Of course, as a Trawloolway man whose people have lived in this country for 5,000 generations, I can do little else but say ‘Amen’ to the Jubilee vision. For, unlike the Hebrew people and their Christian children, the ones who came to steal our land and lay it waste, we actually lived the Sabbath values in the way we cared for each other and for country. At the heart of Aboriginal spirituality there is a sense that all people are born to both a gift and a vocation. The gift is country – the land, its waterways, its plants and animals – country which was formed by our human-animal ancestors and given us as both a dwelling-place and the fundamental source of all life. To us, country is kin. We are part of her. She is our mother. She gives us life and also sustains us in life. Our vocation, then, as children of country, is to make sure that country is cared for. Each of us is born to a particular place and family. That place and family patterns our life from birth until death. It gives us a job to do. Each member of the tribe has their part to play in keeping that country healthy and well, and should never exceed their remit by usurping a role that properly belongs to another. For well and healthy country requires a well and healthy community in which everyone is content to live within their own gift and dignity. This is the lore, the lore of the land. In Aboriginal society, strong sanctions were applied for breaking this lore. If someone took what was properly given to another – whether land, animal, plant or human being – whatever was stolen would need to be returned and the thief would have to suffer a period of exile from the tribe. In serious cases, where there was not only stealing but also destruction or the taking of life, the lore-breaker might be exiled from the tribe on a permanent basis. Or they might be ‘sung’ into an experience of suffering to match the suffering they had caused for others. Or they might be speared in the leg or thigh, so that 86
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