Elephant dreamings

Saturday morning and there’s time to linger over coffee, toast and the dead-tree edition of the Weekend Australian, despite its deficiencies perhaps the last decent newspaper in the country. But wait, what’s this in the Travel section? Good Lord, a story so silly, so steeped in an eager gullibility to swallow Indigenous “lore” that the only explanation for its appearance must be that a drunken postman dropped off a bag of dispatches actually intended for the Silly Moaning Herald. The article recounts writer Angela Saurine’s trip to the NSW south coast and her immersion in the ways of the Djirringanj people, as explained by Aboriginal guide Dwayne “Naja” Bannon-­Harrison.

That’s Mr Naja pictured above. He’s the gentleman pointing, quite likely to something ageless, dreaming and deeply sacred. In the column inches that follow we learn the “world’s oldest living culture” has actually experienced some recent updates

“At Camel Rock Beach we see three totem rocks in the shape of a camel, bear and elephant. I’m puzzled as these are not animals that would have been known to indigenous Australians. But Bannon-Harrison explains Bible stories were introduced by Christian missionaries in the 1800s, and new beliefs began to merge.”

This comes as a surprise, as elephants aren’t mentioned in the Bible, bears rate a scant eight mentions and, while camels do a little better, some have their doubts about Abraham’s reputedly large herd. Apparently making stuff up is far from a modern habit.

Some cultural additions, however, are not so welcome. Sunscreen, for example.

At Mumbulla Falls, a sacred waterhole in Biamanga National Park where young ­indigenous men learn tribal law, Bannon-Harrison becomes visibly distressed at the sight of teenagers hooning recklessly down a natural rock waterside to a pool, leaving a slick of sunscreen on the surface.

Mr Bannon-Harrison’s dismay is hard to comprehend, as the distress Coppertone inflicts on rocks is easily remedied

Bannon-Harrison hands around leaves, which he encourages us to rub on rocks in the water to help its healing.

At the foot of Ms Saurine’s article there is a single reader comment. With what one hopes is a tongue stuffed deeply into cheek, “Billie” writes:

“This is inspirational. Oh, how I wish we could cure our world, as Indigenous knowledge cures rocks contaminated by invader sunscreen, by the simple act of rubbing leaves on all our problems.”

One problem that could do with a good leaf-rubbing is The Australian‘s travel section. Ms Saurine’s article can be read via this link or the one below.

— roger franklin

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