Land is boss

by Emma Roberts (Australia)

I didn't expect to find Australia

As I stood in front of Polly, looking into her eyes, tears filled my heart, her eyes shared a story untold. She had a very powerful presence, and in her strength, I also felt her pain, my throat began to hurt as I held back tears of emotion that filled inside. Journeying to Buru, an aboriginal community in Kuku Yalanji country, far North Queensland, was a long-awaited dream come true. The opportunity to live, breathe, see and feel culture. In 2006, I was managing a hostel and was only a few days away from leaving when this woman came to the reception and asked if she could leave some flyers, I asked her what it was about and she kindly explained. Her necklace made of earthly delights caught my eyes, and so I asked her about it, she placed her hand over the necklace, tilted her head to the side and sighed with a smile, and that was the beginning of a 5 hour conversation, which thereafter I was given an invitation to journey to Buru. For anyone who hasn't worked with indigenous people before, you must surrender control to do things on your time, bama (aboriginal people) don't operate like us waybala (non-indigenous people), as many elders before me say “land is boss,” which is basically saying it is not up to us, it’s all about the right timing. You can't push these things, no matter how hard you try, you must surrender to what is, hold in your heart your intentions, and then allow space and time to guide the way. It was about a year later when I finally got the message that it was time to venture up to Buru. We packed our things and began our journey. It was not the best time of year to travel in the wet tropics being February, and sure enough gaba (storm) came and the waters rose flooding one of the main crossings on the Bloomfield track, we were forced to stay overnight in Cape Tribulation. The woman who had given me this invitation to Buru sat across from me at the table at our accommodation, she was very connected to Polly, and so I began to ask questions for how to navigate respectfully when in conversation with these people, and in not too long, our eyes became locked, in what I can only describe as a trance like state, I could feel an energy move through my body, unable to control what was happening, simply just witnessing, and it was only when this woman broke the gaze that we both simultaneously gasped, and came back into the space that I said “wow what was that?” and all she could reply was that the connection these two have, enables the old lady’s spirit to move through her, checking me out. In the morning, we got the message it was safe to continue, the waters had receded and we could proceed. After hours of slow and careful driving through creeks, rivers, inclines, fallen trees and very slippery clay soils of the rainforest, we finally arrived to Buru where we were greeted by Polly and her son, CJ Fischer. This is where Polly and I first looked deeply into one another’s eyes. Polly wanted to take me down to Kija (scared story site and birthing place of the Kuku Yalanji people) and so we jumped into the cars and headed to Kija. Along the way she wanted to show me something, we got out the car, I followed to this plaque that Polly had made in honour of her ancestors, it was here that all that emotion I held back flowed came out in deep catharsis. The old lady said "that girl shown too much emotion, the land a part of her now." Years down the track, and many more experiences had, I gained insight... not only did I witness that old ladies untold story, strength masked in pain, I understood that on that day, I finally felt a place of belonging. No matter the atrocities endured by these people, they tell you "you make sure you come back now, you always welcome, you bring your friends too." “You jawun (friend/family).”