Dave mangenner Gough:
Ya, which is hello in our language. Hello, I'm Dave mangenner Gough and welcome to ABC Education Story Time. I'm a proud Trawlwoolway man, a Palawa man from the northeast of Tasmania. We are called truwana or lutruwita, and this is a book that I write called luwa tara luwa waypa. Luwa is three, tara is kangaroo and waypa is Tasmanian Aboriginal man. It's wonderfully illustrated by the amazing Samantha Campbell, and I really hope you enjoy.
In the village, niyakara tells his family he's going to go and hunt tara, kangaroo. He collects his spears, waddy and throwing stick. On his mind is the chief's daughter, tuminana. He knows that she, his sister and some of the village girls and women are at the water, collecting shells and working. He likes tuminana and just wants to see her before he goes further away from the village to hunt.
niyakara doesn't want tuminana to know how he feels, as he isn't sure what the chief and his family will think, or even how she feels about him. He thinks she may like him too, but he's very nervous about doing the wrong thing or being laughed at by everyone. He quietly approaches the beach where the women are and he can see them working, talking, and laughing together. He sits where they can't see him, and he watches them for a moment, knowing he shouldn't really be there as this is women's time. Then to his surprise, he hears three thuds on the ground nearby.
Boom, boom, boom.
He looks around to where the sound seems to come from and sees three warriors hiding, three men he's never seen before. niyakara's heart starts to beat in his chest.
Boom boom, boom,boom, boom boom.
He lies down and watches the men watching the women. He wonders, who are they? Where did they come from? The three warriors get down low to the ground so the women can't see them. niyakara can see they are pointing and talking about the women.
Boom boom, boom boom, boom boom.
The men split up in different directions, signalling to each other as they creep along. niyakara is looking and he can see tuminana and his sisters have no idea they're being watched.
Boom boom, boom boom, boom boom.
niyakara's mind is racing. What will happen if they take the girls away, his sisters and tuminana? What are they going to do? What if, if they round them up and capture the girls? What if they take them away, his sisters and tuminana? What should he do? If he makes a noise the warriors could hurt the girls. If he doesn't do anything, they will be ambushed. The young warrior calls up to moinee.
moinee, moinee, moinee.
'Show me what to do, moinee. Help me, moinee.' He can hardly breathe, his heart is pounding and he feels weak with fear.
Boom boom, boom boom, boom,boom.
niyakara knows that if he leaves to get help, the warriors may ambush him and the girls will be taken. He can't leave the girls. He keeps watching. He knows on his own he cannot defend the girls against these three warriors. He asks moinee again to help him protect the girls. He calls to moinee, his creation spirit.
moinee, moinee, moinee.
'Give me the strength and courage of three warriors.' niyakara puts all his faith in moinee and starts to creep along towards the girls, his heart thumping.
Boom boom, boom boom, boom boom.
But he feels different. He feels stronger and he feels he can, and has to, defend and protect them. He sees the warriors getting close to the girls and he panics. Again niyakara calls out.
moinee, moinee, moinee.
He sees the warriors starting to signal to each other as they begin to make their move. niyakara sees an ochre-stained stone right next to his hand, a sign from moinee. He picks it up. The warriors have seen him. niyakara sings out with all his heart:
moinee, moinee, moinee.
His voice echoes and sounds like three warriors singing out to creation. He throws the stone towards the warrior closest to the girls and POW! It hits him in the head and ricochets, hitting the second warrior in the back. niyakara turns and then runs towards the third warrior and throws his throwing stick, yelling and screaming.
'Go away.'.
The girls all look up and see the strange warriors, and they scream out for help.
Boom boom, boom boom, boom boom.
The warriors yell to each other and run down the beach. niyakara runs after them. His chest pumps up as he runs past the girls. He can see the chief's daughter, tuminana, and his sisters and they all yell out.
'Go niyakara.'.
niyakara yells at the warriors again.
'Go, go, go.'.
niyakara chases them further and further, and as he gets close to the end of the beach where the tea-tree starts, he sees something he cannot believe. In full running strides the warriors seem to be launching further away with every step, almost bouncing, not running. With every step they get further away and with every bounce become more like kangaroos than men. They cut from side to side, bouncing fast and strong. They are kangaroos, large foresters, in full flight. niyakara stops and watches them bound away. He cannot believe what he's just seen, his heart still thumping in his chest from the biggest chase of his life. niyakara sits down and rubs his eyes. Then he starts the long walk back. But as he gets closer to where the girls had been, he can't see them. They are gone. His heart thumps up again.
Boom boom, boom boom, boom boom.
Where are they? Are they okay? Was he tricked by the warriors? Did they come back and take the girls? niyakara starts to run back to the village. He feels sick as he runs. What if have they been taken? What will he say to everyone? As he approaches the village he hears yelling and singing.
'niyakara is back! niyakara is back! niyakara is back!'
niyakara walks into the village and sees his sister. He sees all the women and he sees tuminana. He's greeted by everyone singing his praise.
'niyaka warrior!' Boom, boom, boom.
'niyaka warrior!' Boom, boom, boom.
'niyaka warrior!' Boom, boom, boom.
They pick him up and they carry him to a special place by the big fire, next to the chief and two other male elders. Everyone in the village dances and sings around the fire.
'niyaka warrior! niyaka warrior! niyaka warrior!'
'moinee, moinee, moinee.'.
'niyaka warrior! niyaka warrior! niyaka warrior!'
Boom boom, boom boom, boom boom.
niyakara thanks moinee for looking after him, tuminana and all the girls.
'moinee, thank you. moinee, thank you. moinee, thank you.'
Later in the evening, niyakara, the chief and the two other elders are the only ones left by the fire. There is silence. The chief asked niyakara, 'What happened, young man?' niyakara swallows the lump in his throat. His heart races again. He thinks, what do I say? Will they think I'm making up stories? Will they think I'm crazy? niyakara can't look at the elders. 'There were three warriors spying on the girls,' he says. 'I chased them away.' 'Is that all that happened?' asks the chief. 'Yes,' says niyakara. niyakara keeps looking into the fire. He can't look at the elders as he feels they'll know he is not telling them everything. There's a long silence. Finally, niyakara raises his head and turns to look at his elders.
To his shock and amazement the elders are not men anymore. They're three large forester kangaroo bucks. They jump up and start bouncing around the fire, flicking their tails and kicking up the sand with sparks. Then they bounce off with large bounds and are gone, as quick as that.
niyakara sits there for a minute, his head is spinning, he rubs his eyes. He feels exhausted and decides just to lay down next to the fire for a while. He falls asleep for a bit. Three large cracks from the fire wake him up.
Crack, crack, crack.
He sits up quickly and he looks at the fire. There he sees the faces of his three elders in the fire, smiling at him. Then they gradually fade away. From that day onwards, when niyakara goes off into the bush, he runs as fast as he can, ducking and weaving through the scrub and the trees, bouncing from rock to rock. Bouncing further and further each time. He cuts through the wind and dodges the bush with precision and ease, as he knows how. He also is tara. He also is the kangaroo.
tara, tara, tara, brrr, tara.
Well, I hope you enjoyed luwa tara luwa waypa, and I'd love it if next time you're off in the bush that you walk really quietly and you may look for the animals and see what animals are in the bush near you. Like I did growing up, and how I love tara and watching tara, the kangaroo. So, look for the animals and then see how they move and what they do, like I did with tara. How they listen with their ears, and how they smell you with their nose, how they eat when they're hungry, and how they scratch when they're itchy.
I hope you enjoyed luwa tara luwa waypa like I did reading it to you on ABC Education Story Time, and in our language. Wulika. Goodbye.