In the film Ten Canoes directed by Rolf de Heer and Peter Djigirr, we see the story telling of aboriginal Australia, both that of the ancient ancestors and their descendants. The film illustrates a complex understanding of time and space, in which the stories of the descendants and their ancestors are not simply that of recalling the past. Rather, the relationship between descendants and ancestors is a tangled web of stories that coexist with one another, disrupting Western, linear senses of time. The descendants are not merely recalling stories they had been told, rather the stories exist right alongside them. The ancestors’ story is not treated as mythical, instead it is simultaneously “true” and ever-evolving. This can be seen in the scenes panning back and forth between color and black and white, sometimes one within the other. Instead of the classic sepia or black-and-white flashback in Hollywood movies, the ancestors are often the ones with their story told in full color, and the descendants in black and white. The film takes its time to tell the story, with some slower-paced scenes focused equally on sound and expression as they are visuals. As the narrator mentions, the story of the ancestors is that of a tree, with many branches of equal importance.
Bill Neidjie’s poem Gagudju also illustrates this non-linear understanding of time and space. His writings switch frequently between “past”, “present”, and “future”. In Land, Neidjie writes:
Feeling make you. Out there in open space, he coming through your body. Look while he blow and feel with your body, because tree just about your brother or father and tree is watching you.
Earth. Like your father or brother or mother, because you born from earth. You got to come back to earth. When you dead, you’ll come back to earth. Maybe little while yet … then you’ll come to earth. That’s your bone, your blood. It’s in this earth, same as for tree. (Neidjie 39)
Our temptation in Western, Global Northern cultural frameworks is to understand time as a line, constantly moving forward and leaving the past behind only in history books. For Neidjie and the aboriginal peoples in the film, time appears more to be cyclical; from death comes life and from life comes death, shifting together and constantly evolving. The film begins with the narrator giving the classic “Once upon a time in a land far away”, and ends with “And they all lived happily ever after”, after each the narrator laughs, lightheardedly poking at mainstream media’s methods of storytelling. The narrator says that he has told his story and that it is “not your story, but good story all the same”. Neidjie brings up this importance of coexisting ways of knowing as well:
Feeling make you. Out there in open space, he coming through your body. Look while he blow and feel with your body, because tree just about your brother or father and tree is watching you. Earth. Like your father or brother or mother, because you born from earth. You got to come back to earth. When you dead, you’ll come back to earth. Maybe little while yet … then you’ll come to earth. That’s your bone, your blood. It’s in this earth, same as for tree. (Neidjie 32).
How can we learn to value stories for being more than memories? Should we adopt this non-linear understanding of time and space? Or are our “white European” stories good stories all the same? How can we navigate valuing stories for being vital entities themselves and understanding life and death as serving one another without fetishizing or adopting cultural understandings that may not work for us? What values from these ways of knowing in regards to time and storytelling can we effectively and reciprocally utilize?
In Bill Neidjie’s poems and the film Ten Canoes, we learn the importance of Aboriginal law. In the film, we see Ridjimiraril answer for the murder of the wrong stranger alongside his brother in the Makarrata, a payback ceremony. Even though Ridjimiraril and the rest of the tribe knew this ceremony would entail injury and even death of one of their members, they followed the law in order to avoid a greater war. They did not try to hide or ask for a different punishment or compromise, but rather accepted the consequences of their actions.
Neidjie writes:
“Law never change, always stay same. Maybe it hard, but proper one for all people. Not like white European law, always changing. If you don’t like it, you can change. Aboriginal law never change. Old people tell us, ‘You got to keep it.’ It always stays.”
In SD, we often talk about why our laws need to change, often claiming that they are in fact too stagnant rather than ever changing. Neidjie writes of changing oneself rather than the law. What is the difference between ‘white European law’ (or rather, white Western law) and Aboriginal law that makes stasis better in one than the other? When Neidje says laws never change, does he mean that laws are not adaptable, or is he rather speaking to what is at the core of each one? Is the adaptability of people more important than the adaptability of the law?
In the film, Ten Canoes, the narrator illustrates a story of his ancestors and through this, highlights his culture’s sense of place and their interwoven relationships to the land. In the beginning of the film the narrator describes a story of life and death which states that all of his people are born the same way; they come from a waterhole in earth when they are ready to be born, and when they die they return to that waterhole where they wait to be born again. At the end of the film after Ridjimiraril’s death, his family engages in a ceremony to prepare Ridjimiraril’s spirit for its journey back to its waterhole. This symbolizes the circle of life and the flow of energy and speaks to this culture’s values of being a part of nature. The people have always been part of nature, being born from the earth and returning to the earth.
In Bill Neidjie’s poem Law on pages 24 and 25 the author states..
“Old people say ‘You dig yam? Well you digging your granny or mother through the belly. You must cover it up, cover again. When you get yam you cover over, then no hole through there. Yam can grow again.’…
I tell them ‘You leaving hole. You killing yam. You killing yourself. You hang onto your country. That one I fight for.”
In these two stanzas Neidjie describes his culture’s deep connection to nature and the earth by viewing the earth as a matriarchal figure that provides life to all. This understanding and interconnectedness to nature as shown throughout Neidjie’s poem and the film as well is and has been a key player in the survival of indigenous groups. Furthermore this way of thinking of oneself as one with nature or a part of the whole of nature promotes inherent sustainable practices. Only when humans separate themselves from nature like many capitalist western cultures, do we fall out of touch with natural systems and fail to support mother earth with the same vigor that we support ourselves. This lack of relationship with nature has lead us to capitalism, extractive industries, unsustainable lifestyles, and leaves us extremely disconnected from our communities and ecosystems.
How do we get people to understand that how we treat the earth directly correlates with our own health? And how can we restructure our disconnected societies to embrace a renewed relationship with nature and foster truly sustainable practices?
In Neidjie’s poem “Land”, he describes the cyclical nature of life and death within Aboriginal culture in a way that is echoed by “Ten Canoes”.
“Earth.
Like your father or brother or mother,
because you born from earth.
You got to come back to earth.
When you dead,
you’ll come back to earth.
Maybe little while yet …
then you’ll come to earth.
That’s your bone, your blood.
It’s in this earth,
same as for tree.”
The film describes a similar cultural belief, which is that people are born from a water hole, and when they die their soul returns to that same water hole so they can be born again. This is why they painted Ridjimiraril’s Body and chased his Spirit Away once he died so that his soul could return to the water hole from whence it came.
What might be the ramifications of such a belief on the greater culture? Does knowing that their Spirits are going to walk the earth again after they die encourage them to follow the law and manage the land sustainably?
Another question I have regards the differences in the story of death and rebirth as it’s told by Neidjie and “Ten Canoes”. Why does one involve a water hole while the other only mentions returning to the Earth, is this the drift of the myths over time or is this just a cultural difference between two different groups of Aboriginal people?
This particular section of the poem instantly caught my attention for the way it seems to acknowledge capitalism and the West’s obsession with capital wealth. I love how it says that “millions will do us no good” because we need this earth to live, but our insistence on creating and holding wealth is killing the Earth.
What other lessons from the poem can we learn and utilize in our journey towards climate action and sustainable development?
“White European want to know
asking ‘What this story?’
This not easy story.
No-one else can tell it
because this story for Aboriginal culture.
I speak English for you,
so you can listen,
so you can know,
you will understand.
If I put my language in same place,
you won’t understand.
Our story is in the land.
It is written in those sacred places.
My children will look after those places,
that’s the law”
(Neidjie 32)
Another section that really caught my attention was how the author claims English speakers cannot understand this story, because it was not written for them, and therefore cannot be translated for them. Their story is the land, a story that can not be transcribed into any conventional language.
How does Neidjie and Silko use poetry to tell a story? Is it more or less effective than prose?
In Ten Canoes, around 56:14, the narrator compares the story that Minygululu is telling to a large tree, where each different part of the story is represented by one of the tree’s branches. The narrator underlines the idea that although each branch may seem to deal with a different topic, you have to address all of the branches before you can comprehend the whole story. I thought this was a fascinating way of describing storytelling, especially in the non-linear context of the film. Through the use of this tree metaphor, we are able to understand and practice patience, which is the main lesson that Dayinidi learns in the end. We must be patient as we listen to each branch of the story, because impatience could cost us important plot details and change the entire meaning of the story.
I thought that this tree metaphor aligned well with Ceremony because of how fragmented the novel is. I think Silko’s choice to structure the novel as a series of story fragments that abruptly cut into one another adds an air of mystery for the reader, yet also traces Tayo’s own mindscape as he struggles to piece together the different parts of his own story. Like the tree metaphor, it isn’t until the end, when all of the branches of the tree become visible, that Tayo and the readers are able to clearly understand the entire story. Ceremony also echoes the non-linear temporality of Ten Canoes, jumping back and forth between different points in time, thereby melding them together as different versions of the present moment.
I also think that the tree metaphor fits in nicely with SD, because it is such an interdisciplinary field. In order to understand the SD issues, you have to look at them from multiple viewpoints and you have to make sure you’re getting the whole picture, or else you could make a serious mistake. My question this week is do you think non-linear understandings of time are important for SD work? Why or why not? How can they be incorporated into Western-dominated SD discourses? Should they be?
The film ten canoes represents a story within a story. Following two different pasts, they both are stories of a man going after another man’s wife. Within the first story Dayindi is hunting for goose eggs in the swamp and he builds a bark canoe. While he is learning to build the canoe his brother Minygululus tells the story of the old laws and a man named Yeeralparil who fancies the wife of a warrior. Minygululus tells this story because he knows his brother fancies his third wife. I found it interesting that the first story is shot in black and white and the second story that is much older is shot in color. What is the reason for black and white and color in these two stories?
Bill Neidjie’s poem “I Give You This Story” really stood out to me. It is a story about the Aborigines and the lack of history written for them when the European colonizers came. He discusses in this poem how much has changed. At the end of this poem they state that “no man can growl at me for telling this story, because it will be too late. I’ll be dead.” This hints at the backlash they fear they would have received for writing the story of their people. Another poem titled “He can’t move his country” is very powerful and made me emotional. It is a story about the differences of the white man and Aborigines but they share a country so one’s actions impacts the others. They explain that all their people are dead and gone and end the poem with “Only me, Robin Gaden and Felix Holmes” are left. Using the names is powerful and they go on to explain that the man can’t move his country. They stayed when the language changed and when their people were killed. One similarity between the film ten canoes and Bill Neidjie’s poems is storytelling. How does the storytelling differ and what are the similarities? What makes storytelling such a powerful platform in sustainable development?
