This morning was characterised by backup plans, and more
backup plans in case the backups fell through.
The hope was that there would be a boys fishing and hunting
trip led by some Minyerri men. The girls had their turn last week, tearing
their hands up on spiky pandanus leaves. It was only fair that us boys had the
same opportunity.
Alas, of the three men we were hoping would don an activity
leader t-shirt for the day, one had broken a rib and was under strict orders to
rest up, another was busy with an unexpected visit from an old friend and the
third was nowhere to be seen. Both Eamon and Daryl were in bed with mysterious
illnesses.
Two ALs down. No, worries. We had a backup day full of great
activities, and the rest of us were feeling chipper.
I told the kids the story of the great David Unaipon, an
Aboriginal writer and inventor who had an incredible knack for ideas. He’s also
the bloke on our $50 note. The follow up was an activity in which each kid had
to draw themselves on the $50 note and write a sentence about the cool things
they’d done to get their face in everyone’s wallet.
Elizabeth wrote, “I am on the $50 note because I’m good at
maths, reading, cooking, marbles, cleaning and English work.”
We watched an episode of Bush Mechanics, (which the kids loved!!!),
and the kids tested their engineering talents on our Egg Drop activity. The kids
designed, made and tested an egg protection vessel in an attempt to save their
egg from a 3 meter drop onto concrete.
Minyerri is buzzing with anticipation for the NAIDOC week
celebrations happening this Friday. We’re hearing things about basketball,
football and softball tournaments, dancing, music and people coming from
everywhere! There will be a great ceremony, with the dancers painting their
bodies in white bush paint. So the afternoon session saw us back in the
troopies searching for white ochre.
Hilda was one of three women who took us and the kids out,
teaching them where and how to collect the bush paint. The first trick was
finding the place. Hilda was sure we were going the wrong way, despite the
convincing directions that were coming from the other two women. When we hit a
(creekbed) dead end on an old bush track, Hilda was humble in her rightness.
She found the right way pretty soon after she took the reins.
When we got there, the women were straight into it, hacking
at the white ochre rocks with sticks and knives to break it up, keeping only
the whitest, cleanest portions of powder in bags and old flour drums to take
home.
Some of the kids had never seen the process before. Others
clearly had. Nonetheless they all got right into the experience, collecting
their own samples of powder. For the kids who began to tire of breaking up
rocks, the natural progression was to cover themselves (and us) in the freshly
acquired bush paint.
Towards the end of the session, the kids took the activity
leaders out into the bush in search of bush chewing gum (sap from eucalyptus
trees) and spinifex grass that we were to bring back to Minyerri to help Eamon
and Daryl feel better. It was a really nice way to round out the day – with the
kids being the teachers.
There’s a chance that we’ll get our boys trip in tomorrow.
But today wasn’t too shabby for a backup plan.
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