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A Communication Between
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Uncle Bill spoke about some aspects of what it was like growing up "under The Act" in Australia before the Referendum in 1967 (Qld.) which acknowledged that Australian Indigenous people were in fact Australian citizens with the “right” to vote (having long since had the "right" to die fighting for "King and Country" in the two World Wars !) and the freedom to live where they wished without Government permission.
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He told them how his people knew God in their own way before the white man came. He spoke about sacred beings like the Rainbow Serpent and others who carved out the landscape creating mountains and valleys and the rivers and lakes, and how they lived in special places which the people revered as sacred places just like we revere and respect our holy places today. God for them was Creator whose traces could be found in all creation, hence they worshiped God in creation all around them and they had no need of churches and cathedrals.
The students were able to ask many questions which Uncle Bill was happy to answer. By the end of the 45 mins. we were all just warming up, having mastered the make-do microphone and the need to wait till the other person finished speaking before speaking ourselves, as well as keeping our faces within the webcam range.
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When the girls asked me why I had wanted to come to a town like Woorabinda I told them that I felt God wanted our sisters to become a "bridge" between the Indigenous and non-Indigenous people of Australia, to facilitate mutual understanding and reconciliation and to break down the barriers ( on both sides ) of prejudices, ignorance and misconceptions. I said that we want to show that it is possible for people of different race and cultures ( everywhere) to live together in harmony while respecting each other's uniqueness. Uncle Bill and his wife Rosa both let out a big "Oh!" in appreciation of that vision. How they would love to see it happen in their lifetime!
The questions could have gone on, but the class was over and it was already 10.45pm and way past the Thaiday's bedtime. The last comment from Newton was "We love your accents!" then there was a great wave of hands as the students said goodbye while we waved back as the images from across the globe faded out....
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About the Rainbow Serpent:
The Rainbow Serpent is a common motif in the art & mythology of Aboriginal Australia. It is named for the snake-like meandering of water across a landscape, and the color spectrum caused when sunlight strikes water at an appropriate angle relative to the observer. (this makes the water a rainbow)
The Rainbow Serpent is seen as the inhabitant of permanent waterholes and is in control of life's most precious resource, water. He is the sometimes unpredictable Rainbow Serpent, who vies with the ever-reliable Sun, which replenishes the stores of water, forming gullies and deep channels as he slithered across the landscape, allowing for the collection and distribution of water.
Dreamtime stories (Aboriginal sacred stories) tell of how the great Spirits during creation, in animal and human form, moulded the barren and featureless earth. The Rainbow Serpent came from beneath the ground and created huge ridges, mountains and gorges as it pushed upward. The Rainbow Serpent is a serpent of immense proportions which inhabits deep permanent waterholes.
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