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Published On: Sep 18, 2009 03:35 PM
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Wed - September 16, 2009
Darwin, 2009
It was more of a loaf in Darwin this trip, with
no trip to Croker Island, though I did catch up with some people from there, and
I mostly stayed within the city itself, although I managed to venture south in
the last week or so. I did make some good contacts, and was frustrated by an
inability to make some others. Darwin temperatures, as usual for this time of
the year, reached a daily maximum of 32 degrees and a minimum of
22.
Posted at 02:12 PM Read More
Thu - November 29, 2007
Collet Barker
The Mount Barker township, region and mountain,
on the south eastern outskirts of the Mount Lofty ranges, was named by Captain
Charles Sturt, after Captain Collet Barker, of the 39th Regiment (Barker's
compatriot and friend Captain Charles Sturt was a fellow officer). Barker was
speared to death by three Ngarrindjerri men near the mouth of the Murray River
on 30th April, 1831.
Posted at 02:34 PM Read More
Sun - July 1, 2007
Darwin Again
Saturday morning I flew out of Croker, via
Goulburn Island again, and back to Darwin. Another week in the sun, then back to
the 'now when it's freezing, here in these cold, cold, hills.' The trip has
been successful and enjoyable, perhaps falling a little short of my goals in
some respects, but exceeding expectations in others. The booklet which doubled
as a field guide to Fort Wellington, and showing the locations of of the remains
of the fort proved invaluable. Last night, Tuesday 3rd July, Brother Max, Sharon
and myself had a great meal (Indian) at the Nirvana restaurant, and night spot,
after which I did a few songs at the 'jam' session, which I had participated in
on other occasions. The Adelaide Hills winter will be difficult.
Posted at 11:22 PM Read More
Thu - June 28, 2007
The View From Croker Island
It has now been ten days since I arrived on
Croker Island. During that time, John Howard has demonstrated his new found
concern for Aboriginal welfare. I have long held a cynical view of anything
Howard does, and nothing has disturbed me more than his ill disguised contempt
for the Aboriginal people of Australia over the past eleven years. His dismissal
of ill treatment, dispossession, and murder of the past as a "black arm band
view of history," his refusal to acknowledge or to express genuine regret for
the stolen generation, the disbandment of ATSIC leaving Aboriginal people with
no substantial representative body to speak for their rights, are just a few of
the glaring demonstrations of his indifference, if not malice. He has also, of
course, undermined what progress has been gained in cases like Wik, by passing
legislation to undermine those gains. What is the view, in light of Howard's
sudden 'concern' for Aboriginal welfare, from Croker Island?
Posted at 12:48 PM Read More
Tue - June 26, 2007
Fort Wellington, Raffles Bay
At last, two months into my visit north, today I
made it to the Raffles bay settlement, begun in 1827, and abandoned in 1829.
Here Collet Barker oversaw roughly eighty people, made up of convicts and
soldiers in almost equal numbers, and grew gardens, ran stock, erected buildings
and befriended Aboriginals. My story of his life will be greatly enriched having
tread this sacred ground.
Posted at 11:49 PM Read More
Mon - June 25, 2007
On Croker Island
I had a bit of a whinge on this entry a few days
ago. Have now edited that out. Tomorrow comes the boat trip to Raffles Bay. Here
are some pics of a beach walk on Mission Bay.
Posted at 11:28 AM Read More
Sat - June 23, 2007
Progress, Sort Of
Nancy, who I met at the airport, before flying
out to Croker, has become my most useful contact so far, and today we spent time
together having a good look at the photographs taken by
Paul Foelsche , the first police inspector at Darwin (then known as
Palmerston) which I had copied into my lap-top from the 'net. I have about fifty
odd pics of Iwaidja people taken in the late 1870's and early 1880's by
Foelsche, whose important collection also documented many of the early buildings
of Palmerston. They will prove to be a great ice-breaker with the Iwaidja people
of Croker Island during my stay, I am sure.
Posted at 01:12 AM Read More
Wed - June 20, 2007
Island in the Shade
The rain has stopped, though an extensive cloud
cover blocked the sun all day. The radio reported Darwinites shivering in
minimums as low as eighteen degrees, and the maximum as a paltry twenty six. I
managed for the first time in days to get online in the community office, and to
launch my recent blog. I was told that a couple of burly major crime
investigators would be bedding down alongside me in my one room premises, but
fortunately they finished their investigations and flew off.
