Kookaburra(Goo-Goor-Gaga) sat in that tree looking down on their corroboree(Garabara). Yet it wasn’t a true Garabara, though the night will possibly end with some song and dance much later. The clansmen were sitting around the fire having a yarn whilst drinking white fellas drinks, smoking white fellas pipes; an indulgence and perhaps addiction for some that has followed many a community from the days when the First Nations People received wages in the form of rum and tobacco for assisting the European Settlers coming to the land now known as Australia way back when in the eighteen hundreds era of colonisation. The land many Native countrymen knew as Mainland.

For some Aboriginal workers these now well-known addictive substances was the exchange commodity for services and labour from supplying Bushtucker food, carrying water and including being guides to the British Settlers.

Soon Goo-Goor-Gaga kookaburra will be laughing at campfire antics as ‘Kiirra’ also known as grog spirit (some indigenous natives like to call it) takes over some of the men’s balance and decorum for what is considered unruly and uncivilised behaviour around the Elders. Kiirra known to be a familiar dark shadow spirit that hides beneath the surface of one and can only be seen by a few, who likes to create bedlam, loves to grasp at the opportunity to overpower and change disciplined behaviour to something quite the opposite and at times quite harmful when spirit drink is around.

If one watches carefully at a ‘sorry business’ memorial service for a beloved family member, one just might witness this dark shadow spirit (perhaps Kiirra or perhaps another) go up in the air and leave the room as it goes in search of its next host victim.

One does not want to mistake this familiar spirit for being your beloved kin member whose spirit will prayerfully go to eternal dreaming for the time. It is best not to consult with ancient spirits for one may not be able to discern if it is a benevolent helpful spirit or a malevolent harmful spirit in search of its next victim for unruly behaviour. Perhaps prayerfully tell Creator God Baiame what you have seen so he may deal with if in the best way for your health and the health of your kin.

Magpie too was watching, he looked at Kookaburra and nodded as he pointed his beak as if to say look over there. The women were gathering the children and heading off to another clearing of bush not too far away from camp but far enough that the men’s unabashed entertaining would not disrupt or disturb the little one’s eyes and ears to say this is an acceptable pastime.

The women knew that if the men had too much fill of white man’s drink it can get quite unruly and even unpredictable, sometimes too rough for the women and children. If was safer to move away for the night and let the men be to their own entertainment and indulgence.

The women and children will have their own fire tonight, and share dreamtime stories of old to entertain the littlies; stories of the land and animals, warnings to be wary of the deep waterholes for the trouble they may bring and old crocodile who is in the rivers. Be aware of the Billabongs carved out by Bunyip, he may still be in there, bunyip is hard to describe and known as a great imposter and some dreamtime lores say Bunyip often likes to hug his victims to death. If one was to reflect more perhaps Bunyip might be also known as a shapeshifting Dreamtime spirit because no one can pinpoint exactly what bunyip looks like; maybe a starfish, maybe a dog, maybe a seal, an amphibian and many more descriptions have been spoken of. Some ancestral wisdom says Bunyip likes to guard the waterways so that they are not over fished and there is plenty for all. Either way Bunyip is smelly and scary and one does not want to meet one down by the waterhole. Of course white fella scientists say, “The Bunyip Monster does not exist.” Watch out for the roaming ogres too.

There is Kiirra spirit who will have the men play up tonight at corroboree. Maybe Kiirra, this regal ancestral spirit should never have been consulted for any wisdom or guidance and should have been left to sleep for the tom foolery and more that is about when spirit drinking is being consumed. Oh and do not whistle at night for one does not want to alert Warra Wirrin spirit and invite trouble into camp or home by this bad presence.

Dreamtime Spirits some can be good and some bad entrapping one into trouble and danger. There are the Arnhem land monsters of malevolent and vampire-like wind spirit beings. Then there are the devil spirits that move in the whirly winds.

