Friday, December 26, 2008

Other reviews of interest...Gurindji people and Lord Vesty etc...

After seeing Australia the movie, I was and am interested to learn more about this part of our history and the different properties and people of this part of Australia. My own family history links to Materanka and Elsies Station - which I understand, has now been given back to its traditional owners. There are other less happy family history links that I am still learning to understand. I am only just beginning to understand the British Empire and our past as oppressors and what we believed was exploration and empire building, with the opposing truths of invasion and assimulation. Marcia Langton in The Age newspaper wrote a stirring review which gave me answers to questions I was wanting answered. The map in the story outlined an area of land south of Darwin and I had planned and will still delve into the history of this land and its characters. She led me to the next step in the story about the true strength of the Australian Aboriginal people and the strike of stockmen working on Lord Vestys station. The Gurindji who worked on Wave Hill Station and their famous strike. A good description of this may be found on Ian Thorpes Fountain for youth website. Again, water...a famous swimmer. Good swimmers have the strength to swim through all sorts of emotions and are symbolically survivors. (Read my next posting regarding water symbolism..and as I am learning as I write, if anyone is of great profound insite into water symbology. Please, please add to my posting. I havent read Germaine Greers review of the movie. Marcia Langton seems almost in direct opposition to Greer in her musings. Yet I think we have not given Ms Greer her true place in Australian History. Many women I see now in their 50's 6o's and even older may not have such self respect if they had not had Germaine in her time and space. It seems to me sometimes they are trying to pretend they are the true feminists without having really understood the struggle. Thats another blog all together. Yet I would not be so dismissive of Germaine Greer and applaud all the work she has done before many others decided they knew all - later.

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