Yuendumu

(retrospective)
One of the standout highlights to date has been the few days we had in Yuendumu. We met up with some friends of ours in Alice Springs who had kindly applied for permits for us to join them. They have been meeting annually with the Warlpiri Tribe in Yuendumu for about twelve years just to sit and learn from them and their rich culture. We were very privileged to be in the right place at the right time to tag along. We spent time with the most amazing people and I can honestly say this was life changing stuff! We started by driving down the Tanami to Tilmouth Well where we realised on the few kilometres of corrugated track that our van and car wouldn’t be able to go past Tilmouth Well. It was bone jarring stuff. Our friends were not deterred and around the campfire they planned for us all to cram into their Pajero with bedding and supplies for a couple of days. Rachel and Sam looked like they were encased in cocoons of bedding in the back seat. Tilmouth Well itself was special in that it was just us in all this space next to a huge dry river bed and the most spectacular sunsets and bird and animal life I have seen.

In Yuendumu we were given skin names which Sam particularly remembered instantly and would introduce himself and us using our new names to any indigenous person we met which endeared him to all. He just has a knack of breaking down barriers that kid and to see him enveloped in a indigenous woman’s hug on our final day with tears running down her face saying ‘God Bless you baby’ brought a tear to all of our eyes. Sam has no prejudices no matter what the circumstances. What a different world this would be if we were all like that.

On the third day I was particularly blown away when my friend introduced me to a tribal elder who decided to give me a bush name, which is a real honour. I sat in the red dirt with this woman and her gaze seemed to penetrate right through me. In English my bush name means ‘Water Dreaming’. Ironically the only piece of Indigenous art I owned before Yuendumu is hanging in our beach house and it is ‘Water Dreaming’. Go figure!!!

To be taken hunting by the Warlpiri people and to see the bush through their eyes was like learning to see and feel again. It heightened every sense. To comfort me and my paronoias we were told that the snakes and goannas were underground until the thunder wakes them up at the start of the wet season – that was a little more comforting considering where we found ourselves. Gary’s effort at digging up Witchetty grubs was a guide to all other poisonous creatures in the outback! Scorpions, centipedes and spiders were the only thing that was going to appear on his menu without some local help!

Sitting around the campfire with our new Indigenous friends miles out in the bush away from all that I know was an experience that will always live with me. It was like time stood still and for a short while it was like nothing else existed. I wasn’t even aware of Gary and the kids. I did wonder later if there was something hallucinogenic in the smoke as I tried to logically explain what had happened. A lot of what we experienced will take a long time to process but as I said before it was life changing stuff. These people are brilliant in their own right. Most of them speak four languages and I don’t just mean a different dialect – these tribal languages are as different as German is from French. They do think differently to us across the board but guess what? They actually make a lot more sense in understanding this amazing land and connecting their spirituality to it. I may write a bit more when I finish connecting the dots for myself.

Back at Tilmouth Well the night before we headed back into Alice Springs the full moon brought with it a huge thunderstorm. The ethereal howling of the dingos metres from us heralded the thunder and lightening. I was hoping the goannas, snakes etc knew it was a false alarm and that the wet season is still months off. Gary suggested yelling “hey fellas - it’s a false alarm” into the wind was not going to keep them underground. It did scare away the dingos though.

In Alice we visited the Desert Park but after the real bush experience this was incredibly sterile although we did notice things we might not have otherwise picked up.