easiest digs they’d ever done, though, as they didn’t have to go looking through books to find out what tooth or bone they’d found or what a piece of stone was used for. An elder from the local clan sat with them and was able to say immediately what the item was, even things at the bottom of the dig and very old.



Over such a long time the climate and landscape had changed dramatically and this had affected the way the clans lived and the laws they lived by. When the land was desert, they had to spend 90% of their time looking for food. When it changed to a moderate climate they had some time to devote to ceremony, too (about 30%) and when it became estuarine and the fresh water came to the land they only needed to spend 50% of the time looking for and hunting food so the rest of the time was devoted to ceremony and Law. These became more and more complex and insular – full of taboos and ritual, which stopped any further progress to industrial, as in other parts of the world.



With minds bursting with so much information, we thanked Christian and drove back to the van, hitched up and went to Jabiru, where we booked into the Kakadu Lodge and Caravan Park. It had lovely shaded grassy sites and we found one that would shade us during most of the afternoon and was near toilet block (not hard as there are six in the park!). There is also a pool right in the centre of the park.



After setting up, we went straight into Jabiru and got the tyre fixed. The repair shop was attached to the only petrol station in town, a BP. They plugged the hole, which cost $45, so now we have a spare tyre again.



Once the ute was done we went into the famous (and only) bakery and had a curry pie each and bought a pecan tart for desert later. Back at the van Barry swapped the repaired tyre back onto the ute and replaced the spare underneath. We will need four new tyres by the time we get to Darwin as we haven’t changed them since we bought the ute and we want good ones before we go across to the west.



While Barry was doing that I went for a swim in the pool, rather cool at first but very nice. Then I cooked dinner and we went to sit beside the pool for a slideshow that was being given by one of the Rangers. Turned out to be Christian again. He was supposed to be talking about what Rangers do in the park but had some technical difficulties so he have us a very interesting talk about the Rock Art and the different types that have been done throughout the eras. He also explained how they make the pigment using rocks (black charcoal or haematite, white clay, red and yellow ochre etc) and a setting agent such as blood (nowadays they use PVC glue) and the brushes from the stems of certain plants (like papyrus).



He explained how the art could be dated to an era by what was in it. For example, if there were boomerangs the area was still dry and had open plains. Some art even showed Mega Fauna. If there were spears and throwing sticks for them, it was more woodland. One figure had a goosewing fan so this was from the Freshwater Period, less than 2,000 years old. There were also paintings of white sailing ships and weapons which were from the Contact Period, when white man first came around 300 years ago.



Some of the best pieces seem to be in Ubirr so I hope we can go and see them.

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Photos

Aboriginal Art and Stories also tell the Law
The small white figure on the right is Namarrgon, Lightning Man. He is one of the spiritual ancestors and came from the north coast, with his wife and children, looking for a good place to settle. He now lives at Lightning Dreaming, nearby. The lightning is his children but they also have the form of a bright orange and blue grasshopper (the Splendid or Leichhardt Grasshopper) that comes into the country looking for him. He also looks for them and if he doesn't find them he rages with storms until he does. The Circle around him is his lightning and he has axes on his head, elbows and knees which cause the thunder. Seeing the grasshoppers signals to Aboriginal people that it is time to find shelter. The large figure on the left is Namarndjolg who broke the incest laws on the rock ledge above the gallery and who later became Ginga, the great saltwater crocodile.

AnBangBang Shelter
Aboriginal people have used this shelter for at least 20,000 years. Archaeological digs have found lots of well preserved artefacts including stone tools, bone, bark string and plant remains (this is unusual in a hot wet climate). The local clan have been able to tell them exactly what the items are and how they are used as it is still part of their Law.

The Type of Artefacts Found in the Shelter
They include rocks used for painting the art, grinding stones, spear heads, animal bones, the cores of the Banksia (used for carrying smouldering fire and as a wound dressing after initiation) and dyed woven bags made from pandanas leaf fibres.

Jim Jim Creek
This creek flows along the edge of the Mardugal Camp Ground. It has a boat ramp here for fishermen. The creek eventually joins the South Alligator River.

A Rifle Painting
This is also a Contact Artwork and less then 300 years old.

A Contact Painting
This is believed to be a lace glove as worn by European ladies which makes this painting less than 300 years old.

A Simplified Diagram of Aboriginal Family Relationships
Aboriginal relationships are extremely complex and are designed to ensure that there is no intermarrying of close relatives and that all people are responsible for providing for and teaching specific members of their own and any other clan they interact with. A person is born into one of the eight groups in the diagram, based on their mother's group (e.g. a mother from the top group gives birth to children who will be in the 4th group, a woman from the 4th has children who will be in the 2nd group, etc.) The Law regarding taboos and responsibilities applies to anyone in each group, regardless of actual kinship. Any woman from the same group as your real mother is also your mother, etc.