Upon watching the film Ten Canoes I noticed that the narrator was David Gulpilil who played Charlie in Charlie’s Country. The director of Charlies’ Country, Rolf de Heer also directed Charlie’s Country, and Peter Djigirr played Black Pete in Charlie’s Country. The overall scenery in the two films was also very similar. Throughout the film Ten Canoes there was a large emphasis on the importance of storytelling. There is a younger man in the film who is being told the story of his ancestors for multiple days. There is also a large emphasis on storytelling in the Gagudju Man poem. The last page of the poem states
My people
All dead.
We only got few left.
That’s all, not many.
We getting too old.
Young people.
I don’t know if they can hang onto this story
But, now you know this story,
And you’ll be coming to earth.
You’ll be part of earth when you die.
You responsible now.
You got to go with us.
To earth.
Might be you can hang on.
Hang on to this story.
To this earth.
You got children,
Grandson.
Might be your grandson will get this story,
Keep going,
Hang on like I done.
In this poem as well as in Ceremony there is a feeling of forgetfulness. As generations go on children are forgetting their cultural traditions and stories. The main reasoning for this forgetfulness is because of colonization and the stripping of culture and practices away from people. In Ceremony Rockey is deliberately trying to forget his culture and turns to western science instead of storytelling. In the film an important ancestral story is being told in order to preserve culture and oral tradition. The poem is also telling a story and showing the consequences for forgetting. It seems that stories are an imperative part to connecting nature with your day to day life.
Is there a way to bridge science with storytelling to help people preserve their culture? Do stories have to be written down in order to be preserved? Bill Neidijie is writing this poem because he does not want it to be forgotten. Were there any stories about nature that you heard as a child that explained why things are the way that they are?
In both the film Ten Canoes and the poem Law, there is mention of a strict law that cannot be broken, and when it is broken, punishment comes to the one who broke it. In the film, the tribe elder breaks the law by spearing a stranger. When he does this, he knows he must accept his punishment and be speared by the other clan. This is his punishment, and so he accepts it with grace. In the poem Law by Bill Neidjie, he tells of the frill-neck lizard who broke the law as a human and so was turned into an ugly, skinny lizard. This punishment, though less freely accepted by the lizard, was carried out by his people who knew that he had to face the consequences for breaking the law.
From these passages we can see that it is clearly important to the Aborigine that this law be followed, and that punishment come if it is broken. Connect this notion of law to the law that we employ in the United States and much of the “developed” world. Do you think we are held to the same scrutiny as the people presented in these stories? Why do you think the law is so highly regarded in these communities and what could we learn about their laws in relation to our own?
Neidjie writes that the difference between our laws is that ours can be changed by a powerful person and that theirs are sacred, and no amount of money or power can change them. What can we learn from this?
In the film “Ten Canoes” we see death as a significant event for the tribe. When Ridjimiraril is close to death he gets up and does his own death dance, confronting his death and accepting that he will return through this ceremony and cycle of life. Neidjie rights about death saying that
“I know I come back to my country.
When I die I become earth.
I love this country and this earth.”
Clearly there is an understanding of death that is different than what we usually think of in our society. This is a large spiritual element of it that connects you to something much larger.
How do we compare this view of death with the general Westernized view of death? Is reincarnation similar to our consciousness continuing on in a way? How could a more spiritual view of death involving connectivity reduce fear and improve our lives and our society? What can we learn from the ceremony tied to death?
While viewing the film this week as well as finishing up ceremony, it seems to me as though the significance of story telling should never be underestimated for political reform, as well as the utilization of poems as a story telling device. In Ten Canoes and the poem Law by Neidjie there is a connection that can be drawn between the killing of a stranger by Ridjimraril the leader of the tribe, and the transformation of the frill-neck lizard into the skinny lizard for the crimes he committed.
“Aboriginal law never change.
Old people tell us,
“You got to keep it”
It always stays
….
We can’t break law.
No, we can’t break law.
That frill neck lizard done it first,
now look how thin he is
That his own fault.
He spoilt ceremony
We can’t change it,
Thats Law.”
In the film after Ridjimaril undergoes a formalized and ritualistic form of punishment for his crimes that he committed. My understanding was that the tribe of the man who was killed were permitted to spear Ridjimaril until sufficient blood was drawn. This seemed like a harsh ritual but it made me think about customary law and the way that Indigenous/Aboriginal law is treated and perceived and whether it is as harsh as it has been made out to be.
One of the first questions that I wanted to ask were what kind of parallels can be seen in between the first stanza of Law and Western perception of aboriginal law. Do you think that aboriginal law has stayed the same in the west or changed and evolved over time? What are some examples from ceremony that could help refine this argument?
The next question I wanted to ask was about the perception of violence within Indigenous culture. Western violence has been considered a necessity for many human milestones, and it is traditionally not viewed as barbaric/savage at least in the way that Aboriginal violence is perceived. What are some of the benefits of violence within law and some of the disadvantage’s? What role does story telling play in translating these violences into something significant like a lesson?
In the film Ten Canoes, directed by Rolf de Heer and Peter Djigirr, and in Bill Neidjie’s poem “Gagudju,” both the film and the poem explore the non-linear understanding of time and space in aboriginal Australia. They depict a complex relationship between descendants and ancestors, where stories coexist with each other rather than being a simple recalling of the past. This challenges Western, linear notions of time, portraying time as cyclical and ever-evolving. Neidjie’s poem “Land” further emphasizes this cyclical nature, describing how people are born from the earth and return to it after death, echoing the belief in the film that souls return to a water hole after death for rebirth.
These cultural beliefs have profound implications on the greater culture. The belief in the cyclical nature of life and death may encourage people to follow the law and manage the land sustainably, knowing that their actions will impact future generations. However, the differences in the stories of death and rebirth between Neidjie’s poem and Ten Canoes raise questions about cultural variation and the drift of myths over time. One involves a water hole while the other mentions returning to the earth, highlighting the diversity of beliefs and practices among different aboriginal groups.
Earth. Like your father or brother or mother, because you born from earth. You got to come back to earth. When you dead, you’ll come back to earth. Maybe little while yet … then you’ll come to earth. That’s your bone, your blood. It’s in this earth, same as for tree. (Neidjie 39)
How can we learn to value stories as more than memories and adopt a non-linear understanding of time and space, as depicted in Ten Canoes and Neidjie’s poem? What values from these ways of knowing in regards to time and storytelling can we effectively and reciprocally utilize? How might these beliefs impact cultural sustainability and the management of the land?
Both “Ten Canoes” and Neidjie’s poem “Law” underscore the importance of adhering to traditional laws and accepting consequences for transgressions. The film depicts a tribal elder breaking the law by spearing a stranger, leading to his acceptance of punishment through a ritualistic spearing by the other clan. Similarly, Neidjie’s poem recounts the punishment of the frill-neck lizard for violating the law, transforming him into a skinny lizard. These passages highlight the significance placed on upholding sacred laws within Aboriginal communities, contrasting with Western legal systems that can be influenced by power and wealth.
How does the respect for and enforcement of indigenous laws compare to our legal systems today?
What insights can we glean from these indigenous legal traditions regarding justice, accountability, and cultural preservation?
In ceremony tayo is having a conversation and it appears that everything is almost apathetic that the world is simply dead.
“Death isn’t much,” she said. She was sitting on the sand, with her feet out straight in front, arranging short willow twigs into bundles, tying them with fluffy cotton string that she had twisted by hand. They had found a calf in the arroyo that morning; small black ants were already making trails across the head, from the nose to the eyes. The belly was bloating out as the sun climbed higher in the sky. “Sometimes they don’t make it. That’s all. It isn’t very far away.” She looked up at him intently, and then continued.” (pg 176)
In Ten Canoes, when a member of the group dies there is a sacred ceremony of death for the dying individual. There are specific practices to be followed in a series of mourning. The story begins by talking about how all life begins and ends in a pool. There is a creator Yulunggurr who has made all the land and water- peoples themselves come from a water hole like a fish and dying is to go back to the water hole to be born again. The rules that lead to a man’s death because of a misunderstanding are all a part of a constant trend that is abiding by meagerness and entangled lifestyles. The most gluttonous of the bunch is still capable, not indulged by his wives or other people to continue in such behavior. This is a demonstration of how they do not allow anyone who tell others what to do. There is no need for a leader in and of itself, often more so a mutual understanding and respect for each other. The group speaks often in a positive tone based on the activities directly around them. The fact that the colonialist state of mind hasn’t been presented to them is a demonstration of how life may have been in some aspects for indigenous peoples of the Americans prior to colonization.
What was sacred- what made up their conversations- what made up culture is palpable when you deal with people and the environment in your immediate vicinity.
I would say it is to entangle people with their immediate environment through a means of storytelling that makes people more susceptible to viewing features of their world as sacred. Building relationships in manners that are dependent on what truly makes people happy.
In both Ten Canoes and Neidjie’s poems, there is an underlying theme of the Aboriginal and indigenous tie to the land. I particularly want to point out the poem He can’t move his country.
“This earth I never damage. I look after. Fire is nothing,just clean up. When you burn, new grass coming up. That mean good animal soon. Might be goose, long-neck turtle, goanna, possum. Burn him off, new grass coming up,new life all over.
I don’t know about white European way. We, Aborigine, burn. Make things grow. Tree grow, every night he grow. Daylight he stop. Just about dark, he start again. Just about morning, I look. I say, ‘Oh, nice tree this.’ When you sleep, tree growing like other trees, they got lots of blood.
Rotten tree, you got to burn him. Use him to cook. He’s finished up, cook or roast in coals,White man cook in oven, From university that. Aborigine didn’t know that before.Now all this coming up with Toyota….”
The poem goes on to point out “white mans” education and assimilation of other cultures in other countries. I am reminded of Tayo from Ceremony as well as he struggled with his own culture in the “white mans” country. In this poem, specifically, the aboriginal culture of fire burning as a healthy practice in forestry is mentioned, where in white culture fire is seen as bad and something to get rid of. How do colonizing forces change not only other cultures but the environment, and is this something that can be reversed in the event that reparations are an option?
On page 228 it is revealed why Tayo throughout the book has always confused the japanese soldiers’ voices with the Laguna due to both of these groups being affected by nuclear bombs. I personally like this detail because not a lot of people know that nuclear testing was done on native american lands. I also like this quote in the reading”from that time on, human beings were one clan again, united by the fate the destroyers planned for all of them, for all living things; united by a circle of death that devoured people in cities twelve thousand miles away, victims who had never known these mesas, who had never seen the delicate colors of the rocks which boiled up their slaughter”. My question is how many other cultures can relate to this.
