Thanks Dean for Tom's speech. I would be happy to read any others that you
have.
Annette
-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: Thursday, 18 November 1999 10:12
Subject: [recoznet2] Kumarangk - Another speech of Tom Trevorrow's
>For those who asked about more Ngarrindjeri commentary:
>
>Another speech of Tom's that may be helpful
>
>KUMARANGK
>KNOWN TO MANY AS HINDMARSH ISLAND
>
>Am I liar, fabricator or a hindrance if I say that my people and I known as
the Ngarrindjeri occupied the Land and Waters of the River Murray, Lakes and
Coorong Region over many thousand generations, over many thousand years.
>
>Am I liar, fabricator or a Hindrance if I say that over thousands of years
my people developed Cultural and Spiritual beliefs between themselves, the
land, the waters, the trees, the fish, animals and the heaven.
>
>My friends, I have said it before, and I will say it again, my people
and I are not Liars or Fabricators, therefore it seems to us that we must be
a Hindrance to certain people.
>
>We must be a Hindrance, because we see and feel the land as a living thing,
like our own bodies and we respect the land and strongly believe that
certain parts of the land should not be interfered with because it is like
interfering with your own body, because everything is connected, the earth,
the waters, the trees, the heaven.
>
>We must be a Hindrance, because we see and feel for certain parts of the
land and waters which our Ancestral Beings created, told the stories and the
Law and our Elders carried out the important Cultural, Environmental
Ceremonies.
>
>From these important Cultural Ceremonies we are told and taught to respect.
We are told and taught that the land is a living thing, we must respect it.
>
>We are told and taught that the waters are a life giving source we must
respect and protect.
>
>We are told and taught that the animals, birds, trees, fish and plants are
our food source [that] we must respect and protect.
>
>We are told and taught that the animals, birds, trees, fish are our totems
to each clan group within the Ngarrindjeri Nation; we must care for their
land and waters. We must respect and protect.
>
>We are told and taught that ceremonial places for men, and ceremonial
places for women, are connected with the land, waters and heavens; we must
respect and protect.
>
>We are taught to respect and protect through our knowledge, and also
through a belief which we call our Mee-Wee. Our Mee-Wee is a gift which is
given to us at birth and is a sense which is mainly felt in the stomach. It
tells us what is good and what is bad. It tells us what is right and what
is wrong.
>
>But I tell you friends it tears at your heart and mind and makes you very
sick inside your stomach when your Cultural and Spiritual beliefs are
questioned by authorities in charge of this Country.
>
>Who can't understand, or refuse to understand, and we have people who
become experts of us and our Culture through reading books written by other
experts who learned by reading books written by other experts. I wonder how
many of these experts lived upon the land with my people, ate their food,
drank their water, and took their time to gain their respect and a real
understanding of my people's Culture and Beliefs and relationship to the
Land and Waters?
>
>Then I wonder if they did would it have made any difference in the past or
today?
>
>People must stop and think: Why is there soil erosion? Why is there
salinity? Why is there so many animals, birds and plants that are extinct?
Why is there changing weather patterns? Why is the rivers and lakes drying
up and becoming polluted? Why is the Coorong dying? Why is the Murray
Mouth silting up? Why is there so much severe health problems and sickness
around? Seems to me, and my people and many other people that there is very
little desire to respect and protect.
>
>Maybe a bridge from Goolwa to Kumarangk (Hindmarsh Island) might solve some
of the se problems and provide a healthy Environment for our future
generations in this Country. I think not.
>
>In closing it leaves us no option but to say that we must be a Hindrance to
this money making development Culture which chooses to develop on places
which are Culturally and Environmentally significant to us and maybe this is
why we are classified as Liars, Fabricators, and anti-developers, which I
say again, we are not.
>
>All I can say is that my people are sorry that our Cultural and Spiritual
Beliefs and Heritage is built into the land, the waters, the trees, the
birds, fish and animals and the heaven, and we are sorry that it conflicts
with some peoples' Culture who like to change and develop certain parts of
the Environment which are very significant to our Cultural and Spiritual
beliefs, but this is our belief, this is our life, and I thank those who
understand us, believe in us, support us and know that this is right.
THANK YOU.
>
>Tom Trevorrow: Speech to public meeting at Maughan Church, in [June?]
1998.
>
>
>
>
>-------------------------------------------------------
>RecOzNet2 has a page @ http://www.green.net.au/recoznet2 and is archived at
http://www.mail-archive.com/
>To unsubscribe from this list, mail [EMAIL PROTECTED], and in the
body
>of the message, include the words: unsubscribe announce or click here
>mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20announce
>This posting is provided to the individual members of this group without
permission from the
>copyright owner for purposes of criticism, comment, scholarship and
research under the "fair
>use" provisions of the Federal copyright laws and it may not be distributed
further without
>permission of the copyright owner, except for "fair use."
>
>RecOzNet2 is archived for members @
http://www.mail-archive.com/recoznet2%40paradigm4.com.au/
-------------------------------------------------------
RecOzNet2 has a page @ http://www.green.net.au/recoznet2 and is archived at
http://www.mail-archive.com/
To unsubscribe from this list, mail [EMAIL PROTECTED], and in the body
of the message, include the words: unsubscribe announce or click here
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20announce
This posting is provided to the individual members of this group without permission
from the
copyright owner for purposes of criticism, comment, scholarship and research under
the "fair
use" provisions of the Federal copyright laws and it may not be distributed further
without
permission of the copyright owner, except for "fair use."
RecOzNet2 is archived for members @
http://www.mail-archive.com/recoznet2%40paradigm4.com.au/
