Journal and photo by Todd Borgie

Today we had our first sighting of Ayers rock, traditionally called Uluru. We traveled late into the night last night so we could see the sunrise on this marvelous scene. Well, the sun rose as a few drops of rain fell. In this desertscape, there is not much rain, and the few drops that fell were soon chased away by the hot sun that followed. The sky is big here, and the landscape was threatening; sandy red soil covers the ground, sparsely covered by shrubs and other plant life that seems like it should be more appropriately placed in a Dr. Seuss book. The rock was easily seen in the distance from where we camped, as it is one of the largest monoliths in the world (9.0 km around and more than 348m tall). Impressive!

The rock is red and towers over the flat landscape surrounding it. Looking at it, I am convinced that it is Australia’s paper weight; without it, Australia would simply be blown away by the wind.

Since we had a late evening last night, we sluggishly snapped to attention about 10:00 a.m. Needing to make contact with Gram, a representative from the Mutijula tribe of Aborigines, we headed to the town of Yulara to find him. We came into contact with him as we were going through the process of obtaining permits to cross aboriginal land (the Outback from Yulara, Northern Territory to Carnegie, Western Australia). After we obtained the proper permits, he invited us into come visit the Aboriginal Community for which he is a representative.

We met Gram at the foot of Uluru. He explained some of the rules of the rock, and he described the community we were about to see. It is a big privilege to be invited into an aboriginal community; not everyone has this opportunity.

Not knowing much about the wide variety of Aboriginal tribes, we asked if they threw boomerangs that came back after you threw them and if they played the didgeridoo. Apparently, the people in this area did neither. The tribes that made the boomerangs, the kind that returned to the owner after he threw them, lived on the east coast. Apparently they created these to kill birds over water. The boomerang would fly over the water level, either hitting something in its path or returning to the thrower. The tribes that played the didgeridoo resided in the North.

After arriving in the community, we sat down and talked to some local health workers. They filled us in on aboriginal history, focusing on the last 100 years. Their experience and knowledge offered explanations as to what these communities were dealing with, focusing mostly on the health issues.

It is thought they have lived in the Australian Outback for more than 40,000 years, possibly more like 60,000 years. Traditionally, the aboriginals walked the land, hunting and gathering as they went. This lifestyle required them to have intimate knowledge of the bush, plants, animals, weather patterns, and how to survive in this harsh environment. Their word for how to live in harmony with the earth is Tjukurpa (the tj is pronounced like a ch). Living in harmony with the earth meant that they had to take care of their environment, protect their water sources, and ensure regeneration of the animal and plant life; without these practices they would surely die. Some of their practices included harvesting in moderation and doing controlled burning to create an environment for regeneration.

Their diet consisted of fruits, seeds, animals, and insects. They served Whichetty grubs at the cultural center; the grubs are about 2 inches long and supposedly tasted like peanuts after they are cooked. Hopefully, I will get to try one. Another insect they ate was a honey ant. This insect looked just like an ant except it had a big ball of honey attached to its hind end. The Aboriginals ate this ball; it is supposed to be sweet. I would love to go on a walkabout with the Aboriginals, as I think it is an amazing skill to be able to walk through the bush and never be hungry.

At one time, it is thought, there were more than 1,000,000 Aboriginals in Australia extending from shore to shore. However, this number was abruptly reduced after the European arrival. As in the United States, conflicts with the native people arose as to ownership of land. Since the lifestyle of the Aborigines was hunting and gathering, they roamed from place to place, depending on clean water for survival. While roaming from waterhole to waterhole, they would collect food from plants or hunt whatever came into their path. You could imagine that conflicts with cattle ranchers could easily arise. If the Aborigines saw a nice fat steer, they would be psyched, thinking this was a gift from the gods rather than someone’s property, after all how could you own something that belonged to the Earth? Killing this animal would annoy the rancher, and big problems would ensue. It is predictable what would happen if a rancher came upon a family that was eating his steer.

In the minds of the immigrants from Europe, the concept of land ownership was as normal as having a cup of tea. They figured you were entitled to land if you built a permanent dwelling place upon it. Well, this precept worked perfectly in Australia. There were no permanent dwelling places, like houses that marked aboriginal territory; therefore, according to the Europeans, land was free for the taking.

After about 200 years of conflicts and struggles, many Aboriginals live on Aboriginal land and others live in different parts of Australia. They are indeed viewed as lower-class citizens by many. From the minds of many people, they appear well taken care of with their monthly checks from the Australian government. However, another view is that they are a culture in transition. As the juice from the old way of life becomes squeezed out and dries up, a new life has to emerge. What that new life will become, only the future will tell. The bigger question is what do we (the world) want the future to look like?

I guess the bottom line to some of this discussion is that I don’t know of a country that doesn’t have a lower-class, a somewhat depressed population. The world has Native Americans, the Sams in Norway, the Aboriginals in Australia, the Kurds, some of the Chinese minorities (just to name a few). What is our responsibility as a global population to these people, or do we have one? As creative people, are we going to accept Darwin’s laws of the survival of the fittest, or is this a human problem we can solve?

Logbook for May 5th, Day 187
Start: Yulara, Australia
Time: 8:30 a.m.
S: 25* 13.782
E: 131* 03.165
Finish: Yulara, Australia
Time: 9:00 p.m.
S: 25*14.336
E: 131*03.381
Mileage: 053
Notes: We awoke in camp, early in the morning, in an absolutely beautiful setting. Eager to see Ayer’s Rock, or Uluru, we got going and headed a few kilometers into the national park. There, we met with the liaison from the local aboriginal community. He graciously invited us in to the community and arranged a tour through their medical facilities and their art workshop. This was a very rare occurrence, the invitation to enter the community, and we really feel honored to have received an invitation. We learned a bit about the culture, and we met a few of the beautiful kids from the community. Later, we did some filming and caught the sunset at the Rock. Breathtaking. I cannot wait to see Gregor’s magazine spread. He took some great photos. (N.O.)

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