#084 Regenerative Songlines
Film, First Law & the Martuwarra Fitzroy River, with Dr Anne Poelina
This episode departs from the usual schedule, as there’s a particularly pressing aspect to this one.
Dr Anne Poelina is a Nyikina Warrwa (Indigenous Australian) woman who belongs to the Mardoowarra, the lower Fitzroy River in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. She is also Chair of the esteemed Martuwarra Fitzroy River Council. When Anne and I last spoke for the podcast, in Broome a few years ago, I said this:
“if anywhere epitomizes the critical time we’re in, it’s in the spectacular cultural and natural landscapes of her homeland. Almost incredibly, there are 40,000+ fracking wells slated for this area, along with the damming of the Fitzroy River, and more ‘old-model’ industrial agriculture. Yet the next economy is also in tow here, and this is where Anne is currently focusing her extraordinary breadth of cross-cultural knowledge and experience.”
Dr Anne Poelina (pic supplied).
“This is why we’re trying to encourage our fellow Australians, our brothers and sisters out there, to get to know where you live, because it’s place-based. The land is alive, the rivers are alive, the living systems are alive, the birds and the fish - everything communicates. Don’t see yourself as a human being as elitist and above other living systems. This is the gift of Indigenous People across the world, saying we want you, because your DNA is embedded here. We want you to get to know your country, to feel your country, to heal your country, because it’s all our country.”
Three years on and a power of work has been done. This includes the forming of Regenerative Songlines Australia. It’s to launch in NAIDOC Week. And while that ‘old industrial model’ lurks in the Kimberley, a profound new film screened last week called The Serpent’s Tale. It documents the creation of Martuwarra, the National Heritage listed Fitzroy River. And its launch draws attention to an important state government submission process on now, while invoking deeper connection with the River and Country generally.
This episode was recorded on 20 May and released on 24 May 2021, the anniversary of the exploding of the Juukan Gorge last year, which destroyed a 46,000-year heritage site. A reminder that the stakes couldn’t be higher, in terms of staving off disaster, but also ushering in the emerging new story of connection and regeneration.
For those less familiar with Anne, she is also an international award winner, Managing Director of Madjulla Incorporated, a qualified nurse, traditional midwife, has multiple postgraduate degrees, and over 30 years’ experience in Indigenous health, education, language and community development.
Title slide image: Dr Anne Poelina (supplied).
Click on the photos below for full view, and hover over the image for descriptions & credits.
Get more:
The Martuwarra Fitzroy River Council.
Trailer for the film, The Serpent’s Tale.
Make a submission or write an email or letter by 31 August 2021 (extended soon after the release of this episode).
Regenerative Songlines Australia, to launch in NAIDOC Week.
The Council is keen to show the film again in the next month so please subscribe to their email list via the website to be updated.
And to listen to previous episodes with Anne (ep 21), Tyson Yunkaporta (ep 70), the ‘Law of the Land’ panel conversation (ep 71), and Mary Graham’s ‘New Economy’ presentation (ep 26).
Music:
River Feeling, at the start of the episode, and Liyan, at the end, both by Anne’s son Mark Coles-Smith, composing as Kalaji (joined in Liyan by Ursula Yovich).