My camp

The Yugumbeh language of my mother's people¹ is a rich one. It stems from a land that was a virtual paradise, abundant in fish, birds and mammals. This abundance, however, did not lead to the erection of edifices to glorify some distant god or idol; rather, the Kombumerri people developed a rich intellectual and metaphysical world, aware of the galaxies as much as they were of the lifecycle of the smallest insect. Each entity was valued in its own right. My awareness of this heritage began with the repatriation of the remains of my grandmother's ancestors, a common story among Indigenous peoples of the world.