Sandy is an old tjilpi. A senior man and very highly respected. Tall, built, and ruggedly handsome. And, he's a real cowboy. In his 80's, you'll still catch him riding a wild brumby in order to round up other wild brumbies! No saddle, no bridle, just a bareback brumby. You may also see him in a rusty old station wagon riding a corrugated road with a car full of live chickens bouncing everywhere! A mile away, you can spot that tattered old cowboy hat and his big warm smile. No matter who you are, you have time for a cuppa with this cheeky character. He sits close, speaks quietly and smokes more than he should!
Jim is another old Tjilpi. He's short and very thin. In his late 70's, he still has the air of a young boy, but if you upset him - start running! Jim is a man of very few words, probably because his wife Yvonne has enough for the both of them! Although, if you're driving along in the car with him and Johnny Cash is playing, he'll sing along to every word! If you ever have the chance to sit with Jim, he'll speak to you - without using his mouth or his hands. All you have to do is have a willingness to sit and listen.
Yvonne is Jim's wife. She is a large woman with a beard! She is loud, demanding, bossy and incredibly overbearing. But if you give her a chance, she'll show you a much softer, warmer and generous side. Energetically, she is very big and, will know what you think before you think it. Great caution is required around your thoughts and feelings when you're around Yvonne. You may think she doesn't know. But she knows.
Billy is the liru man. Snake is his totem. He is renowned for his equisite carvings of snakes. Not only for the detail in their markings, but for how he chooses the wood he uses to create reptiles that have free flow and movement. Many of Billy's snakes have been mistaken for real ones! Billy has an impeccable grasp of the English language and it is always a delight to be around him. A passion for reading and a love for learning, Billy is always busy, either with his hands, his head in a book, or, teaching Ben and other walpalas how to craft wood. He has huge generosity in sharing knowledge, culture and stories.
The metaphysical doesn't blow me away. What blows me away is this mobs capacity to not even have the need to 'tune in' - it happens effortlessy, but furthermore, it's natural for them to verbalise it and translate into the physical. They aren't concerned about being judged. They speak freely. And, they speak truth. Nothing is intellectualised, or questioned, or broken down or picked apart, no one is tying to make logic of it. It just is. As they see it. As they hear it. As they know it. They speak it.
Whether it's Sandy Willie changing the direction a fire is moving using his hands by sending energy to move it.
Whether it's Jim who I have in the front seat using his hands to smooth the corrugated road and move animals out of the way.
Or, if it's Martha telling me there are 4 camels on the road before they are visible
Or, Eunice who manifests a "white fella" to change a busted tyre.
They all have the freedom to speak without being concerned about what I or others would think of them.
So, my question is; what if, we were to communicate in a way that was free?
What if, we were to trust our inner knowing and speak it, freely?
What if we had freedom around speaking what we thought and trusting our gut instincts, fearlessly with no concern of being judged or being thought of as a flakey froot-loop.
The question we should be asking is" What can we be learning from Indigenous Australians?" not, "What can we be teaching them?"
Photo by Victoria Leontios, Yeperenye Songline, Petermann Ranges
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