Below is an edited version of a piece written - Emma Hollingsworth, Kaanju, Kuku Ya'u, Girramay woman, via mulganai
“I wish I could properly describe what it feels like to be Aboriginal. I wish I could describe the feeling of my spirit almost ascending to another plane, goosebumps covering my skin when I hear the didgeridoo. As if it calls to something inside me instinctively.
……
I wish I could accurately describe how it feels when I'm standing barefoot on the dirt and it feels instantly like my soul is home, like I am part of this Land and I transcend time and space. Words don't do justice to how it feels to be connected to a people, a culture, a Land, and a spirit quite like ours.”
🌾🌾🌾🌾
Beautiful words, but you don’t have to be of indigenous heritage to feel that connection to the earth or to this great country of ours. Whilst my linkage doesn’t go as far back, it goes far enough back to hear the spirits of my forbearers, whose blood, sweat and tears helped build this great nation. It goes back far enough back to hear the voices of my ancestors who gave their lives in fighting to protect it. Their bodies returned to find peace on the earth they loved. The words of Dorothea Mackellar’s wonderful poem, My Country carrying their souls home.
“An opal-hearted country,
A wilful, lavish land -
All you who have not loved her,
You will not understand -
Though earth holds many splendours,
Wherever I may die,
I know to what brown country
My homing thoughts will fly.”
And my connection goes far enough back to give thanks to my childhood in the land whose bounty we relied on to survive. I too get goosebumps covering my skin when I hear the haunting sound of didgeridoo. When I walk barefooted on the earth and walk in the bush, I too feel the spirits of the forest around me.
Every time I travel outside of this great country, I feel an overwhelming sense of peace when I see that big red tail and our giant white kangaroo. “I’m coming home.”
Our spirit connections are unique, but they are just as strong and just as legitimate. Love of the country is not the sole domain of our indigenous population. Any Australian who deeply loves this country feels the same. We should not be robbed of that because the colour of our skin or our heritage is different. Our spirit connection is just as strong and as equally powerful.