Knowing that not all ancestral spirits are good, consider Djinga who can bring chaos and destruction into home and camp. Therefore perhaps it is time the mobs stopped speaking to the ancestral spirits and only communicate with God the Creator Spirit Baiame until He shares otherwise for one’s own safekeeping and those they love and the mobs all over the Mainland.

In the women’s camp there will be teachings on the names of the birds and animals in each countrymen language like Kookaburra is known as Goo-Goor-Gaga, and how magpie is known by lots of names and it is dependent on what part of the Australian Land country community he is from; in Wiradjuri Mob (Western New South Wales) magpie is called ‘Garru’, in Wurundjeri Mob country (metropolitan Melbourne and greater stretching out to great dividing range in the North to the Werribee River in the West, to Mount Baw Baw in the east and south down to Mordialloc Creek)they call magpie ‘Barrawarn’, whereas the Kaurna Mob (Adelaide plains in South Australia) call magpie ‘Kurraka’ for they are known as ‘chatterboxes’. “Our song and dance is a ‘Corroboree’ in our language we say ‘Garaabara’ where we live, here in country” says Magpie.

There is Creator God, our sky Father known as ‘Baiame’ in South Eastern Australia who placed the ancestors here on this land a very long time ago to care for the animals and the bush so that there would always be plentiful of food for all First Nations people to forage and eat.

To Dreamtime story where the Rainbow Serpent came from under the ground and when she travelled along the land her body formed mountains, valleys and rivers.

Look and see, Kookaburra laughed in warning there’s going to be some sorry heads in the morning. Kookaburra laughed in sorrow as magpie to sang a sorrowful melody for the bush birds had seen and the stories had been shared of how the numbers of the First Nations Peoples all over the Australia-land had been decreasing substantially over the past few centuries, for many reasons and one being that white mans foodstuffs and entertaining substances just were no good for the health of the First Nation’s people.

The men shooshed the birds, to not spoil our enjoyable evening with your laughing at the wrong hour, for there is no rain today, and we will not have you rain on our Garabara parade.

Magpie flew over to Kookaburra’s gumtree and sat on the long branch and began to say, “There has been talk around the clansmen communities that too much consumption of white man’s food and drinks can result in premature death and long term sickness with eating foods that are not helpful to longevity of life for the countries peoples but quite disruptive to their native bodies.

This white fella food ages this lot quickly. Sometimes they go into town for healing but don’t come back to camp. For a long time the First Nations people looked after their bodies without great effort for the natural tucker foods of the bush helped each person maintain one’s body like a fine-tuned instrument so that it worked in sync with the land, their healthy bodies keeping the land’s production abundantly healthy to provide for fruitful provisions for their people, the animals and the bush, maintaining a cycle of life for longevity for all who reside on this great southern land.”

“These days one sees less numbers of the men growing old and recognised as elders with their long beards and wrinkly aging skin. Uncles that once would normally have witnessed many generations within the clan.”

“Do you really think it’s all that white fellas staple foods. Too much white foodstuffs; what do they call it sugar, flour, bread?”, asks Kookaburra.

“Yes,” Magpie says, “I’ve had my fill when it has spilled on the ground, it does taste good; a white granular sweet sticky substance wet from the morning dew, and the white doughy chunks of soft spongey blobs and shapes that my beak likes to tear apart and I gobble it down. It fills one for a bit but it doesn’t last long, one is hungry again soon after. Not like a good old morning feed of grubs that will keep me going to lunch time even late afternoon nearer my dinner time.”

Magpie continues, “And those smelly smoke sticks going up in the air with their pungent odour, not like the aroma of burning gum and eucalypt leaves at fire time. And what is that they drink that makes them behave like lyrebird, imitating each other and laughing and clowning around like boxing kangaroo and emu. They are too tired the next day to do any activity to keep the bush healthy. What will we do if a big runaway fire rips through and cleans out our feeding grounds because there has been no controlled burning for a long time? For generations the clansmen have cared for the land by selective burning of land areas and allowing and encouraging flora regrowth for our sustenance and their own.”