In the Film “Ten Canoes” and Bill Neidjie’s poem “Gagudju Man” both discus cultural heritage and Aboriginal wisdom. They have an emphasis on storytelling and tradition as important parts of life. In “Gagudju Man” Neidjie writes
“Aboriginal law never change.
Old people tell us,
‘You got to keep it.’
It always stays.”
(Pg. 22)
The connections to ancestors and the land are apparent in both works. The animals and plants of the area are mentioned frequently in the film and poem. As well as assessors who are a guiding force for the culture today.
Can the colonizers find a way to respect the Aboriginal laws? And can we spread awareness of these cultures that should be the most important their but seem to be over shadowed by the European/Australian culture?
In the film Ten Canoes, we see an Aboriginal story being passed along between community members/generations. Minygululu tells a story to his younger brother Dayindi that reflects on their current situation and could be seen as a way of explaining the law/the proper way to act to Dayindi. It is told in a creative way where the audience travels back and forth between the past and present. There is also inclusion of the audience as an active listener by the narrator which at least in my opinion deepened my interest and investment in hearing the story all the way through.
In his poems, Neidjie says:
Young people.
I don’t know if they can hang onto this story.
But, now you know this story,
and you’ll be coming to earth.
You’ll be part of earth when you die.
You responsible now.
You got to go with us.
To earth.
Might be you can hang on.
Hang onto this story.
To this earth.
You got children,
grandson.
Might be your grandson will get this story,
keep going,
hang on like I done.
Both the film and this writing from Neidjie show themes of life and death, and cultural continuance through the form of storytelling. What makes stories such a compelling format to transfer messages and information? How has modern society and the Western paradigm of thinking pushed people away from stories (if it has)? What responsibility if any does our current generation have in changing the status quo of knowledge transfer and culture preservation?
In the film “Ten Canoes”, as well as in the book “Gagudju Man” we see the importance of storytelling. Throughout the film, we see the progression of Minygululu sharing the story of their ancestors with his younger brother Dayindi. In the book, the author Bill Neidjie, emphasizes the importance of storytelling by saying,
“My children get to hand onto this story.
This important story.
I hang onto this story all my life.
My father tell me this story.
My children can’t lose it.
White European want to know
asking ‘What this story?’
This is not easy story.
No-one else can tell it
because this story for Aboriginal culture.
I speak English for you,
so you can listen,
so you can know,
you will understand.
If I put my language in same place,
you won’t understand.
Our story is in the land.
It is written in those sacred places.
My children will look after those places,
that’s the law.” (p.32)
For a lot of native indigenous communities, storytelling is how they share and continue with their culture and ancestral heritage. Why do you think that storytelling is not used to that extent in European/American culture? Also, in the film we saw it switching from black in white to color, to different the present and the past. Usually, color is used to represent the present, whereas in the film it was used to represent the past. What could be the significance of that choice within the film?
Both the film Ten Canoes as well as the Bill Neidjie reading discuss the importance of law within Aboriginal communities. They mention how it is crucial to the way of the land, and how their communities are organized and function.
In the film, the narrator states “Ridjimiraril knew people needed to law so they could stay the right way with the right land – and he knew he had broken the law.”
Bill Neidjie wrote the following:
Law
Law never change,
always stay same.
Maybe it hard,
but proper one for all people.
Not like white European law,
always changing.
If you don’t like it,
you can change.
Aboriginal law never change.
Old people tell us,
‘You got to keep it.’
It always stays.
When discussing the impacts of breaking this law, Neidjie writes:
“You know frill-neck lizard?
He look funny.
Used to be good smooth animal.
He was man.
He done something wrong.
Look ugly now … skinny leg, arm,
big one ear, frill-neck.
What he done?
Break law.” (28)
In looking at the effects colonialism has had on the Aboriginal population within Australia, as well as Indigenous communities everywhere – there have been detrimental impacts on the laws and traditions of these communities. What do you think the generational impacts of this destruction of law and way of life may be? In the film, they discuss bad magic coming about from bad actions or ill intentioned people/sorcerers. Do you think there is a tie between the destructive and evil impacts of colonialism/capitalism, bad magic, and the current social and environmental issues we are facing? Or are our issues simply a direct result of a lack of law and/or respect for our greater environment and surrounding community – touching on Neidjie stating the white law constantly changing merely because a white person decides they don’t like it anymore.
The film Ten Canoes and the poetry of Gagudju Man by Bill Neidjie both speak to the importance of storytelling to keep culture alive. Neidjie speaks a lot on this theme, emphasizing it in most of his poems. In the first poem, “I Give You This Story,” Neidjie says “I was thinking. / No history written for us / when white European start here, / only few words written. / Should be more than that. / Should be written way Aborigine was live” (Neidjie 17). In the poem “Land,” he goes on to write “We have to keep pressure on young people to learn. / They must learn these things. / I have to stay on to teach my children” (Neidjie 37). In the last poem, “Conclusion,” Neidjie says that his people are either dead or getting old and that he does not know if the young people will be able to keep this story. In one of the last stanzas Neidjie says “But, now you know this story, / and you’ll be coming to earth. / You’ll be part of earth when you die. / You responsible now” (Neidjie 56). Through these quotes, it is clear that Neidjie believes that passing down stories is extremely important, even telling the reader that, now that they have heard the story, it is their responsibility too to pass it down. In Ten Canoes, not nearly as much emphasis is placed on preserving stories. While the entire film is a story being told and passed down, it seems that the character is telling it simply for the sake of telling a good story. Unlike Neidjie who concludes with a call to action, the film ends with the narrator saying “Now you’ve seen my story. It’s a good story. Not like your story, but a good story all the same.” Again, it seems as if the film is just simply telling a story because stories are fun to tell and hear, no matter what your culture is. My question is, do you think Ten Canoes intended to teach the same lesson as Neidjie’s poems? Perhaps just in a more discreet way? If so, do you think the film or the poems are more effective at conveying the importance of storytelling?
Question 2
Both the film Ten Canoes and the poems in Gagudju Man have the English language in them. While the poems are entirely in English, the film is spoken in the Aboriginal language save for the English narrator. In the poem “Land,” Neidjie explains “I speak English for you, / so you can listen, / so you can know, / you will understand. / If I put my language in same place, / you won’t understand” (Neidjie 32). His point makes sense, as one who speaks English could not possibly read poems in the Aboriginal language if they were not translated; however, it is different for films. Ten Canoes could have been entirely in the Aboriginal language with the narration having subtitles just like the dialogue does. Yet, the creators chose to make the narrator speak English. Why do you think this is? Do you think it would have been more powerful if the movie was entirely in the Aboriginal language? Or would it have been less effective?
Ceremony p. 228: “There was no end to it; it knew no boundaries; and he had arrived at the point of convergence where the fate of all living things, and even the earth, had been laid. From the jungles of his dreaming he recognized why the Japanese voices had merged with Laguna voices, with Josiah’s voice and Rocky’s voice; the lines of cultures and worlds were drawn in flat dark lines on fine light sang, converging in the middle of witchery’s final ceremonial sand painting. From that time on, human beings were one clan again, united by the fate the destroyers had planned for all of them, for all living things; united by a circle of death that devoured people in cities twelve thousand miles away, victims who had never known these mesas, who had never seen the delicate colors of the rocks which boiled up their slaughter.”
In the film “Ten Canoes” and in Silko’s “Ceremony,” we learn about the cultural significance of sorcery, traditional medicine, and witchcraft in both Aboriginal and Laguna culture. In “Ten Canoes,” the sorcerer practices both good and bad magic. In “Ceremony,” the work of medicine people is distinct from witchcraft/witchery, which is considered evil. In “Ceremony” and in Niedjie’s poem “He can’t move his country,” we see the consequences of violence brought on by colonialism. I can imagine that if Tayo learned about the effects of colonialism on Aboriginal people and culture, he would feel a similar sense of connectedness as to when he found the uranium mine and saw how the consequences of the military industrial complex connected the Laguna people and Japanese people. I wonder how the conversation would go if Tayo, Betonie, or Ku’oosh talked to the sorcerer from the story in “Ten Canoes.” What would the consensus be on the witchery behind colonialism? What might their solutions to the problem look like? Would they all agree, or might they have different approaches?
This week we read a poem by Bill Neidjie’s name Gagudju Man and watched the film Ten Canoes and both showcased the way of life of an original Australian tribe. In the poem, Neidjie talks about how the tribe used to be and then how it was after the influence of the White Man way.
“Law never change,
always stay same.
Maybe it hard,
but proper one for all people.
Not like white European law,
always changing.
If you don’t like it,
you can change.”
This quote from Gagudju Man relates to Ten Canoes in the way of law and Aboriginal law. In the movie we see how things work with Aboriginal law when a member of the tribe’s wife gets taken and the husband kills the wrong stranger accidentally. The form of law that they used was that the individual who mistakenly killed the stranger had spears thrown at him by the stranger’s tribe until he was hit by one. Once he is hit the trial is over and the incident is settled. In the western way of law there is always more to serving justice and many times it is not served correctly. Oftentimes the law is changed to fit a narrative or to advance an agenda. My question is how far do you think the U.S and other first world nations would be if we followed a more tribal form of law instead of an ever changing law to frame things in their favor?
The film 10 Canoes follows a Aboriginal Australian community through the intricate story telling a native fables of their ancestors that have been passed down for generations. The film puts a great importance on story telling and the mediums intrinsic connection with their community. I think the way they layer the story telling in the film by making stories being told inside stories shows the ingrained nature that stories hold in their community. In the Gagudju Man by Bill Neidjie there is a lot of importance also set on story telling and the precedence and knowledge they can bestow on the community.
“That’s why we get story. Old people tell us about that first lightning. That’s before wet season. We can’t look at it. Later we get lightning and rain from other way. But, must not look at first lightning, bend head down like first woman who looked. She was ashamed and bent her head. We must do the same.” Page 19 Enviornment, Gagudju Man by Bill Neidjie.
This section from the reading was a part that I felt really showcased the uses of stories and their role in society to establish norms. Specifically the way people always wait for the first lighting to now the rain season is about to start and the societal norm that grew from this of not looking at the lighting. These relationships are very powerful and very real to the community so it seems important to acknowledge these connection rather than brushing them aside, like what’s been been the norm in most colonial interactions.
What are some drawbacks of modern modes of story telling like movies or podcast compared to the traditional modes of story telling by speaking in person?