Posted at 09:15 PM Read More
Croker Island Blues
On the 18th June, after a totally sleepless
night, when I gave up, read a book, and rose to prepare my final packing, I
found myself winging it to Croker Island, via Goulburn Island. For much of the
flight I dozed, but from my seat just behind the pilot of the twin engined
Cessna Titan 404, my blurry gaze focussed on the vast northern wetlands of
Kakadu and Arnhemland, the isolated northern coast, and a smattering of islands
below. The plane seemed to fly itself, with the pilot flicking an occasional
switch, and making entries in his log book. Three Aboriginal women, one an elder
with a pierced nasal septum, a middle aged woman, and a mother with two small
boys, and a public servant with a lap-top on his way to Goulburn shared the
flight. I gave the Croker ladies a brief explanation of my purpose in visiting
their island, and they were very interested and
encouraging.
Posted at 01:32 AM Read More
Sun - June 17, 2007
Darwin Dawdle
It is six days short of two months since I lobbed
in Darwin, but finally, tomorrow, the eighteenth of June, I shall be flying to
Croker Island. Here I will meet the residents, learn what I can of their
culture, and share what I can of their history which my research has revealed,
hopefully a productive and mutually satisfying experience all
around.
Posted at 08:55 PM Read More
Wed - May 23, 2007
The Waiting
Three weeks into my top end odyssey, and things
are going slowly. I have done some useful research, but am itching to do my
field trip to Croker Island, and from there, a boat trip to Fort Wellington,
Raffles Bay. I can't do that until I get a permit, which is in train, but
meanwhile, I have come across an extremely important booklet, which will be
invaluable for my quest.
Posted at 12:24 AM Read More
Fri - May 4, 2007
The Darwin Connection
Early days in Darwin, and my research about
Collet Barker and the remote early settlement at Raffles Bay has not really
begun yet, apart from a brief chat with some librarians and some notes, and some
explorations into how to get to Croker Island, putting me in the proximity to
Raffles Bay. One possibility? Barges, which leave from Darwin to deliver goods
to these remote islands. Brother Max and Sharyn leave for South Africa on
Monday, and that's when my job really begins. Here's what I have been up to so
far.
Posted at 11:14 AM Read More
Sun - March 18, 2007
'Carla' and Collet Barker
All of the Aboriginal groups who populated the
vastness of Australia used fire; for warmth, for cooking, and for the hardening
of wooden weapons such as clubs and spears. In the desert regions, with the
tinder dry spinifex and the dry climate, the people could get a fire going in
virtually seconds, and even today fire is used by them to stimulate growth, or
to harvest animals for food. In the cooler and damper climes, some form of
portable fire stick was carried. In the south west coastal region of Western
Australia, the smouldering bark carried under their kangaroo cloaks, was called
the carla,
or fire bark. I have been carrying my
carla
for Collet Barker since 1956.
Posted at 12:58 PM Read More
Tue - November 28, 2006
Rounding Off
The trip to Albany, and the material I was able
to access, as well as the wonderfully helpful people I was fortunate enough to
meet, was all I could possibly have hoped for. There are a few minor regrets -
some photographs missed, some recordings which didn't work, but it is all
lessons to be applied for the next excursion; namely Darwin/Raffles Bay in 2007,
wherein Barker's period (before being transferred to Albany) there will be
researched. Anyway, here are some final thoughts and observations on my
trip.
Posted at 03:36 PM Read More
Mon - November 13, 2006
Fleshing Out
It has been mainly getting the feel of the Albany
region over the past few days. From the original settlement days, the farm (not
quite the original buildings) -- the convict museum - the oldest
wattle-and-daub house in Albany - the Oyster Harbour Aboriginal fish traps.
Today, Sunday 12th November, I met with Caroline and Lynette, direct descendants
of the Noongah people of the Albany region. They took me along a sandy track
through the bush. We sat on great slabs of granite overlooking King Georges
Sound, and as we gazed on a panorama as near as it could possibly be to the
view of 200 years ago, they told me of the great stories of creation of the
region, as far as the eye could see, and further.
Posted at 02:10 AM Read More
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