- 12 years ago
TV Series - 15 min
Australian travel series hosted by Greg Grainger.
Stars: Greg Grainger, Tim Charody, Tim Doyle
Australian travel series hosted by Greg Grainger.
Stars: Greg Grainger, Tim Charody, Tim Doyle
Category
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Short filmTranscript
00:00They are Australia's first known human inhabitants, Aboriginal Australians.
00:13It's thought their ancestors arrived here as long ago as 40,000 years.
00:20Today Indigenous Australians make up around 2.5% of the modern population.
00:28Most of them live like other Australians, but on special occasions like this they'll
00:32dress just as their ancestors would have.
00:37The ceremony you're watching today is Wagamagool, which marks the start of Australia Day on
00:43January 26 every year.
00:47This is staged in Sydney's Royal Botanic Gardens near Farm Cove, the place where the white
00:53English settlers and Aboriginals first met in 1788.
00:59Many Indigenous Australians have called the day Invasion Day, although the attitude is
01:03softening as Australians and their government apologise for past incidents, such as the
01:09stolen generations who were removed from their mothers to be raised by white families.
01:17Today's ceremony is a ritual of singing and dancing.
01:24The Gadigal clan were the traditional owners of Sydney Harbour, with this Wagamagool ceremony
01:30aimed at commemorating the past and celebrating the future.
01:36In earlier times, ancestral creation spirits were revered and honoured as the safe keepers
01:42of their land.
01:46These spirits are honoured today, an act the participants believe will mean the spirits
01:50continue to protect and watch over the land.
01:58Indigenous Australians developed a lifestyle that allowed them to live off the land and
02:02in harmony with it.
02:04Gathering food from the bush is still practised by Aboriginals today.
02:09Here in the Kakadu National Park, in Australia's Top End, this young woman collects bush tucker
02:15just as her ancestors would have done over the past 40,000 years.
02:19On the edge of a lagoon, she collects water lilies.
02:22Inside, a small nut she finds delicious.
02:27In the surrounding bush, she'll collect wild fruit from the trees.
02:35Other Indigenous Australians here in Kakadu like to hunt for snakes.
02:41This group is trekking into a billabong, where their first act is to ensure there are
02:45no crocodiles lurking.
02:55Then they start digging into the soft mud.
02:58What they find are fire snakes, and they begin to drag them out one by one.
03:13The method of killing would make many people wince.
03:16They take the fire snake in their mouths to break its neck.
03:22The cooking technique is dead simple.
03:25Throw the snake onto the coals, let it bake, then remove it to feast on what they say is
03:31a tasty delicacy.
03:33Elsewhere in Kakadu, other Indigenous Australians are engaged in time-honoured practices.
03:40Many Aboriginal women of the northern part of the Northern Territory are expert weavers.
03:46This woman is making a pandanus basket.
03:55Elsewhere, a bush tucker woman demonstrates the art of spear throwing.
04:01Spears and boomerangs have been used by Aboriginals to bring down game such as kangaroos and wallabies.
04:09Another outlet that demonstrates the creative talents of Aboriginals of past generations
04:14is their rock art.
04:18Kakadu is rich in Aboriginal rock paintings.
04:23From time immemorial, Aboriginal people have left their marks in caves on rocks, and because
04:28rock is durable, we can still see today their rock paintings.
04:33Although many were made for ceremonial purposes, there are undoubtedly also markings just done
04:38for fun.
04:43Kakadu paintings are very ancient, executed many thousands of years ago.
04:49Whatever their age, the Aboriginal people of Kakadu have left a lasting legacy of their
04:54culture in the form of art that can be found in caves and rock overhangs where it is protected
04:59from the elements.
05:02In the Kimberley region of Western Australia are the oldest Indigenous paintings.
05:08Travel in the Chamberlain Gorge in the Equestria property and you'll find Bradshaw paintings
05:14such as huge mouthless figures painted on rock walls.
05:20The Bradshaw paintings are incredibly sophisticated.
05:23Some experts suggest could be more than 50,000 years old.
05:29These Bradshaw paintings are certainly a mystery with some speculation that they might predate
05:34the Australian Aborigines.
05:39Another group of Indigenous Australians are the Torres Strait Islanders.
05:45They live in a chain of islands that stretch from Cape York at the tip of Queensland to
05:49Papua New Guinea, and possess a heritage and cultural history distinct from Aboriginal
05:56traditions.
05:59The Torres Strait Islanders are Melanesian, and over the past 10,000 years have developed
06:04their own culture.