Does making stories personal to you make them more engrained to your your own surrounding community and is that something that’s lost when story telling becomes a global enterprise like in a blockbuster movie? Is their any way to make a movie that commercially appealing and enriching to the community on a personal level, would downscaling be the best response rather than catering to global audience?
This week, Bill Neidije’s Poem titled Gagudju Man and the film Ten Canoes (2006) looked towards using native people’s stories to give a perspective about living life. The poem collection had a big focus on this and brought many situations back to how we are related to the Earth. The Aboriginal people say that “when I die I become Earth”(48). Their law even involves a certain respect for what the Earth has to offer and that “we got to look after [this Earth], can’t waste anything”(27). One of the things that has a focus in their law shown in both the Ten Canoes film and the poems is the enforcement of punishment when the law is broken. During the film when Ridjimaril broke the law he knew that he must succumb to his punishment with no other option. He got hit with an arrow in a traditional lawful punishment, and knowing that he had done right to his ancestors by following the punishment he could still do his death dance and call out for his ancestors while his spirit leaves his body. This type of enforcement is also in the poems when talking about what the lizard had done and “That his own fault. He spoilt ceremony. We can’t change it. That’s law”(29). The law to the Aboriginal people is like a sacred view on the way their ancestors had lived.
Does the law of the Aboriginal people and the law that we follow today in the US, or any country have any connections to each other? Punishment associated with Aboriginal law could be seen as extra violent means when looked at today, but does knowing that it was a blood for blood situation make it any different? If we adopt having a greater association with nature to where things are seen as a law of nature, what would happen for us today? Would our laws become more seen as a way of life rather than something for us to follow like a rule? There is a lot of relation towards the ancestors and their spirits and how they want us to follow their ways that can come from stories they tell. Should we look at similar stories for us to live by?
The film Two Canoes follows the story of an Aboriginal tribe in northern Australia. Bill Neidjie’s poem “Gagudju Man” reflects the connection that is held to the land, culture, and heritage. Both the film and the poems offer insight into indigenous worldviews and frameworks, as well as the importance of preserving traditional knowledge, and the ongoing struggle for cultural, survival, and environmental stewardship that they face.
Pg 32:
My children got to hang onto this story. This important story. I hang onto this story all my life. My father tell me this story. My children can’t lose it. White European want to know asking ‘What this story?’ This not easy story. No-one else can tell it because this story for Aboriginal culture. I speak English for you, so you can listen, so you can know, you will understand. If I put my language in same place, you won’t understand. Our story is in the land. It is written in those sacred places. My children will look after those places, that’s the law. No-one can walk close to those sacred places. No difference for Aborigine or white European, that’s the law. We can’t break law.
this poem relates to the film Ten Canoes because this poem is reflecting on the significance in preserving Indigenous culture and passing down traditional stories to future generations. in the film Ten Canoes, in the very beginning during the introduction, the narrator says he is going to tell us, the viewers, a story. he then says it is not our story to tell (anyone who is not indigenous). he mentions one or two other times that it is not our story to tell, but the story belongs to his ancestors. the poem highlights the importance of cultural heritage, the preservation of traditional practices within the indigenous culture, and the connection that tribes hold to their land and stories. together, they provide a close perspective into indigenous knowledge and lifestyle, as well as the intrinsic relationship that these tribes have with their surrounding environment. this poem also exhibits the ignorance that white europeans may show in the way that the poem states “White European want to know asking ‘What this story?’ This not easy story. No-one else can tell it because this story for Aboriginal culture. I speak English for you, so you can listen, so you can know, you will understand.”
this excerpt shows ignorance because indigenous tribes that speak different languages than a white english-speaking person must learn the english language in order to share the stories of their culture, instead of having the curious individuals do their part in educating themselves and learning the indigenous languages to hear the lore associated with the culture. the poem in other words is saying “I will do all the work so that you can have a little bit more insight into my life and my story”
question: how does the film “ten canoes” navigate the portrayal of indigenous culture for a broader audience who are uneducated on their lore? how does the film address the complexity of indigenous storytelling and the transfer of cultural knowledge?
In Bill Neidjie’s poem, there is a focus on death to wrap up the story of life. After his death, all he wanted was consistency in the environment. His law and order seemed to be that change should be provided by nature rather than being provided by man. Bulldozers and the ripping up of the natural environment is something that he did not desire even to create a coffin to house his dead body as a cave was sufficient enough. There is also a focus on the spirit summed up in a few words. “My spirit has gone back to my country, my mother.” The natural environment is so much of Neidji’s life that he goes not to heaven or hell, but back to the Earth. His home is not in a luxury apartment way up in the sky, but on the ground where his food is grown, and thus his spirit will return to its home.
In the movie, Ten Canoes, I believe there is a similar connection between the people, the land, and their spirits. Ridjimiri’s struggle and hate associated with losing his wife tainted his soul and made him act out of line. He killed a man from another tribe and rather than owning up to his actions he left the body to be found. When it was discovered that Ridjimiril killed a man out of cold blood he was to have spears thrown at him until wounded and wounded he was. Before his death, Ridjimiril danced his death dance and his people sang to keep his spirit company. This death was unnecessary such as was the death of the stranger, but the law of the land kept these two tribes at peace. A spear for a spear. Balance. After Ridjimiril’s death, there was a great focus on his spirit. As the tribe accompanied Ridjimiril’s spirit while he died, they painted the signs of his watering hole to guide him back home to his land.
Ridjimiril and Neidjie want to return to the Earth after death where their spirit can live where it once roamed. Why do they choose to return to Earth rather than go to heaven or be reborn?
In the book Ceremony, Tayo’s stomach is very spiritual and that is where most of his feelings are felt. When Ridjimiril dies his tribe paints the symbol of his watering hole there so that he can return home. Do you think there is a connection between the spirit and the stomach?
the film portrays indigenous storytelling, emphasizing a non-linear understanding of time and space, where the stories of ancestors and descendants coexist. Similarly, Neidijie’s poetry highlights the importance of aboriginal law, emphasizing its unchanging nature compares to western law. Both mediums stress the deep connection between indigenous peoples and nature, promoting sustainable practices and a cyclical view of life and death.
how can indigenous storytelling and cultural practices, as depicted in Ten Canoes and Neidjie’s poetry inform western societies’ approaches to law and sustainability?
Many of the films and texts we have been analyzing utilize the distinction of time, specifically past and present, in order to portray a story from different point of views. The film Ten Canoes uses a tree metaphor, and similar to how the men pull bark off the tree in layers, the story has many layers that are discovered as it goes on. As the film goes on, it goes further back into time, or deeper into the layers of the tree.
The Bill Neidjie’s poem, “I give you this story” highlights the issues with colonization by showing how cultural traditions and history are forgotten over time. From when the white men arrive, they begin writing history from their perspective, neglecting the Aborigine history and all of their culture. This poem shows how little indigenous traditions were valued, and how they were punished for trying to preserve them.
“I was thinking.
No history written for us
when white European start here,
only few words written.
Should be more than that.”
…
“Anyway, got to be made that book.
There’s still time.
No man can growl at me for telling this story,
because it will be too late.
I’ll be dead.”
This poem shows how little indigenous traditions were valued, and people were punished for trying to preserve them. In what ways is this still a current theme in our society? Why is it dangerous to lose these stories and the rich history they hold? Other than films/text, what are some ways to spread knowledge on indigenous groups such as the Aboriginal Australians? How could we portray indigenous history through art?
In the film ten canoes, I found the importance of the waterhole and the circle of life as not only a connection of community to the land, but it is what truly makes the community. Being born from the waterhole and returning after death shows not only the connection to the land, but an important piece of culture of being created from the land. This is shown in Ridjimiraril’s journey back to the waterhole through the family’s preparation to help him rejoin the place where he was born. A stanza that I found most relating to the care and reverence to the waterhole as a place of life from Law is this:
‘You hang onto this story,’ they say.
So I hang on.
I tell kids.
When they get yam, leave hole.
I say
‘Who leave that hole?
Cover him up!’
They say
‘We forget.’
I tell them
‘You leaving hole.
You killing yam.
You killing yourself.
You hang onto your country.
That one I fight for.
I got him.
Now he’s yours.
I’ll be dead,
I’ll be coming to earth.’
In not caring for where you come from, you cause the death of yourself and the generations after you. This poem’s message and movie share a connection through the philosophy that earth is life, where you come from you borrow your life from the earth and must return it in its place so the earth may continue.
In the aboriginal cultures, the stewardship of the earth comes from many sources: respect, life, survival, culture, art, and more. Does american culture suffer because our beliefs do not hold earth as life, or do we hold earth as life but value money more, or value what we gain from life-earth more?
In the film ten canoes, I found the importance of the waterhole and the circle of life as not only a connection of community to the land, but it is what truly makes the community. Being born from the waterhole and returning after death shows not only the connection to the land, but an important piece of culture of being created from the land. This is shown in Ridjimiraril’s journey back to the waterhole through the family’s preparation to help him rejoin the place where he was born. A stanza that I found most relating to the care and reverence to the waterhole as a place of life from Law is this:
‘You hang onto this story,’ they say.
So I hang on.
I tell kids.
When they get yam, leave hole.
I say
‘Who leave that hole?
Cover him up!’
They say
‘We forget.’
I tell them
‘You leaving hole.
You killing yam.
You killing yourself.
You hang onto your country.
That one I fight for.
I got him.
Now he’s yours.
I’ll be dead,
I’ll be coming to earth.’
In not caring for where you come from, you cause the death of yourself and the generations after you. This poem’s message and movie share a connection through the philosophy that earth is life, where you come from you borrow your life from the earth and must return it in its place so the earth may continue.
In the aboriginal cultures, the stewardship of the earth comes from many sources: respect, life, survival, culture, art, and more. Does american culture suffer because our beliefs do not hold earth as life, or do we hold earth as life but value money more, or value what we gain from life-earth more?
SD 3800 Voices in Sustainable Development 
Ellen Kraai
In the film Ten Canoes directed by Rolf de Heer and Peter Djigirr, we see the story telling of aboriginal Australia, both that of the ancient ancestors and their descendants. The film illustrates a complex understanding of time and space, in which the stories of the descendants and their ancestors are not simply that of recalling the past. Rather, the relationship between descendants and ancestors is a tangled web of stories that coexist with one another, disrupting Western, linear senses of time. The descendants are not merely recalling stories they had been told, rather the stories exist right alongside them. The ancestors’ story is not treated as mythical, instead it is simultaneously “true” and ever-evolving. This can be seen in the scenes panning back and forth between color and black and white, sometimes one within the other. Instead of the classic sepia or black-and-white flashback in Hollywood movies, the ancestors are often the ones with their story told in full color, and the descendants in black and white. The film takes its time to tell the story, with some slower-paced scenes focused equally on sound and expression as they are visuals. As the narrator mentions, the story of the ancestors is that of a tree, with many branches of equal importance.
