Shoreline caves, lapping waves
Sticky mud sucking feet; oppressive heat
Her Island, ancestral home
Tribal mother taught each day.
White children came; knowledge gain
She showed us how to read the land
Healing plants, honey ants
Her clapping hands, loving ways.
Smiling, greeting, teaching
I held her hand when I was small
Sticky mud - sucking feet; oppressive heat
Learnt so much from tribal ways.
We watched tiny crabs scuttle past
Listened to currawong; magpie song
Beloved poet of our land
Legacy lives on - written by hand.
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Author Notes
Kath Walker (Oodgeroo Noonuccal) 1920 - 1993. Revered poet and wonderful teacher of the tribal ways. She established the Moongabala (resting place) cultural and environmental centre on Stradbroke Island (Minjerriba) worked tirelessly for reconciliation for Aboriginal people, awarded the MBE (member of the British Empire) and was the first Australian Aboriginal woman to publish many books of her poems.
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