Aboriginal Camp

I have been putting off writing about Aboriginal camp because it was such an amazing experience I don’t know how to fit it on a page. I won’t say everything but ill try to give the highlights. The whole week was like summer camp but our councilors were all really well respected elders who wanted to teach us about their culture. Uncle Paul who is the head honcho and the head law holder of New South Whales formed the camp in the 70’s. We were informed that Uncle Paul answers to no one but what Aboriginal people believe is the creator that lives up in the sky. The camp was designed to be an immersion camp for Aboriginal children who do not know about their cultural heritage. However, many young Aussie’s do not care to learn about Aboriginal culture so Uncle Paul only ends up doing three or four camps a year.

When we arrived at camp we were put into different mobs, (or tribes) and for the duration of the camp we were part of that mob and we had to look out for our brothers, sisters and our land. In my mob the boys were called Ipai and the girls Ipitha. That is the other thing about Aboriginal culture, there is men’s business and woman’s business and as a woman you are not allowed to know man’s business and visa versa. The separation of men and woman in their culture kind of reminded me of Orthodox Judaism.

On the second day that we were there, Uncle Wane (you call the elders of your tribe aunt or uncle) took us all to learn to throw boomerangs! This was really the most exciting thing that has happened thus far. In case you don’t know what boomerangs are used for, Aboriginal people designed them for hunting purposes. You can throw it and kill an Emu and have your weapon returned to you. Once upon a time they used spears but often times the Emu would not die and then it would run off with all of your hard work. I was expecting it to be really difficult to throw correctly but it was actually quite easy and all 18 of us threw one successfully. It is easy to a boomerang but it is hard to make it come right back to you, it usually ends up a few meters away.

Much of the week was spent preparing for the last night of the camp when we had a traditional Corroborree, which is a sort of big gathering or dance. In preparation we spent two hours a day learning and practicing the dances that we would do on the last night, which was so much fun! The dances were all about communicating with the ancestors. We danced like kangaroos, emu’s, ants, birds and spirits. During the week each of us also made a set of clap sticks, which are just hand held wood sticks that when taped together make a clapping noise. Each of us started with a tree branch and took off the bark, cut them and whittled down the wood until it was deemed suitable by the elders.

On the last day the whole time was spent getting ready for the corroboree at dusk. The food was cooked traditionally in the ground under a fire. Some of us dug the hole for the food to be cooked in and then we had to take turns watching it throughout the day. We also spent hours preparing the circular dancing grounds, which consists of a ring of soft dirt. Once the grounds were finished, we were not allowed to walk on them with shoes on. At dark the dancing began. The men and woman entered from different parts of the camp because we were separated for much of the day to get ready. The guys were completely covered from head to toe in charcoal; when they started dancing we did not even recognize them because they were so black. The girls were covered in white ochre, a type of rock that has many different colors (ochre is used for absolutely everything in their culture). Each color has a very specific meaning and depending on who you are you are allowed to wear certain colors. During the corroboree we were not dancing for an audience, we were dancing for Mother Earth, who Aboriginal people consider to be their mother. At first dancing naked felt quite uncomfortable but once we overcame the initial shock, we all got over it and really enjoyed the experience.

On the last morning we were all surprisingly emotional. It had been a very powerful experience for many of us. We actually didn’t say goodbye to our new aunties and uncles because in Aboriginal culture there is no word for goodbye only one for see you later. This is because they do not believe in death, they believe that you go into The Mother (earth) and come back as a plant or animal. So, we said see you later and headed back to Sydney.