Bill Neidjie’s poem Gagudju also illustrates this non-linear understanding of time and space. His writings switch frequently between “past”, “present”, and “future”. In Land, Neidjie writes:
Feeling make you.
Out there in open space,
he coming through your body.
Look while he blow and feel with your body,
because tree just about your brother or father
and tree is watching you.
Earth.
Like your father or brother or mother,
because you born from earth.
You got to come back to earth.
When you dead,
you’ll come back to earth.
Maybe little while yet …
then you’ll come to earth.
That’s your bone, your blood.
It’s in this earth,
same as for tree. (Neidjie 39)
Our temptation in Western, Global Northern cultural frameworks is to understand time as a line, constantly moving forward and leaving the past behind only in history books. For Neidjie and the aboriginal peoples in the film, time appears more to be cyclical; from death comes life and from life comes death, shifting together and constantly evolving. The film begins with the narrator giving the classic “Once upon a time in a land far away”, and ends with “And they all lived happily ever after”, after each the narrator laughs, lightheardedly poking at mainstream media’s methods of storytelling. The narrator says that he has told his story and that it is “not your story, but good story all the same”. Neidjie brings up this importance of coexisting ways of knowing as well:
Feeling make you.
Out there in open space,
he coming through your body.
Look while he blow and feel with your body,
because tree just about your brother or father
and tree is watching you.
Earth.
Like your father or brother or mother,
because you born from earth.
You got to come back to earth.
When you dead,
you’ll come back to earth.
Maybe little while yet …
then you’ll come to earth.
That’s your bone, your blood.
It’s in this earth,
same as for tree. (Neidjie 32).
How can we learn to value stories for being more than memories? Should we adopt this non-linear understanding of time and space? Or are our “white European” stories good stories all the same? How can we navigate valuing stories for being vital entities themselves and understanding life and death as serving one another without fetishizing or adopting cultural understandings that may not work for us? What values from these ways of knowing in regards to time and storytelling can we effectively and reciprocally utilize?
Opal Napier
In Bill Neidjie’s poems and the film Ten Canoes, we learn the importance of Aboriginal law. In the film, we see Ridjimiraril answer for the murder of the wrong stranger alongside his brother in the Makarrata, a payback ceremony. Even though Ridjimiraril and the rest of the tribe knew this ceremony would entail injury and even death of one of their members, they followed the law in order to avoid a greater war. They did not try to hide or ask for a different punishment or compromise, but rather accepted the consequences of their actions.
Neidjie writes:
“Law never change,
always stay same.
Maybe it hard,
but proper one for all people.
Not like white European law,
always changing.
If you don’t like it,
you can change.
Aboriginal law never change.
Old people tell us,
‘You got to keep it.’
It always stays.”
In SD, we often talk about why our laws need to change, often claiming that they are in fact too stagnant rather than ever changing. Neidjie writes of changing oneself rather than the law. What is the difference between ‘white European law’ (or rather, white Western law) and Aboriginal law that makes stasis better in one than the other? When Neidje says laws never change, does he mean that laws are not adaptable, or is he rather speaking to what is at the core of each one? Is the adaptability of people more important than the adaptability of the law?
Carlye Durham
In the film, Ten Canoes, the narrator illustrates a story of his ancestors and through this, highlights his culture’s sense of place and their interwoven relationships to the land. In the beginning of the film the narrator describes a story of life and death which states that all of his people are born the same way; they come from a waterhole in earth when they are ready to be born, and when they die they return to that waterhole where they wait to be born again. At the end of the film after Ridjimiraril’s death, his family engages in a ceremony to prepare Ridjimiraril’s spirit for its journey back to its waterhole. This symbolizes the circle of life and the flow of energy and speaks to this culture’s values of being a part of nature. The people have always been part of nature, being born from the earth and returning to the earth.
In Bill Neidjie’s poem Law on pages 24 and 25 the author states..
“Old people say
‘You dig yam?
Well you digging your granny or mother
through the belly.
You must cover it up,
cover again.
When you get yam you cover over,
then no hole through there.
Yam can grow again.’…
I tell them
‘You leaving hole.
You killing yam.
You killing yourself.
You hang onto your country.
That one I fight for.”
In these two stanzas Neidjie describes his culture’s deep connection to nature and the earth by viewing the earth as a matriarchal figure that provides life to all. This understanding and interconnectedness to nature as shown throughout Neidjie’s poem and the film as well is and has been a key player in the survival of indigenous groups. Furthermore this way of thinking of oneself as one with nature or a part of the whole of nature promotes inherent sustainable practices. Only when humans separate themselves from nature like many capitalist western cultures, do we fall out of touch with natural systems and fail to support mother earth with the same vigor that we support ourselves. This lack of relationship with nature has lead us to capitalism, extractive industries, unsustainable lifestyles, and leaves us extremely disconnected from our communities and ecosystems.
How do we get people to understand that how we treat the earth directly correlates with our own health? And how can we restructure our disconnected societies to embrace a renewed relationship with nature and foster truly sustainable practices?
Jason Schlachtun
In Neidjie’s poem “Land”, he describes the cyclical nature of life and death within Aboriginal culture in a way that is echoed by “Ten Canoes”.
“Earth.
Like your father or brother or mother,
because you born from earth.
You got to come back to earth.
When you dead,
you’ll come back to earth.
Maybe little while yet …
then you’ll come to earth.
That’s your bone, your blood.
It’s in this earth,
same as for tree.”
The film describes a similar cultural belief, which is that people are born from a water hole, and when they die their soul returns to that same water hole so they can be born again. This is why they painted Ridjimiraril’s Body and chased his Spirit Away once he died so that his soul could return to the water hole from whence it came.
What might be the ramifications of such a belief on the greater culture? Does knowing that their Spirits are going to walk the earth again after they die encourage them to follow the law and manage the land sustainably?
Another question I have regards the differences in the story of death and rebirth as it’s told by Neidjie and “Ten Canoes”. Why does one involve a water hole while the other only mentions returning to the Earth, is this the drift of the myths over time or is this just a cultural difference between two different groups of Aboriginal people?
“People.
they can’t listen for us.
They just listen for money.
Money.
…
Million no good for us.
We need this earth to live because
we’ll be dead,
we’ll become earth.
This ground and this earth,
like brother and mother”
(Neidjie 30-31).
This particular section of the poem instantly caught my attention for the way it seems to acknowledge capitalism and the West’s obsession with capital wealth. I love how it says that “millions will do us no good” because we need this earth to live, but our insistence on creating and holding wealth is killing the Earth.
What other lessons from the poem can we learn and utilize in our journey towards climate action and sustainable development?
“White European want to know
asking ‘What this story?’
This not easy story.
No-one else can tell it
because this story for Aboriginal culture.
I speak English for you,
so you can listen,
so you can know,
you will understand.
If I put my language in same place,
you won’t understand.
Our story is in the land.
It is written in those sacred places.
My children will look after those places,
that’s the law”
(Neidjie 32)
Another section that really caught my attention was how the author claims English speakers cannot understand this story, because it was not written for them, and therefore cannot be translated for them. Their story is the land, a story that can not be transcribed into any conventional language.
How does Neidjie and Silko use poetry to tell a story? Is it more or less effective than prose?
Anne Elise Russell
In Ten Canoes, around 56:14, the narrator compares the story that Minygululu is telling to a large tree, where each different part of the story is represented by one of the tree’s branches. The narrator underlines the idea that although each branch may seem to deal with a different topic, you have to address all of the branches before you can comprehend the whole story. I thought this was a fascinating way of describing storytelling, especially in the non-linear context of the film. Through the use of this tree metaphor, we are able to understand and practice patience, which is the main lesson that Dayinidi learns in the end. We must be patient as we listen to each branch of the story, because impatience could cost us important plot details and change the entire meaning of the story.
I thought that this tree metaphor aligned well with Ceremony because of how fragmented the novel is. I think Silko’s choice to structure the novel as a series of story fragments that abruptly cut into one another adds an air of mystery for the reader, yet also traces Tayo’s own mindscape as he struggles to piece together the different parts of his own story. Like the tree metaphor, it isn’t until the end, when all of the branches of the tree become visible, that Tayo and the readers are able to clearly understand the entire story. Ceremony also echoes the non-linear temporality of Ten Canoes, jumping back and forth between different points in time, thereby melding them together as different versions of the present moment.
I also think that the tree metaphor fits in nicely with SD, because it is such an interdisciplinary field. In order to understand the SD issues, you have to look at them from multiple viewpoints and you have to make sure you’re getting the whole picture, or else you could make a serious mistake. My question this week is do you think non-linear understandings of time are important for SD work? Why or why not? How can they be incorporated into Western-dominated SD discourses? Should they be?
The film ten canoes represents a story within a story. Following two different pasts, they both are stories of a man going after another man’s wife. Within the first story Dayindi is hunting for goose eggs in the swamp and he builds a bark canoe. While he is learning to build the canoe his brother Minygululus tells the story of the old laws and a man named Yeeralparil who fancies the wife of a warrior. Minygululus tells this story because he knows his brother fancies his third wife. I found it interesting that the first story is shot in black and white and the second story that is much older is shot in color. What is the reason for black and white and color in these two stories?
Bill Neidjie’s poem “I Give You This Story” really stood out to me. It is a story about the Aborigines and the lack of history written for them when the European colonizers came. He discusses in this poem how much has changed. At the end of this poem they state that “no man can growl at me for telling this story, because it will be too late. I’ll be dead.” This hints at the backlash they fear they would have received for writing the story of their people. Another poem titled “He can’t move his country” is very powerful and made me emotional. It is a story about the differences of the white man and Aborigines but they share a country so one’s actions impacts the others. They explain that all their people are dead and gone and end the poem with “Only me, Robin Gaden and Felix Holmes” are left. Using the names is powerful and they go on to explain that the man can’t move his country. They stayed when the language changed and when their people were killed. One similarity between the film ten canoes and Bill Neidjie’s poems is storytelling. How does the storytelling differ and what are the similarities? What makes storytelling such a powerful platform in sustainable development?
