Chapter 22: Darwin

“You know,” Sam said to Tessa as they were about to take off for Darwin, “I read a bit while you were asleep. In 1972 a petition with over a thousand signatures was addressed to Queen Elizabeth.

“The petition appealed to her to help the Aboriginal people of Australia gain land rights and political representation. It read, in part: ‘Today we are refugees in the country of our ancestors. We live in refugee camps – without land, without employment, without justice.’ In October 1972 the Larrakia people attempted to hand the petition to Princess Margaret during her visit to Darwin. After waiting 24 hours without being given an opportunity to do so, they unsuccessfully tried to break through a police barricade. Undeterred, the group sent it off to Buckingham Palace with a letter. The palace sent it on to Australian Government via the Governor-General. There’s an official copy of the petition at Larrakia Nation.”

“And Bob Hawke promised a treaty in 1988. So that’s how much attention we’ve been paid for over 50 years.”

“When I was little everyone thought a treaty would be signed. But when Morrison became PM, it looked hopeless. Look at what Victoria did: they set up an Aboriginal Representative body, where -- under an official model --11 of the 28 seats would be reserved for officially acknowledged ‘language nations’ which occupied particular regions before European settlement. There were, however, 38 such groups before colonisation. And the official acknowledgement was by the 100% European state government. And then the government was amazed that there was controversy as 27 bands fought over the 17 seats. And it even continued when Andrews was re-elected. Bah!”

“That doesn’t get us anywhere. What will we do in Sydney?”

“My father said he’d spoken to Gordy and to someone in Parramatta. I’ve met several of them. They’re good people. Roy Ah See is a Windajuri man and Tina Williams is Bundjalung from the North Coast. They may help.”

“I hope so. I don’t want to be on the wrong side of a myth or fairy tale!”

“Calm down. Ravens and Eagles are all over. The Zuni in New Mexico consider Raven to be a prankster but without those negative characteristics which they associate with Coyote. And do you recall the Raven story in the Grimm Brothers?”

“No.”

They were sitting on the half-full plane as Sam told the story.

A queen wished her daughter would turn into a raven and fly away and her wish was granted. Raven flew away to the forest.

There, a man heard a raven tell him she was an enchanted princess, and that he could free her if he went to a certain cottage yet accepted no food from the old woman there. The raven would drive by in a carriage every day for three days. If he remained awake, the spell would be broken. Every day, the old woman persuaded him to drink just one sip, and so each day, overcome by weariness, he was fast asleep by the time the raven drove past. On the final day, the raven left the sleeping man a bottle of wine, a loaf, and a piece of meat, all three of which were inexhaustible and put a gold ring with her name on his finger. She also gave him a letter telling him there was another way he might deliver her: by coming to the golden castle.

The man wandered around, looking for the castle, and found an ogre who threatened to eat him, but the man fed him from his magical provisions. Then the giant brought out his map, which displayed all the towns, villages and houses in the land – but not the castle he sought. He asked the man to wait until his brother came home. The brother was able to find the castle on an older map, but it was thousands of miles away. The brother agreed to carry the man to within a hundred yards of the castle, and the man would walk the rest.

As the man approached the glass mountain upon which the golden castle stood, he could see the bewitched princess drive her carriage around the castle and go in. But the glass mountain was too slippery for him to climb, and he lived in a hut at the foot of the mountain for a year. One day he met three robbers fighting over three items: a stick that opened doors, a magic cloak of invisibility, and a horse that could ride up the glass-mountain. The man offered them a mysterious reward in exchange for the items, but he insisted on first trying them out, to see if they worked as promised. After he had mounted the horse, taken the stick, and was made invisible by the cloak, he hit the robbers with his stick and rode up the glass mountain. He used the stick and mantle to get into the castle and threw his ring into the princess’s cup. She couldn’t find her rescuer though she searched the entire castle, until he finally revealed himself by throwing off the mantle. Then they were married.

“I was told that my Raven totem has powerful natural magic,” she said, and dozed till they landed in Darwin in mid-afternoon.

“Where are we staying?”

“The Novotel. It’s said to be a short walk from the terminal.”

“And then?”

“Let’s get a taxi to the Larrakia Nation. It can’t be far.”

“I’d like that.”

“Did the sisters ever mention St. Augustine when you were at St. Mary’s?”

“I don’t think so. Why?”

“St. Augustine wrote that ‘The sun invigorates the eyes of eagles, but injures our own.’ I have no idea what it means.

It was a very brief ride to Aboriginal Corporation.