Monday, November 14, 2005
Into Arnhemland
Sab overcame his hangover (he won the Heritage & Cultural Tourism Award) and met us a the hotel. Got some stunning views of the Arnhemland escarpment - a huge ridge of sandstone stretching 500km down the western side of Arnhemland. Watched aboriginees, or are we supposed to call them indigenous australians, painting & decorating didges at the Injalak Arts & Crafts Association in Oenpelli. It's not a particularly attractive township, & the back of the craft centre is not its best view, with some very dodgy-looking dogs hanging around. Picked up our guide, Wilfred, and set off for a walk up Injalak Hill, which is rich in rock painting sites. Not too bad a walk up the hill, though it was pretty hot. Wilfred was very quiet on the way up, but was very friendly once he did start talking. Injalak is also known as Long Tom Dreaming Hill. A Long Tom is a kind of fish found in the area, and apparently the ancestors would climb the hill and speak to the spirits. Then when they descended, they would find plenty of long toms in the rivers, which they would catch and eat.
The rock art galleries were amazing, often with many layers of paintings. Some we believe were up to 8000 years old, but many were more recent. There was a variety of cross-hatched and X-ray styles, and pictures of barramundi, bream, long tom and other fish, turtles, echidna, freshwater crocodiles, wallabies, all sorts of creatures. There were also pictures of their spirits - the Lightning Man (Namarrgon) and other bad spirits (I didn't catch the name, but they would tell you not it wasn't safe to go hunting if you saw one), and the good spirits like the Mimi spirits, which would teach the aboriginals all sorts of skills.
Injalak was used as a shelter during the wet season, and there were many areas where people had made homes under big rock overhangs to keep dry. They would weave mats from threads made from banyan trees to put on the floor, and burn certain trees from the area to keep mosquitoes away. It was all fascinating.
Then we rounded a corner to see Sab sitting on a little outcrop of rock with morning tea & cake all set out for us. It was a magical spot, looking out over the wetlands, the escarpment and Magpie Goose Dreaming Hill. The views were breathtaking, and there wasn't another soul around.
After morning tea, Erin went down with Sab - I think he was highly amused by her banter on the way down, and the rest of us went on to see some more galleries. Caught sight of some bats hanging on a bit of rock, and were shown a burial site complete with remains, where we were asked not to take photos out of respect. Wilfred described the kind of rituals that they observe when someone dies, which I won't go into here. We finished with a painting of the Creation Mother, who carries numerous bags with her children in. She walks the land, putting her children down in various different places, where they turn into the trees, hills, waterholes, people, animals, and so on, building up the landscape. A fascinating morning indeed.
We went back to the craft centre to drop Wilfred off and then Sab took us off for a late lunch on a beautiful little shaded sandy spot by a water hole in the middle of the wetlands. Again, there was nobody about but us and a few screeching birds in the trees. We finished with a bit of entertaining off-roading, and an early return to the hotel for a welcome cooling swim. What an amazing day.
The rock art galleries were amazing, often with many layers of paintings. Some we believe were up to 8000 years old, but many were more recent. There was a variety of cross-hatched and X-ray styles, and pictures of barramundi, bream, long tom and other fish, turtles, echidna, freshwater crocodiles, wallabies, all sorts of creatures. There were also pictures of their spirits - the Lightning Man (Namarrgon) and other bad spirits (I didn't catch the name, but they would tell you not it wasn't safe to go hunting if you saw one), and the good spirits like the Mimi spirits, which would teach the aboriginals all sorts of skills.Injalak was used as a shelter during the wet season, and there were many areas where people had made homes under big rock overhangs to keep dry. They would weave mats from threads made from banyan trees to put on the floor, and burn certain trees from the area to keep mosquitoes away. It was all fascinating.
Then we rounded a corner to see Sab sitting on a little outcrop of rock with morning tea & cake all set out for us. It was a magical spot, looking out over the wetlands, the escarpment and Magpie Goose Dreaming Hill. The views were breathtaking, and there wasn't another soul around.After morning tea, Erin went down with Sab - I think he was highly amused by her banter on the way down, and the rest of us went on to see some more galleries. Caught sight of some bats hanging on a bit of rock, and were shown a burial site complete with remains, where we were asked not to take photos out of respect. Wilfred described the kind of rituals that they observe when someone dies, which I won't go into here. We finished with a painting of the Creation Mother, who carries numerous bags with her children in. She walks the land, putting her children down in various different places, where they turn into the trees, hills, waterholes, people, animals, and so on, building up the landscape. A fascinating morning indeed.
We went back to the craft centre to drop Wilfred off and then Sab took us off for a late lunch on a beautiful little shaded sandy spot by a water hole in the middle of the wetlands. Again, there was nobody about but us and a few screeching birds in the trees. We finished with a bit of entertaining off-roading, and an early return to the hotel for a welcome cooling swim. What an amazing day.
// posted by Chrisl @ 10:08 PM 