Ella Harris
Winifred Rhea-Unruh
Upon watching the film Ten Canoes I noticed that the narrator was David Gulpilil who played Charlie in Charlie’s Country. The director of Charlies’ Country, Rolf de Heer also directed Charlie’s Country, and Peter Djigirr played Black Pete in Charlie’s Country. The overall scenery in the two films was also very similar. Throughout the film Ten Canoes there was a large emphasis on the importance of storytelling. There is a younger man in the film who is being told the story of his ancestors for multiple days. There is also a large emphasis on storytelling in the Gagudju Man poem. The last page of the poem states
My people
All dead.
We only got few left.
That’s all, not many.
We getting too old.
Young people.
I don’t know if they can hang onto this story
But, now you know this story,
And you’ll be coming to earth.
You’ll be part of earth when you die.
You responsible now.
You got to go with us.
To earth.
Might be you can hang on.
Hang on to this story.
To this earth.
You got children,
Grandson.
Might be your grandson will get this story,
Keep going,
Hang on like I done.
In this poem as well as in Ceremony there is a feeling of forgetfulness. As generations go on children are forgetting their cultural traditions and stories. The main reasoning for this forgetfulness is because of colonization and the stripping of culture and practices away from people. In Ceremony Rockey is deliberately trying to forget his culture and turns to western science instead of storytelling. In the film an important ancestral story is being told in order to preserve culture and oral tradition. The poem is also telling a story and showing the consequences for forgetting. It seems that stories are an imperative part to connecting nature with your day to day life.
Is there a way to bridge science with storytelling to help people preserve their culture? Do stories have to be written down in order to be preserved? Bill Neidijie is writing this poem because he does not want it to be forgotten. Were there any stories about nature that you heard as a child that explained why things are the way that they are?
Malcolm Vaughn
In both the film Ten Canoes and the poem Law, there is mention of a strict law that cannot be broken, and when it is broken, punishment comes to the one who broke it. In the film, the tribe elder breaks the law by spearing a stranger. When he does this, he knows he must accept his punishment and be speared by the other clan. This is his punishment, and so he accepts it with grace. In the poem Law by Bill Neidjie, he tells of the frill-neck lizard who broke the law as a human and so was turned into an ugly, skinny lizard. This punishment, though less freely accepted by the lizard, was carried out by his people who knew that he had to face the consequences for breaking the law.
From these passages we can see that it is clearly important to the Aborigine that this law be followed, and that punishment come if it is broken. Connect this notion of law to the law that we employ in the United States and much of the “developed” world. Do you think we are held to the same scrutiny as the people presented in these stories? Why do you think the law is so highly regarded in these communities and what could we learn about their laws in relation to our own?
Neidjie writes that the difference between our laws is that ours can be changed by a powerful person and that theirs are sacred, and no amount of money or power can change them. What can we learn from this?
Discussion Response Joe Davis
In the film “Ten Canoes” we see death as a significant event for the tribe. When Ridjimiraril is close to death he gets up and does his own death dance, confronting his death and accepting that he will return through this ceremony and cycle of life. Neidjie rights about death saying that
“I know I come back to my country.
When I die I become earth.
I love this country and this earth.”
Clearly there is an understanding of death that is different than what we usually think of in our society. This is a large spiritual element of it that connects you to something much larger.
How do we compare this view of death with the general Westernized view of death? Is reincarnation similar to our consciousness continuing on in a way? How could a more spiritual view of death involving connectivity reduce fear and improve our lives and our society? What can we learn from the ceremony tied to death?
Ren Pommarane
While viewing the film this week as well as finishing up ceremony, it seems to me as though the significance of story telling should never be underestimated for political reform, as well as the utilization of poems as a story telling device. In Ten Canoes and the poem Law by Neidjie there is a connection that can be drawn between the killing of a stranger by Ridjimraril the leader of the tribe, and the transformation of the frill-neck lizard into the skinny lizard for the crimes he committed.
“Aboriginal law never change.
Old people tell us,
“You got to keep it”
It always stays
….
We can’t break law.
No, we can’t break law.
That frill neck lizard done it first,
now look how thin he is
That his own fault.
He spoilt ceremony
We can’t change it,
Thats Law.”
In the film after Ridjimaril undergoes a formalized and ritualistic form of punishment for his crimes that he committed. My understanding was that the tribe of the man who was killed were permitted to spear Ridjimaril until sufficient blood was drawn. This seemed like a harsh ritual but it made me think about customary law and the way that Indigenous/Aboriginal law is treated and perceived and whether it is as harsh as it has been made out to be.
One of the first questions that I wanted to ask were what kind of parallels can be seen in between the first stanza of Law and Western perception of aboriginal law. Do you think that aboriginal law has stayed the same in the west or changed and evolved over time? What are some examples from ceremony that could help refine this argument?
The next question I wanted to ask was about the perception of violence within Indigenous culture. Western violence has been considered a necessity for many human milestones, and it is traditionally not viewed as barbaric/savage at least in the way that Aboriginal violence is perceived. What are some of the benefits of violence within law and some of the disadvantage’s? What role does story telling play in translating these violences into something significant like a lesson?
Elizabeth Cassam
In the film Ten Canoes, directed by Rolf de Heer and Peter Djigirr, and in Bill Neidjie’s poem “Gagudju,” both the film and the poem explore the non-linear understanding of time and space in aboriginal Australia. They depict a complex relationship between descendants and ancestors, where stories coexist with each other rather than being a simple recalling of the past. This challenges Western, linear notions of time, portraying time as cyclical and ever-evolving. Neidjie’s poem “Land” further emphasizes this cyclical nature, describing how people are born from the earth and return to it after death, echoing the belief in the film that souls return to a water hole after death for rebirth.
These cultural beliefs have profound implications on the greater culture. The belief in the cyclical nature of life and death may encourage people to follow the law and manage the land sustainably, knowing that their actions will impact future generations. However, the differences in the stories of death and rebirth between Neidjie’s poem and Ten Canoes raise questions about cultural variation and the drift of myths over time. One involves a water hole while the other mentions returning to the earth, highlighting the diversity of beliefs and practices among different aboriginal groups.
Earth.
Like your father or brother or mother,
because you born from earth.
You got to come back to earth.
When you dead,
you’ll come back to earth.
Maybe little while yet …
then you’ll come to earth.
That’s your bone, your blood.
It’s in this earth,
same as for tree. (Neidjie 39)
How can we learn to value stories as more than memories and adopt a non-linear understanding of time and space, as depicted in Ten Canoes and Neidjie’s poem? What values from these ways of knowing in regards to time and storytelling can we effectively and reciprocally utilize? How might these beliefs impact cultural sustainability and the management of the land?
Both “Ten Canoes” and Neidjie’s poem “Law” underscore the importance of adhering to traditional laws and accepting consequences for transgressions. The film depicts a tribal elder breaking the law by spearing a stranger, leading to his acceptance of punishment through a ritualistic spearing by the other clan. Similarly, Neidjie’s poem recounts the punishment of the frill-neck lizard for violating the law, transforming him into a skinny lizard. These passages highlight the significance placed on upholding sacred laws within Aboriginal communities, contrasting with Western legal systems that can be influenced by power and wealth.
How does the respect for and enforcement of indigenous laws compare to our legal systems today?
What insights can we glean from these indigenous legal traditions regarding justice, accountability, and cultural preservation?
Grady Vardeman
Kobe Early
I want to compare Ceremony to Ten Canoes.
In ceremony tayo is having a conversation and it appears that everything is almost apathetic that the world is simply dead.
“Death isn’t much,” she said. She was sitting on the sand, with her
feet out straight in front, arranging short willow twigs into bundles,
tying them with fluffy cotton string that she had twisted by hand.
They had found a calf in the arroyo that morning; small black ants
were already making trails across the head, from the nose to the
eyes. The belly was bloating out as the sun climbed higher in the sky.
“Sometimes they don’t make it. That’s all. It isn’t very far away.”
She looked up at him intently, and then continued.” (pg 176)
In Ten Canoes, when a member of the group dies there is a sacred ceremony of death for the dying individual. There are specific practices to be followed in a series of mourning. The story begins by talking about how all life begins and ends in a pool. There is a creator Yulunggurr who has made all the land and water- peoples themselves come from a water hole like a fish and dying is to go back to the water hole to be born again. The rules that lead to a man’s death because of a misunderstanding are all a part of a constant trend that is abiding by meagerness and entangled lifestyles. The most gluttonous of the bunch is still capable, not indulged by his wives or other people to continue in such behavior. This is a demonstration of how they do not allow anyone who tell others what to do. There is no need for a leader in and of itself, often more so a mutual understanding and respect for each other. The group speaks often in a positive tone based on the activities directly around them. The fact that the colonialist state of mind hasn’t been presented to them is a demonstration of how life may have been in some aspects for indigenous peoples of the Americans prior to colonization.
What was sacred- what made up their conversations- what made up culture is palpable when you deal with people and the environment in your immediate vicinity.
What would a return to this require?
I would say it is to entangle people with their immediate environment through a means of storytelling that makes people more susceptible to viewing features of their world as sacred. Building relationships in manners that are dependent on what truly makes people happy.
In both Ten Canoes and Neidjie’s poems, there is an underlying theme of the Aboriginal and indigenous tie to the land. I particularly want to point out the poem He can’t move his country.
“This earth I never damage. I look after. Fire is nothing,just clean up.
When you burn, new grass coming up.
That mean good animal soon. Might be goose, long-neck turtle, goanna, possum.
Burn him off, new grass coming up,new life all over.
I don’t know about white European way. We, Aborigine, burn. Make things grow.
Tree grow, every night he grow. Daylight he stop. Just about dark, he start again.
Just about morning, I look. I say, ‘Oh, nice tree this.’ When you sleep, tree growing like other trees, they got lots of blood.
Rotten tree, you got to burn him.
Use him to cook. He’s finished up, cook or roast in coals,White man cook in oven,
From university that. Aborigine didn’t know that before.Now all this coming up with Toyota….”
The poem goes on to point out “white mans” education and assimilation of other cultures in other countries. I am reminded of Tayo from Ceremony as well as he struggled with his own culture in the “white mans” country. In this poem, specifically, the aboriginal culture of fire burning as a healthy practice in forestry is mentioned, where in white culture fire is seen as bad and something to get rid of. How do colonizing forces change not only other cultures but the environment, and is this something that can be reversed in the event that reparations are an option?
^Mary Quinn Fullwood
Alex Smith
On page 228 it is revealed why Tayo throughout the book has always confused the japanese soldiers’ voices with the Laguna due to both of these groups being affected by nuclear bombs. I personally like this detail because not a lot of people know that nuclear testing was done on native american lands. I also like this quote in the reading”from that time on, human beings were one clan again, united by the fate the destroyers planned for all of them, for all living things; united by a circle of death that devoured people in cities twelve thousand miles away, victims who had never known these mesas, who had never seen the delicate colors of the rocks which boiled up their slaughter”. My question is how many other cultures can relate to this.
