This is country!
By Gayle Kennedy
by Ross Carnsew
Illustrated
chapter 4
All about country
Am I glad you lot were here to help with the tents!
Never met anyone who couldn’t put up a tent before.
We lost some time settin’ up camp.
SAMPLE
Ain’t much need for ‘em in the city, Little John.
No, s’pose not.
Let’s go. Stay close, you mob. No wanderin’ off or daydreamin’.
And we still got a little bit of a walk to the rock paintings.
That’s right. This isn’t a playground.
WOW!
Only ever seen these in books. Awesome!
My dad says these are thousands of years old.
Some are, son. Some are just a few hundred years old as well.
Us mob have been on this land for a long time, eh!
These paintings helped us prove our native title over this land.
It means our rights to our traditional land are now recognised by the government.
What does that mean?
Our mob’s traditional laws and customs are recognised now too.
Don’t you fullas know your country? Or who your mob are?
Vic’s parents never talk about their mob. We never talk about it.
SAMPLE
That’s so cool!
Ahhh, well, we come from Sydney ...
That’s a shame. What about your mob, Granqui?
I was taken from my mob and adopted by a White family. I’m from the Stolen Generations.
Thought about finding my mob when I was young, but you know …
Know what?
But I think I’d better start looking. Travelled, married, had kids ... I kinda forgot about it.
It would be awesome to know who our mob are.
And maybe we got land too!
Everyone’s got land. We all come from somewhere.
We’ll talk more tonight. Righto, who’s for a swim?
That’s right. Find ya mob, and ya find ya land.
SAMPLE
The land, and everything on it, is full of the spirits of our ancestors.
Not like you see in Whitefulla movies or on TV. But kinda.
They’re all around us.
Like ghosts?
They ain’t gunna hurt ya or nothing.
They look out for us. Keep us safe. If you say so.
SAMPLE
Later that night ...
Wonder where my mob are ... who they are ...