PASSAGE: AN AUTUMN STORY
Bringing ancestors, their stories, their beliefs and their rituals back to the present.
The final performance in the series Centre of the Storm presented at PCL Exhibitionists Gallery on 11 April 2000 on the country of the Gadigal peoples of the Eora nation. Exhibiting artists: Irene Kindness, Maritsa Micos and Lyndal Campbell.
Text
Once I had a dream
a
dream of Nirvana
of
Eden before the Fall
of
a time when...
And
I believed as I believed others believed
that
if I searched I would find the truth
of
this perfect beginning of all things
culmination
of all things
fulfilment
of all things
But the truth that was revealed did not match the dream
and
nomatter how close I came to the dream
it
remained just
out
of reach
out
of touch
with
the reality of the truth revealed.
So
we have made a pact the dream and I
She
had shed her half bloomed petals
revealing
her centre
her
heart
her
potential
her
seed.
And
I have taken this seed and hidden her
in
the deepest recesses of my womb.
For
we have made a pact the dream and I
and
we will love, nurture and protect each other
until
the time is right
and
then,
and
only then
will
she risk to birth again.
AUTUMN
A time of assessment,
of visiting ancestors
and ghosts of the past,
of gathering in,
sorting,
letting go,
and a time of preparing for long nights ahead
© A. Maie, 2000
ADDENDUM. The closest I can find to Autumn traditions of the Gadigal peoples is in A History of Aboriginal Illawarra Volume 1 Before Colonisation by Mike Donaldson, Les Bursill and Mary Jacobs. This book focuses on the Dharawal peoples whose country is south of Gadigal country.
"Dharawal clans migrated to the rivers, lakes and estuaries in the following season, around March and April, when the coastal myall (Acacia binervia) flowered, for fish were running in the rivers and four species of freshwater eels were heading in massive numbers for the sea en route to New Caledonia. Prawns were abundant in the shallows of tidal rivers and lakes. The dwarf apple (Angophora hispida) flowered when honey production was at its peak and the small beetle in its bark was handy for medicinal purposes.
Around April
and May, the lilly pilly (Syzygium luehmannii), still a favourite for
making jams, jellies and toffee, ripens. When the trees dropped their fruit,
the mating calls of the quolls rang out through the forests, and the
constellations were in position in the night sky, it was time to head for the
coast. Along the way, a fire specialist, Dharamuoy in Dharawal language,
carried out his responsibility to survey the fire-readiness of the bush and
grasslands to determine when, where and how large burn-offs should be
undertaken and how to preserve animal shelter and food plants from fire by back
burning. A substantial flowering of the Sydney green wattle (Acacaia decurrens)
indicated that controlled burns were needed to safeguard country from
wildfires.”
It was always a privilege & a pleasure to be part of these performances, Annette. Interesting synchronicity: on that night I read an account of a descent into madness; also a theme in the piece I posted on the same day you posted this.
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