December 9

It's been great getting up hours before my hosts everywhere, to fully enjoy the mornings and get ready for some good schedules. This morning I went walkabout and met an Indian man from Fiji who launched into a gratuitous lecture about slavery in the British colonial empire and how millions of Indians were tricked into signing away their lives to false promises of riches when, in fact, they were to experience generations of oppression under the empire. He shared the experiences of his own family in Fiji and lamented the conflict in Fiji. He stressed that it is purely politically motivated and is ravaging the country. He had heard some of the Faith - very educational for me!! At 10:00 we went down the hill to the park in Lismore for another "barby" pronounced "bahbee" with Bunjalong elders. Pauline stole the show with her brilliant exposition of the justice situation between Aboriginal and immigrant groups here. When the British came they declared OZ "terra nullis - uninhabited - and proceeded to run roughshod over the landlords, virtually exterminating whole populations. There were no treaties made resulting in the tribes being without a land base. Peoples like the Bunjalong never left their original territory and are consigned to the margins of this paradisiacal part of OZ. There were quite a few other elders present but they all deferred to Pauline. The picnic-ers were most pleased with her talk and expressed shock that they had never been informed of even the basics of their neighbors/landlords plight/condition. Sounds familiar! After we wiped out the food a Russian gentleman asked some questions about the Faith and soon we had a big time public meeting under the tree in the park. Cool!!! We went back to the Persian hosts home and had a debriefing about the communication confusion. At 4:30 my ride to the evening venue appeared and we went to the little village of Bangalo and set up. My evening co-performers are a female singing group (something akin to the American Indian trio Ulali) consisting of two Maori and a Tongan lady - they do their own compositions in lovely harmonies to standing ovations. Unlike my other two professional gigs here, this one was well publicized. The organizers clearly have developed a terrific support network for their productions. There was a cadre of volunteers who set everything up like clockwork, including tasty catered food. The sound was great and a huge thunder storm rolled right on cue for me!! Pauline and Linky's son Shane did an opening of traditional Bunjalong songs which he has revived thru dreaming. He's a very sincere young man who devotes much time to taking "lost" youth out "bush" to connect with reality! His father, Pauline's husband, carries many traditions from his father, a "clever man" or fully initiated Bunjalong with all of the traditional knowledge. They have invited our whole "mob" to spend some time any time! Not a bad plan now that I know what a paradise they inhabit!