06:07It's less than 20 years since the Torres Strait Islanders were officially recognised as being
06:12a race separate to the Aborigines and Papuans.
06:18In all, some 7,000 of them live in the Torres Strait, a proud race who are once again starting
06:26to speak their own language, and express their culture after being officially discouraged
06:33by earlier white administrations.
06:37Surrounded by warm tropical waters as they are, means the Torres Strait Islanders earn
06:42much of their revenue from the sea, such as farming bath sponges.
06:53The waters of the Torres Strait are also a haven for a range of pleasure time activities.
06:59These model yachts are known as Wog Wog Boats, and they get up a fearsome speed during competitions.
07:11The Torres Strait Islanders are also renowned for their celebrations.
07:19Today they're celebrating the Coming of the Light, held on July the 1st every year.
07:24This commemorates the day the missionaries first arrived.
07:33Those British missionaries from the London Missionary Society certainly left a lasting
07:37legacy, with Christianity widely and deeply followed to this day.
07:46But well before Christianity was introduced here, the Islanders developed their own dances,
07:51being performed at this arts festival today.
08:01Weddings are also celebrated in style in the Torres Strait.
08:06Preparations are well in hand at dawn.
08:08That pig is going to taste out of this world after the Islanders have finished wrapping
08:12it in pandanus leaves and throwing it onto an earth oven for a long, slow bake.
08:19No urgency here, because the wedding ritual is about to take all day and well into the
08:23night.
08:25The first of many processions involves the groom's family.
08:30They're making the slow march to the bride's home, and with everyone on this island, York
08:35Island, invited to attend, the streets are full of marchers and music.
08:44The bride is a local lass, Cynthia Nye, and when she appears, it's without the wedding
08:49dress she'll wear later.
08:56The marchers are clearly pleased to see her.
08:59This time the procession heads for the groom's house, led by a drummer.
09:02Remember, this is a traditional wedding, and that sad face you see Cynthia displaying is
09:07traditional role-playing.
09:09She's leaving her family to start a new one.
09:14All that sweeping, well, that's clearing the way for the new start ahead.
09:21At the groom's house, she'll get ready for the wedding service, hair and make-up to be
09:25done, and the wedding dress to be fitted.
09:29Outside, the groomsmen wait patiently.
09:33That's the groom in red, Thomas Marbeau, nephew to Eddie Marbeau, the islander responsible
09:38for changing Indigenous land rights in Australia.
09:42Finally, the bride appears, ready for the service itself.
09:48The wedding gown Cynthia is wearing is a mix of old and new.
09:52The bright floral pattern and colour resembles the traditional Torres Strait wedding dress,
09:57while the cut is distinctly European.
10:01It's a big day for these islanders.
10:03Three hundred guests have joined them from surrounding islands.
10:12And the service, and celebrations afterwards, will last well into the night.
10:19For Cynthia and Thomas, their wedding celebrations reflect what the Torres Strait islands are
10:23famous for, feasting and singing in that remarkable South Pacific spirit.
10:34Back on the mainland, Aboriginal Australians celebrate in their own way.
10:39One very big gathering every year is the Garma Festival of Traditional Culture, a celebration
10:47of the cultural inheritance of the Yongyu people of north-eastern Arnhem Land in the
10:51Northern Territory of Australia.
10:56It begins with the ancient sound of the Yidaki, or didgeridoo, a call to all people to come
11:02together in unity.
11:06Add to that the clapsticks, used to provide rhythm for the dancers.
11:12And back that up with this powerful chant.
11:17The dancers are adorned with body paintings that carry deep spiritual significance for
11:22them.
11:24Their bodies are being painted within strict conventions that are primarily related to
11:28spiritual matters.
11:33The particular designs or motifs used by individuals reflect their social position and relationship
11:39to their family group.
11:43And also to particular ancestors, animals and tracts of land.
11:50Yongyu literally means person in the language spoken by the people.
11:57Regarded as one of Australia's most significant Indigenous festivals, the Garma Festival attracts
12:02around 20 clan groups from north-east Arnhem Land, as well as representatives from clan
12:07groups and neighbouring Indigenous people from all over Australia.
12:13The Garma Festival is a celebration of the Yongyu cultural inheritance.
12:27The day's celebrations wind up with a wonderful fusion of old and new, as a didgeridoo is
12:32used in conjunction with modern rock instruments.
12:36It's wonderfully symbolic, a meeting of Indigenous and Western ways.