THE THUNDER FIELDS OF MARALINGA

[Maureen K Clifford]

The Background:

The last piece of tribal land was finally returned to the Tjarutja people in December 2009....................over 50 years from the time the Government under Bob Menzies took it from them to do their Atomic testing. The land will never be fit for human habitation for 250 million years and is still littered with Plutonium particles despite a supposed clean up by the British Government in 1964. Servicemen who were affected by the fall out and Aboriginal people are still battling to receive any worthwhile compensation form the Governments who caused this disaster. The land is highly radio active.............and every time the wind blows, she shares her fetid breath with us all.............Maralinga, in the Pitjantyara Aboriginal language means "Field of Thunder."





THE THUNDER FIELDS OF MARALINGA

Maureen Clifford ©


Across the red sands of the desert where the silvery Spinifex grows,
winds are twisting, howling searching, all around they swirl and blow.
Little eddies curl and turn like Mamu* ‘neath the blazing sun
from the plains spring up dust devils fetid with Plutonium.
Removed from tribal lands were Tjuntjuntjare and Kokothar,
Reasons to them were not given; they were forced to travel far
from the waters of Ooldea*, from their tribal red dirt lands.
None took notice of their protests - their fate rests in white mans hands.

Wire appeared across the tracks and places where Anangu* went.
Words were written on tin signs but none knew what the words meant.
Warning signs saying there's "danger - do not enter" here no more.
Anangu could not read English, so who were those signs there for?
Then fierce wind, black smoke and lightning came. Their Gods angry display?
A roar rolled over 'Thunder Fields' causing all great dismay.
Then soon they saw thousands of rabbits, blinded by the light.
These rabbits stumbled, fell and died - a mystifying sight.

Sickness came, the children died, with strange blisters on their skin.
They suffered tiredness, aching joints, headaches and vomiting.
The Anangu did not know why. Had they their Gods upset?
Dead animals were everywhere, and death now dogged their step.
How could they know these simple folk? Their Dreamtime did not tell
of unleashed horror such as this, of acid rains that fell.
A poison that for years untold would blight and curse this land,
their dreaming paths forever cursed and caused by white man’s hand.

The Gods now took their great revenge, not just on native souls
but white men too withered and died, and still the lies were told.
The land poisoned forever, each grain of earth, each rock and tree
No more a place of dreaming, or of quiet tranquillity.
For evermore the poison stays, the winds capture the soil
and send it travelling in red clouds, far places to despoil.
Dust blows to cities and to towns, miles from these poisoned plains
and every drop of dust that falls, is deadly acid rain.

And never will this story end, though Tjarutja people have reclaimed
their lands, they cannot live there nor can they hunt the plains.
But tribal links are very strong - land holds their heart and Dreaming.
The souls of Ancestors are here, and they go on believing.
But truth to tell there still remains plutonium - nineteen tons
Two fifty million years must pass before the dangers gone.
It is the land of mamu* now a land of death and sorrow.
Let’s learn from this insanity and not repeat tomorrow.

Maralinga you were once the home much loved by Tjarutja
where kangaroo and wallaby roamed and native gidjirrigaa
and Eagles flew in majesty and grace above your plains.
Maralinga now Australia’s sad monument to shame.

* Anangu - Tjarutja people, The Maralinga Tjarutja are the Indigenous Australian people who traditionally inhabit the remote western areas of South Australia. They are a Southern Pitjantjatjara people.
mamu - spirits,
Ooldea - sacred site.
gidjirrigaa - budgerigar

[Heather]

There's certainly a lesson there Maureen. Once again you show not only your love of Aboriginal peoples but that you research your topics.

I heard last night that many of the fire fighters that attended on 9/11 are now becoming sick or have died from illnesses suspected to have come from the dust on that day.

Heather

[Maureen K Clifford]

More to the point Heather my dislike of injustice...the colour or species is secondary IMO but I hate to see unfairness to people or animals who don't have the means or know-how to help themselves.

I saw that article as well - it will be similar to our asbestosis cases over here I suspect, and there are concerns here now with people who helped in the flood clean ups with houses that had asbestos in them.

[Heather]

I know an electrician that is now affected by asbestos.

Women also are affected if they washed their husband's overalls and clothes with asbestos dust on them..

[Bob Pacey]

Try and tell that to mechanics who blow out brake pads with compressed air.


Bob.

[worddancer]

Hi Maureen,

Once again history learnt in poetry,
Is easier to read than scientific reports
That shows cold facts but not the misery
that still remains in heart and mind
Of people and families left behind
With no recourse for justice in courts.

