(with others) won the Native Title court case that overturned the doctrine of Terra Nullius. I have no intention of being political here, as it does not serve any purpose when the journey of Lent is all about ourselves and our relationship with God, but I am stating this as a reference point of my journey from an Indigenous perspective. Some parts of the conversation that took place are for my knowledge and not for public conversation, let alone the Church. This is the case most times that cultural knowledge, wisdom and custom is passed on for the ongoing edifying of our next generations of Indigenous people. I am a descendant from the tribe of Zagareb, which is part of the 8 tribes of Mer Island that existed pre-Christianity, and exist today, even after the arrival of Christianity to the Torres Strait on July 1st, 1871. Part of our cultural conversation was about the many totems we identify with, and this brings me to two totems that I want to share as part of my journey with the Church and wider community. THE SERAR1 (Tern Bird) and O o (Coconut) Serar As I reflect, my thoughts wander to how all this came to be, that our ancestors, with their cultural belief systems, found animals, birds, plants, etc to identify with. Who would ever consider a tern bird to be a totem? Whilst there are many varieties of tern birds in the Torres Strait, my identification is with the Serar, and in particular with the connection of sounds along the beaches as they swoop low. They travel in small flocks, and they are small in size. 1 Serar pronounced Ser Ar 58
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