"Michael you take over, happy, you carry on, this must come true, you must carry on and finish the job."
I was taken by surprise because Michael is a white Australian, an 'outsider' but to Woolagoodja he is a 'Abe' (excuse the spelling) - a tribal brother. Michael felt uncomfortable when Woolagoodja asked him to take responsibility aws he was not an 'initiated' tribal man.
Michael and Woolagoodja met whilst making a film in Western Australia and knew each other for about seven years before Woolagoodja passed away trying to reach his spirit land which can only be reached by sea. They became close friends quickly and Michael gained Woolagoodja's trust. Over the seven years Woolagoodja initiated Michael into the secrets of his ancestors which had been passed down since pre-history. When he passed, he trusted Michael to keep these secrets alive, to pass them along in a contemporary form through film.
"Woolagoodja was like a high priest, he was responsible for keeping alive the ancient western of his place."
This surprised me as I thought that these 'secrets' should only be passed to the Aboriginal People of Wolagoodja' tribe especially because Michael is an outsider but also he is a white Australian. Woolagoodja must have had a lot of respect and trust towards Michael to make him responsible for passing this knowledge down. However, it was not easy for Michael to take responsibility when Woolagoodja passed away.
Wolagoodja's death was sensationalised by popular press which lead to his community being shocked and confused about his death. Some even were saying Michael killed Woolagoodja. The elders of the community sought through legal means to sever Michaels link with the community for good. They succeeded and Michael was banished for the tribal lands which Woolagoodja made him custodian of.
Michael wanted to confront these issues and returned to the Wirrira tribe. Surprisingly when he returned the same people who banished him welcomed him with open arms. This shows how forgiving the Aboriginal people are (even thought it was all a bit of a miss understanding). I believe the majority of the Aboriginal people in Australia forgive the white Australians for the invasion of their land, it is the White Australians who are 'holding' onto the issues from the past. The people who were forgiving Michael were the same people he had taken back to their tribal lands thirteen years prior and on this trip they were re-enacting a life style that was foreign to them. This was because of the Silent Assimilation Policy of the 1950s which persuaded tribes to leave their traditional homes and adopt the culture of the majority (British).
"The price they paid was a loss of oral tradition which carries their ancestral knowledge and the wisdom of their law."
In 1972 when Michael was directing a film in their traditional land, some of this knowledge was still alive. This documentary was taken in 1985 and things are very different. When Michael arrived and was talking to some of the "Elders" of the Wirrira community they spoke of monetary value and how the mining companies give them $55 to talk.
"Michael we are modern people...... you pay."
It is unfortunate that the Aboriginal People have lost cultural value and 'swapped' it for monetary value. Instead of everything being about their land, spirits and people it is now about the way they need to live like the stereotypical world where 'everything' involves money. It would be great to involve some of our Aboriginal heritage back into everyday life and include it into the White Australians lives as this was where our 'home' originated from.
When Woolagoodja had asked Michael to take responsibility of his tribe Michael asked about his 'sons' but Woolagoodja laughed and said my 'sons' are too drunk to tell the stories so you have to tell the stories now.
This could be the result from the Silent Assimilation Policy, removing the Aboriginal People from their 'normal' culture and placing them into mainstream culture which caused many problems and introduced them to things such as alcohol and drugs, which is now a prevalent problem in society which the White Australians continually use to stereotype the Aboriginal People. It could be said that it is the White Australians who actually caused this issue to arise in the first place. This is because they took the Aboriginal people out of their culture and placed them into the 'unknown' secluding them from family and friends which lead the Aboriginal people to becoming lonely and turning to alcoholism and drug use.
Michael went on to talk about how in the Aboriginal culture:
"Things are possible that the white culture had taught me were impossible."
This is because the White culture always demands 'proof' of stories. In 1979 Woolagoodja 'came' to Michael when he was trying to find 'evidence' of an ancestral story Woolagoodja had told him even though Woolagoodja was in a different country and thousands of miles away from Michael. Michael naturally knew he had to go back to Woolagoodjas home. This example goes to show how different the White Australian culture and the Aboriginal Cultures are from each other but also how they can learn from each other and 'believe' in particular things.
Adkins, Ian. When the Snake Bites the Sun, Directed by Michael Edols. Film Australia. 57 min. 1986 DVD
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