treefall

A large old Apple Box tree, (a variety of Eucalyptus), that grew beside the road near Lagoon in Burra, blew down in a storm last week. Large eucalypts like this one would be over 200 years old, their lives stretching back into pre-occupation times. The long memory of these trees drinks from the still, still … Read more

Ngarigo and Ngunnawal word lists

I find it is impossible not to feel a huge sense of loss when seeing how fragmentary are the records of Aboriginal languages from South East Australia. Even today Aboriginal languages are still slipping away very rapidly. Why is this not seen as a cultural emergency? Why has the task always fallen on so few … Read more

I love the Aboriginal Tent Embassy

The Australian media somehow isn’t seeing the true significance of yesterday’s skirmish outside The Lobby restaurant following Tony Abott’s ignorant comments about the significance of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra. I unfortunately have no real connections to the Aboriginal community here. But only last year on a cool autumn morning I was walking through … Read more