ABPA - Australian Bush Poets Association

Wandjina are the spirits that Aboriginal people believe created our land. They created the earth and all living things and when they are painted their spirit is renewed. The people from the Mowanjum community - saltwater people from the Kimberley region of WA are teaching their young ones the stories and images that have been passed down over 100 generations - their belief in the Wandjina is just as strong today as it was from the time of creation.


The spirits of the Wandjina



The spirits of the Wandjina are calling them back home
back to the land that’s held them since their birth.
The land whose warmth embraces them, whose heart holds close their song
the place that gave them life from its red earth.

The whispers of the Wandjina are heard on every breeze
and in the eerie cry of warrigal.
The call of mopoke late at night when dark covers the deserts
will never fail your senses to enthral.

The spirits of the Wandjina are in each shrub and tree
and held within each grain of golden sand,
they rest at times in Uluru and out at Kakudu
and travel freely right across this land.

The watchers of the Wandjina up in the Kimberley
preserve the precious paintings, and they strive
to protect sacred places and their culture to this day,
helping keep Wandjina spirit alive.

The spirits of the Wandjina connects them to their land
the spirit of the Wandjina is strong;
and Elders teach the stories to the young ones of their tribes.
Saltwater people growing up knowing their skin and song.




Maureen Clifford © 05/12

It is great to see their stories/beliefs being kept alive. Unfortunately, there are all too many who are not really interested in them.

It is a shame that we don't all go back to listening to the sounds of nature, and connecting with the land - it is something that our forebears centuries ago all knew and believed in - no matter what continent they were from (well, most of them, anyway!!)
We seem to have drifted far from the simple things in life to a very materialist world, but the burgeoning spiritualist movement seems to be encouraging people to return to their connections with the land and the elements. Not a bad thing at all.

Catchya
IRene

It is great Irene - from what I have read this community in WA is doing a top notch job of that and also using their nouse and promoting the tourism side of it as well. More power to them in my book. They are teaching the legends along with culture and respect and also keeping a close eye on the old cave paintings as well which will hopefully stop them from being vandalised. No museums for this type of national treasure and time, wind and rain are all starting to erode them.

...sadly the only tie to the land most of them want now has to be worth something in a dollars!....don't even get me started on caring for the land in general!

Well the mighty dollar seems to drive most things these days and greed is rampant everywhere you look - so I guess they are as entitled to a rake off as the next bloke Ross from their own history, heritage and beliefs. At least they are trying to preserve something

Cheers

Maureen

....I said,"... don't get me started!"........