McKinzie Sturgell
In the Film “Ten Canoes” and Bill Neidjie’s poem “Gagudju Man” both discus cultural heritage and Aboriginal wisdom. They have an emphasis on storytelling and tradition as important parts of life. In “Gagudju Man” Neidjie writes
“Aboriginal law never change.
Old people tell us,
‘You got to keep it.’
It always stays.”
(Pg. 22)
The connections to ancestors and the land are apparent in both works. The animals and plants of the area are mentioned frequently in the film and poem. As well as assessors who are a guiding force for the culture today.
Can the colonizers find a way to respect the Aboriginal laws? And can we spread awareness of these cultures that should be the most important their but seem to be over shadowed by the European/Australian culture?
Alena Dastur
In the film Ten Canoes, we see an Aboriginal story being passed along between community members/generations. Minygululu tells a story to his younger brother Dayindi that reflects on their current situation and could be seen as a way of explaining the law/the proper way to act to Dayindi. It is told in a creative way where the audience travels back and forth between the past and present. There is also inclusion of the audience as an active listener by the narrator which at least in my opinion deepened my interest and investment in hearing the story all the way through.
In his poems, Neidjie says:
Young people.
I don’t know if they can hang onto this story.
But, now you know this story,
and you’ll be coming to earth.
You’ll be part of earth when you die.
You responsible now.
You got to go with us.
To earth.
Might be you can hang on.
Hang onto this story.
To this earth.
You got children,
grandson.
Might be your grandson will get this story,
keep going,
hang on like I done.
Both the film and this writing from Neidjie show themes of life and death, and cultural continuance through the form of storytelling. What makes stories such a compelling format to transfer messages and information? How has modern society and the Western paradigm of thinking pushed people away from stories (if it has)? What responsibility if any does our current generation have in changing the status quo of knowledge transfer and culture preservation?
Karissa Scott
In the film “Ten Canoes”, as well as in the book “Gagudju Man” we see the importance of storytelling. Throughout the film, we see the progression of Minygululu sharing the story of their ancestors with his younger brother Dayindi. In the book, the author Bill Neidjie, emphasizes the importance of storytelling by saying,
“My children get to hand onto this story.
This important story.
I hang onto this story all my life.
My father tell me this story.
My children can’t lose it.
White European want to know
asking ‘What this story?’
This is not easy story.
No-one else can tell it
because this story for Aboriginal culture.
I speak English for you,
so you can listen,
so you can know,
you will understand.
If I put my language in same place,
you won’t understand.
Our story is in the land.
It is written in those sacred places.
My children will look after those places,
that’s the law.” (p.32)
For a lot of native indigenous communities, storytelling is how they share and continue with their culture and ancestral heritage. Why do you think that storytelling is not used to that extent in European/American culture? Also, in the film we saw it switching from black in white to color, to different the present and the past. Usually, color is used to represent the present, whereas in the film it was used to represent the past. What could be the significance of that choice within the film?
Ginger Perro
Both the film Ten Canoes as well as the Bill Neidjie reading discuss the importance of law within Aboriginal communities. They mention how it is crucial to the way of the land, and how their communities are organized and function.
In the film, the narrator states “Ridjimiraril knew people needed to law so they could stay the right way with the right land – and he knew he had broken the law.”
Bill Neidjie wrote the following:
Law
Law never change,
always stay same.
Maybe it hard,
but proper one for all people.
Not like white European law,
always changing.
If you don’t like it,
you can change.
Aboriginal law never change.
Old people tell us,
‘You got to keep it.’
It always stays.
When discussing the impacts of breaking this law, Neidjie writes:
“You know frill-neck lizard?
He look funny.
Used to be good smooth animal.
He was man.
He done something wrong.
Look ugly now … skinny leg, arm,
big one ear, frill-neck.
What he done?
Break law.” (28)
In looking at the effects colonialism has had on the Aboriginal population within Australia, as well as Indigenous communities everywhere – there have been detrimental impacts on the laws and traditions of these communities. What do you think the generational impacts of this destruction of law and way of life may be? In the film, they discuss bad magic coming about from bad actions or ill intentioned people/sorcerers. Do you think there is a tie between the destructive and evil impacts of colonialism/capitalism, bad magic, and the current social and environmental issues we are facing? Or are our issues simply a direct result of a lack of law and/or respect for our greater environment and surrounding community – touching on Neidjie stating the white law constantly changing merely because a white person decides they don’t like it anymore.
**First quote about Law on pg. 22
Nicole Travers
Question 1
The film Ten Canoes and the poetry of Gagudju Man by Bill Neidjie both speak to the importance of storytelling to keep culture alive. Neidjie speaks a lot on this theme, emphasizing it in most of his poems. In the first poem, “I Give You This Story,” Neidjie says “I was thinking. / No history written for us / when white European start here, / only few words written. / Should be more than that. / Should be written way Aborigine was live” (Neidjie 17). In the poem “Land,” he goes on to write “We have to keep pressure on young people to learn. / They must learn these things. / I have to stay on to teach my children” (Neidjie 37). In the last poem, “Conclusion,” Neidjie says that his people are either dead or getting old and that he does not know if the young people will be able to keep this story. In one of the last stanzas Neidjie says “But, now you know this story, / and you’ll be coming to earth. / You’ll be part of earth when you die. / You responsible now” (Neidjie 56). Through these quotes, it is clear that Neidjie believes that passing down stories is extremely important, even telling the reader that, now that they have heard the story, it is their responsibility too to pass it down. In Ten Canoes, not nearly as much emphasis is placed on preserving stories. While the entire film is a story being told and passed down, it seems that the character is telling it simply for the sake of telling a good story. Unlike Neidjie who concludes with a call to action, the film ends with the narrator saying “Now you’ve seen my story. It’s a good story. Not like your story, but a good story all the same.” Again, it seems as if the film is just simply telling a story because stories are fun to tell and hear, no matter what your culture is. My question is, do you think Ten Canoes intended to teach the same lesson as Neidjie’s poems? Perhaps just in a more discreet way? If so, do you think the film or the poems are more effective at conveying the importance of storytelling?
Question 2
Both the film Ten Canoes and the poems in Gagudju Man have the English language in them. While the poems are entirely in English, the film is spoken in the Aboriginal language save for the English narrator. In the poem “Land,” Neidjie explains “I speak English for you, / so you can listen, / so you can know, / you will understand. / If I put my language in same place, / you won’t understand” (Neidjie 32). His point makes sense, as one who speaks English could not possibly read poems in the Aboriginal language if they were not translated; however, it is different for films. Ten Canoes could have been entirely in the Aboriginal language with the narration having subtitles just like the dialogue does. Yet, the creators chose to make the narrator speak English. Why do you think this is? Do you think it would have been more powerful if the movie was entirely in the Aboriginal language? Or would it have been less effective?
Niedjie p. 20: “Now Aborigine losing it,
losing everything.
Nearly dead all my people,
my old people gone.”
Ceremony p. 228: “There was no end to it; it knew no boundaries; and he had arrived at the point of convergence where the fate of all living things, and even the earth, had been laid. From the jungles of his dreaming he recognized why the Japanese voices had merged with Laguna voices, with Josiah’s voice and Rocky’s voice; the lines of cultures and worlds were drawn in flat dark lines on fine light sang, converging in the middle of witchery’s final ceremonial sand painting. From that time on, human beings were one clan again, united by the fate the destroyers had planned for all of them, for all living things; united by a circle of death that devoured people in cities twelve thousand miles away, victims who had never known these mesas, who had never seen the delicate colors of the rocks which boiled up their slaughter.”
In the film “Ten Canoes” and in Silko’s “Ceremony,” we learn about the cultural significance of sorcery, traditional medicine, and witchcraft in both Aboriginal and Laguna culture. In “Ten Canoes,” the sorcerer practices both good and bad magic. In “Ceremony,” the work of medicine people is distinct from witchcraft/witchery, which is considered evil. In “Ceremony” and in Niedjie’s poem “He can’t move his country,” we see the consequences of violence brought on by colonialism. I can imagine that if Tayo learned about the effects of colonialism on Aboriginal people and culture, he would feel a similar sense of connectedness as to when he found the uranium mine and saw how the consequences of the military industrial complex connected the Laguna people and Japanese people. I wonder how the conversation would go if Tayo, Betonie, or Ku’oosh talked to the sorcerer from the story in “Ten Canoes.” What would the consensus be on the witchery behind colonialism? What might their solutions to the problem look like? Would they all agree, or might they have different approaches?
Faye Guarino
Caitlin Langley
This week we read a poem by Bill Neidjie’s name Gagudju Man and watched the film Ten Canoes and both showcased the way of life of an original Australian tribe. In the poem, Neidjie talks about how the tribe used to be and then how it was after the influence of the White Man way.
“Law never change,
always stay same.
Maybe it hard,
but proper one for all people.
Not like white European law,
always changing.
If you don’t like it,
you can change.”
This quote from Gagudju Man relates to Ten Canoes in the way of law and Aboriginal law. In the movie we see how things work with Aboriginal law when a member of the tribe’s wife gets taken and the husband kills the wrong stranger accidentally. The form of law that they used was that the individual who mistakenly killed the stranger had spears thrown at him by the stranger’s tribe until he was hit by one. Once he is hit the trial is over and the incident is settled. In the western way of law there is always more to serving justice and many times it is not served correctly. Oftentimes the law is changed to fit a narrative or to advance an agenda. My question is how far do you think the U.S and other first world nations would be if we followed a more tribal form of law instead of an ever changing law to frame things in their favor?
The film 10 Canoes follows a Aboriginal Australian community through the intricate story telling a native fables of their ancestors that have been passed down for generations. The film puts a great importance on story telling and the mediums intrinsic connection with their community. I think the way they layer the story telling in the film by making stories being told inside stories shows the ingrained nature that stories hold in their community. In the Gagudju Man by Bill Neidjie there is a lot of importance also set on story telling and the precedence and knowledge they can bestow on the community.
“That’s why we get story.
Old people tell us about that first lightning.
That’s before wet season.
We can’t look at it.
Later we get lightning and rain from other way.
But, must not look at first lightning,
bend head down
like first woman who looked.
She was ashamed and bent her head.
We must do the same.” Page 19 Enviornment, Gagudju Man by Bill Neidjie.
