Under the Asphalt
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The body lets out feelings the mind is not allowing, through movement, emotion, sickness.
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A Dhanggati Story
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The men of our tribe have a reputation for strength and ferocity. There are reasons for that.
Read MoreThrown Out
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'Couldn’t immigration make some allowance?’ asked my wife. ‘They really don’t care,’ said the officer, looking Claudia in the eye.
Read MoreFear and Healing by the Roadside
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"The wild carrot has a leaf which is delicate and curved. We call it Aphrodite’s eyebrow. You have to be very careful though, because the other plant that looks like these is hemlock.”
Read MoreWave of care
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As an alienated adolescent (who would rather do anything but look after – or even look at – sick people and their problems), I stared into the waves at the beach a lot. I knew there was something there for me, if I just kept looking.
Read MoreBig Flag Day at Home
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They are playing that slow-baked game called cricket — the pace of which accommodates inebriation and lethargy so well.
Read MoreCactus Youth
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Whether slim and brown, pale and gothic or covered in overdeveloped muscles, nerdy glasses or gold jewellery, young people need to find a way to identify themselves, to the extent they know themselves. In mainstream society, we have nebulous rites of passage for our young people — getting a driver’s license, travelling with friends, drinking alcohol ’til you’re sick.
Read MorePlaying Outside the Dollhouse
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"One of Mary’s eyes became permanently closed thanks to that common disease that afflicts long-living dolls treated roughly by toddlers. I did have to take her head off once or twice to see how she was made inside."
Read MoreFor the sake of the exercise
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I ran hard, and enjoyed the feel of my feet on the ground and the grass. I was pleased with myself, and expected congratulations. But when I finished, one of the adults said, “Somebody has to come last, I suppose”. I could tell it was a bad thing to be that someone and resolved not to do it again.
Read MoreDance with Me
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The stage was a plateau of red sand under a starry night. People sat on the ground around fires that warmed them. A set of headlights lit the stomping ground stage. Performers were painted up in the dark behind bushy mulga trees.
Read MoreEnjoying Back Stitch
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Far away from Lil’s fragrant and colourful sewing table, sewing classes were a fifth grade thing, along with budding breasts and fun with the boys in the playground. Our teacher, Miss Brawn, was narrow and aged. We were a rowdy bunch of impatient, smart girls.
Read MoreSkirts, sea snakes and sharks
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Aboriginal women of this region have the prerogative of living much of their lives without bras or any other corsetry. They let their bodies grow as they will, although you can tell a woman is going to town because she might be plucking at her little bush beard with tweezers absent-mindedly while talking to you
Read MoreEye to eye
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The non-verbal skills of many Anangu people are born of hunting. If you’re looking for someone, you can make a sign for that person across a street or car park. The person you are signalling might use their lips or eyes to point in the appropriate direction.
Read MoreHair Story: Suede to silk.
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I was exposed to a lot of people who had never seen dreadlocked hair up close. “I see, it’s a hat!” said one nurse looking closely at my braided locs. Another told me that she told her children to brush their hair or they would end up looking like me.
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Needles and Stones
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So, without Thunghutti, I made up my own language to sing to the land. At my feet was a piece of milky quartz. I could make out the shape of a head and some kind of body — a fierce bird. Asking permission, I dug the stone out.
Read MoreNo Such Thing as a Stranger
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My work was at the healing tent. “Your irises are like silk,” an iridologist cooed to an aged woman. “I know how much work it took to do all that healing”. The older woman glowed. I had no idea what they were talking about.
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