Thank you Maureen for reminding us that asking for, and receiving forgiveness means nothing if we do not remember to protest before these things happen. People power CAN win out against governments; if we really want to.

Thank you,

Eliza

[r.magnay]

Don't know why I do this Maureen, but I just can't help myself!....I have spent a lot of time in the "Pit" lands, and I think you refer to the Pitintjatjarra people...or it can be spelt Pitinjarra which is closer to the actual pronunciation by the people themselves. The word Anungu...by their definition means people...you stick your own tribe onto that to make what you will of it...Anungu Pitintjatjarra...for example. I have no documented record of that apart from what they told me so it is open for discussion. I was at Oak Valley which is just a bit North maybe Northwest of Maralinga when it first opened up, we built the power distribution system and supplied and installed the power station to the community, there was plenty of money floating around because the Poms had a guilt complex about what went on...fair enough I 'spose, bad luck if they hadn't done what they did and the Japs took the country over, blackfellas might have had a different set of problems then, anyway, seems to me that there wasn't too much activity out there and I don't reckon one little patch of ground was that important to them until someone told them what they could get out of it....dunno, I just get a bit sick of people only seeing one side of the whole story!

[Maureen K Clifford]

Hi Ross - not sure about the spelling this was what wikipedia showed.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Maralinga, South Australia in the remote western areas of South Australia was the home of the Maralinga Tjarutja, a southern Pitjantjatjara Indigenous Australian people. Maralinga was the site of the secret British nuclear tests in the 1950s. The site measures about 3,300 km² in area. In January 1985, the Maralinga Tjarutja native title land was handed back to the Maralinga people under the Maralinga Tjarutja Land Rights Act, 1984[1] passed by both houses of the South Australian Parliament in December 1984 and proclaimed in January 1987.

Under an agreement between the governments of the United Kingdom and Australia, efforts were made to clean up the site before the Maralinga people resettled on the land in 1995. They named their new community Oak Valley Community. The effectiveness of the cleanup has been disputed on a number of occasions.
The population is generally around 23–50. During special cultural activities with visitors from neighbouring communities, it rises to 1,500 people.

I agree with you re the onesideness - which is exactly why I wrote this. The official secrets act kept it all under wraps for years but terrible things happened to people there. I was speaking to a bloke who had a relative who worked there when the atomic bombs were being tested and according to him they sent out trucks to pick up the 'carcasses' (his words not mine) of the people who had succumbed to the radiation - some of whom had chosen in ignorance to actually camp in the actual area where the bomb had gone off as the sands/soil were warm and the desert night air was very cold. They found whole family groups dead - don't recollect ever reading about that in the history books. They also had to ensure that the area was cleared before detonation and they had one person to do this in an area of thousands of kilometres that could never be covered by vehicle in the hours just preceding detonation so they flew over it in a small plane. The aboriginal people were frightened of the low flying plane and hid, and even had they not they would have been hard to spot from the air. Of course they shouldn't have been there - there were signs all around the perimeter, but this was their traditional hunting grounds and they didn't read English - shades of Slim Dusty and 'Trumby'

He rode around the station pulling cattle from the bog
To save them being torn apart by eagles crows and dogs
He saw a notice on a tree
It wasn't there last night
Trumby tried to understand but he couldn't read or write.

On bended knee down in the mud
Trumby had a drink
Swung the reins and to his horse said "We go home I think"
"Tell 'im boss about the sign, 'im read 'im good alright"
"One day boss's missus teach 'im Trumby read and write

Well concern was felt for Trumby, he hadn't used his bed,
Next day beside that muddy hole they found the ringer dead.
And a piece of tin tied to a tree then caught the boss's eye,
He read the words of 'Poison Here', and signed by Dogger Bry.






Cheers

Maureen

[r.magnay]

'morning Maureen,
Got to go and help my daughter inlaw shift house directly, my son is conveniently working out bush and won't be home until Monday! Yes the spelling is a pet hate of mine, for a race that had no written language it amazes me how the people who translated the spoken language made it so bloody complicated! As if English wasn't already complicated enough! Anyway, that is an interesting story your mate told, and no doubt there are plenty of stories out there.....and some pretty horriffic ones at that. Your comparison to Trumby is a beauty as well, and sadly pretty much on the money. As bad as all of this is, I reckon it would have been a lot worse for the aboriginal race if the allies had never dropped the bomb and the Japs had won the war! Gotta go, furniture to shift, fridges to lift.....I'm too old for this!

[Maureen K Clifford]

oh well Mate a cold beer at the end will help a lot - take it easy and remember bend from the knees not the back

Cheers

Maureen