This section from the reading was a part that I felt really showcased the uses of stories and their role in society to establish norms. Specifically the way people always wait for the first lighting to now the rain season is about to start and the societal norm that grew from this of not looking at the lighting. These relationships are very powerful and very real to the community so it seems important to acknowledge these connection rather than brushing them aside, like what’s been been the norm in most colonial interactions.
What are some drawbacks of modern modes of story telling like movies or podcast compared to the traditional modes of story telling by speaking in person?
Does making stories personal to you make them more engrained to your your own surrounding community and is that something that’s lost when story telling becomes a global enterprise like in a blockbuster movie? Is their any way to make a movie that commercially appealing and enriching to the community on a personal level, would downscaling be the best response rather than catering to global audience?
^^ Carlos Carmona
Sam Platt
This week, Bill Neidije’s Poem titled Gagudju Man and the film Ten Canoes (2006) looked towards using native people’s stories to give a perspective about living life. The poem collection had a big focus on this and brought many situations back to how we are related to the Earth. The Aboriginal people say that “when I die I become Earth”(48). Their law even involves a certain respect for what the Earth has to offer and that “we got to look after [this Earth], can’t waste anything”(27). One of the things that has a focus in their law shown in both the Ten Canoes film and the poems is the enforcement of punishment when the law is broken. During the film when Ridjimaril broke the law he knew that he must succumb to his punishment with no other option. He got hit with an arrow in a traditional lawful punishment, and knowing that he had done right to his ancestors by following the punishment he could still do his death dance and call out for his ancestors while his spirit leaves his body. This type of enforcement is also in the poems when talking about what the lizard had done and “That his own fault. He spoilt ceremony. We can’t change it. That’s law”(29). The law to the Aboriginal people is like a sacred view on the way their ancestors had lived.
Does the law of the Aboriginal people and the law that we follow today in the US, or any country have any connections to each other? Punishment associated with Aboriginal law could be seen as extra violent means when looked at today, but does knowing that it was a blood for blood situation make it any different? If we adopt having a greater association with nature to where things are seen as a law of nature, what would happen for us today? Would our laws become more seen as a way of life rather than something for us to follow like a rule? There is a lot of relation towards the ancestors and their spirits and how they want us to follow their ways that can come from stories they tell. Should we look at similar stories for us to live by?
Colby Kitts
The film Two Canoes follows the story of an Aboriginal tribe in northern Australia. Bill Neidjie’s poem “Gagudju Man” reflects the connection that is held to the land, culture, and heritage. Both the film and the poems offer insight into indigenous worldviews and frameworks, as well as the importance of preserving traditional knowledge, and the ongoing struggle for cultural, survival, and environmental stewardship that they face.
Pg 32:
My children got to hang onto this story.
This important story.
I hang onto this story all my life.
My father tell me this story.
My children can’t lose it.
White European want to know
asking ‘What this story?’
This not easy story.
No-one else can tell it
because this story for Aboriginal culture.
I speak English for you,
so you can listen,
so you can know,
you will understand.
If I put my language in same place,
you won’t understand.
Our story is in the land.
It is written in those sacred places.
My children will look after those places,
that’s the law.
No-one can walk close to those sacred places.
No difference for Aborigine or white European,
that’s the law.
We can’t break law.
this poem relates to the film Ten Canoes because this poem is reflecting on the significance in preserving Indigenous culture and passing down traditional stories to future generations. in the film Ten Canoes, in the very beginning during the introduction, the narrator says he is going to tell us, the viewers, a story. he then says it is not our story to tell (anyone who is not indigenous). he mentions one or two other times that it is not our story to tell, but the story belongs to his ancestors. the poem highlights the importance of cultural heritage, the preservation of traditional practices within the indigenous culture, and the connection that tribes hold to their land and stories. together, they provide a close perspective into indigenous knowledge and lifestyle, as well as the intrinsic relationship that these tribes have with their surrounding environment. this poem also exhibits the ignorance that white europeans may show in the way that the poem states “White European want to know
asking ‘What this story?’
This not easy story.
No-one else can tell it
because this story for Aboriginal culture.
I speak English for you,
so you can listen,
so you can know,
you will understand.”
this excerpt shows ignorance because indigenous tribes that speak different languages than a white english-speaking person must learn the english language in order to share the stories of their culture, instead of having the curious individuals do their part in educating themselves and learning the indigenous languages to hear the lore associated with the culture. the poem in other words is saying “I will do all the work so that you can have a little bit more insight into my life and my story”
question: how does the film “ten canoes” navigate the portrayal of indigenous culture for a broader audience who are uneducated on their lore? how does the film address the complexity of indigenous storytelling and the transfer of cultural knowledge?
Kadin Bertucci
In Bill Neidjie’s poem, there is a focus on death to wrap up the story of life. After his death, all he wanted was consistency in the environment. His law and order seemed to be that change should be provided by nature rather than being provided by man. Bulldozers and the ripping up of the natural environment is something that he did not desire even to create a coffin to house his dead body as a cave was sufficient enough. There is also a focus on the spirit summed up in a few words. “My spirit has gone back to my country, my mother.” The natural environment is so much of Neidji’s life that he goes not to heaven or hell, but back to the Earth. His home is not in a luxury apartment way up in the sky, but on the ground where his food is grown, and thus his spirit will return to its home.
In the movie, Ten Canoes, I believe there is a similar connection between the people, the land, and their spirits. Ridjimiri’s struggle and hate associated with losing his wife tainted his soul and made him act out of line. He killed a man from another tribe and rather than owning up to his actions he left the body to be found. When it was discovered that Ridjimiril killed a man out of cold blood he was to have spears thrown at him until wounded and wounded he was. Before his death, Ridjimiril danced his death dance and his people sang to keep his spirit company. This death was unnecessary such as was the death of the stranger, but the law of the land kept these two tribes at peace. A spear for a spear. Balance. After Ridjimiril’s death, there was a great focus on his spirit. As the tribe accompanied Ridjimiril’s spirit while he died, they painted the signs of his watering hole to guide him back home to his land.
Ridjimiril and Neidjie want to return to the Earth after death where their spirit can live where it once roamed. Why do they choose to return to Earth rather than go to heaven or be reborn?
In the book Ceremony, Tayo’s stomach is very spiritual and that is where most of his feelings are felt. When Ridjimiril dies his tribe paints the symbol of his watering hole there so that he can return home. Do you think there is a connection between the spirit and the stomach?
Emily Duhon
the film portrays indigenous storytelling, emphasizing a non-linear understanding of time and space, where the stories of ancestors and descendants coexist. Similarly, Neidijie’s poetry highlights the importance of aboriginal law, emphasizing its unchanging nature compares to western law. Both mediums stress the deep connection between indigenous peoples and nature, promoting sustainable practices and a cyclical view of life and death.
how can indigenous storytelling and cultural practices, as depicted in Ten Canoes and Neidjie’s poetry inform western societies’ approaches to law and sustainability?
Alissa Odom
Many of the films and texts we have been analyzing utilize the distinction of time, specifically past and present, in order to portray a story from different point of views. The film Ten Canoes uses a tree metaphor, and similar to how the men pull bark off the tree in layers, the story has many layers that are discovered as it goes on. As the film goes on, it goes further back into time, or deeper into the layers of the tree.
The Bill Neidjie’s poem, “I give you this story” highlights the issues with colonization by showing how cultural traditions and history are forgotten over time. From when the white men arrive, they begin writing history from their perspective, neglecting the Aborigine history and all of their culture. This poem shows how little indigenous traditions were valued, and how they were punished for trying to preserve them.
“I was thinking.
No history written for us
when white European start here,
only few words written.
Should be more than that.”
…
“Anyway, got to be made that book.
There’s still time.
No man can growl at me for telling this story,
because it will be too late.
I’ll be dead.”
This poem shows how little indigenous traditions were valued, and people were punished for trying to preserve them. In what ways is this still a current theme in our society? Why is it dangerous to lose these stories and the rich history they hold? Other than films/text, what are some ways to spread knowledge on indigenous groups such as the Aboriginal Australians? How could we portray indigenous history through art?
In the film ten canoes, I found the importance of the waterhole and the circle of life as not only a connection of community to the land, but it is what truly makes the community. Being born from the waterhole and returning after death shows not only the connection to the land, but an important piece of culture of being created from the land. This is shown in Ridjimiraril’s journey back to the waterhole through the family’s preparation to help him rejoin the place where he was born. A stanza that I found most relating to the care and reverence to the waterhole as a place of life from Law is this:
‘You hang onto this story,’ they say.
So I hang on.
I tell kids.
When they get yam, leave hole.
I say
‘Who leave that hole?
Cover him up!’
They say
‘We forget.’
I tell them
‘You leaving hole.
You killing yam.
You killing yourself.
You hang onto your country.
That one I fight for.
I got him.
Now he’s yours.
I’ll be dead,
I’ll be coming to earth.’
In not caring for where you come from, you cause the death of yourself and the generations after you. This poem’s message and movie share a connection through the philosophy that earth is life, where you come from you borrow your life from the earth and must return it in its place so the earth may continue.
In the aboriginal cultures, the stewardship of the earth comes from many sources: respect, life, survival, culture, art, and more. Does american culture suffer because our beliefs do not hold earth as life, or do we hold earth as life but value money more, or value what we gain from life-earth more?
Abi G
In the film ten canoes, I found the importance of the waterhole and the circle of life as not only a connection of community to the land, but it is what truly makes the community. Being born from the waterhole and returning after death shows not only the connection to the land, but an important piece of culture of being created from the land. This is shown in Ridjimiraril’s journey back to the waterhole through the family’s preparation to help him rejoin the place where he was born. A stanza that I found most relating to the care and reverence to the waterhole as a place of life from Law is this:
‘You hang onto this story,’ they say.
So I hang on.
I tell kids.
When they get yam, leave hole.
I say
‘Who leave that hole?
Cover him up!’
They say
‘We forget.’
I tell them
‘You leaving hole.
You killing yam.
You killing yourself.
You hang onto your country.
That one I fight for.
I got him.
Now he’s yours.
I’ll be dead,
I’ll be coming to earth.’
In not caring for where you come from, you cause the death of yourself and the generations after you. This poem’s message and movie share a connection through the philosophy that earth is life, where you come from you borrow your life from the earth and must return it in its place so the earth may continue.
In the aboriginal cultures, the stewardship of the earth comes from many sources: respect, life, survival, culture, art, and more. Does american culture suffer because our beliefs do not hold earth as life, or do we hold earth as life but value money more, or value what we gain from life-earth more?