Kookaburra agrees too of what he has seen and heard, “what shall we do we can not let this continue for the First Nations Peoples care for the land management always provided us with a safe home to fly and roam with plenty of fodder. I haven’t gone hungry yet, but I see the grasslands growing over abundantly and I certainly don’t want the fires racing through here leaving nothing in its path and nowhere for me to land and rest. With so much gone by the wayside in this new way of entertainment of drink and tobacco, do you think each Mob remembers when to start the fires to clear some of the bush to allow for clearing of the old trees and enable new growth from the native dropped seed pods for new shelter for us animals and plentiful food for future seasons?”

“More so,” Magpie says, “even if they remember, do they want to  wake from their sleep and carry out the work that has been done for generations in the past for everyone’s benefit and wellbeing or are they having too much fun lazing around in the sun and shade like goanna, with their tummy full of drink?”

We have to warn them not only for their longevity but ours too. I have laughed and laughed my sorrowful tune but they don’t seem interested; they don’t want to wake up to the warnings.” says Goo-goor-gaga.

Magpie says, “we will have a corroboree of our own with all the animals from east coast to west coast like to the Gubbi Gubbi people on the South East coast, north up to Arnhem land to south Nunga land and Pitjantjatjara the middle deserts regions coming together to make a plan.”

Snake was listening down below and hissed, “that’s a lot of animals meeting in one place!”, his body quivered “I don’t want to be stepped on especially by emu or cassowary’s big feet and I don’t even want to think that kangaroo might just jump straight on top of me as he’s passing through.”

Magpie and Kookaburra looked at each and made some song and laughter at the thought of snake dodging all those feet to avoid being stepped on a little too much at a big animal meet-up, though they admitted yes that’s too many in one place plus all the long travel. Slow old sleepy Wombat probably would still be traveling to the meet-up whilst everyone was heading back with the news of what to do about the problem.

Between the three of them, snake, kookaburra and magpie, it was decided a message would be sent out through the bush communication line to gather locally to discuss the problem. All animals should meet-up in the part of the bush and land where they hold country community with the others, where they live amongst the clans to discuss what they have seen and how they believe they can help and overcome the problem for the animal warnings sounds just weren’t working like in the ancient times. Then at the end of the first month of spring a select few from each area will meet at the sacred landmark rock Uluru and present the ideas shared and spoken of in their larger group communities before the smaller spokes-creatures group meeting from North, South, East and West on country discuss best plan of action to ‘stop the rot’; the disintegration of the Mobs nationwide.

Once agreed upon what directive action to follow the bush committee members will head back to their bush town homes and share among all their communities this is the plan of action we the animals take and follow to awaken the First Nations people into action of their care and management of land and self for everyone’s wellbeing and longevity of life and future generations.

Kookaburra and Magpie went to their families to spread the word sending out members in each direction of the plan to the neighbouring communities to reach far and wide all creatures to discuss the animals futures and the humans given to be caretakers of this vast country known as Australia.

They were to ask and see if the other animal communities are witnessing the smaller group numbers of First Nations People as they sit entertaining each other with the poisons of drink and pungent smoke instead of corroboree dance and Dreamtime storytelling.

Any animal they passed along the way they sent out the bush line message, “tell your kind and cousins and all you meet of the special meeting down at the billabong next week.” Snake too slithered along at the birds first onset of flight from the tree branch, he too communicated the message too all he came upon. “See you at the Billabong in a week,” he said to goanna, kangaroo and wallaby too. “Don’t forget to tell the animals you meet along the way that it was heard in the Big City along ‘Maiwar’- the winding brown snake river of the Turrbal and Jagera people that the Aboriginal population has dwindled to less than 4% in year 2023 of the 26 million people living on this great big southern land according to government statistics,” said snake as he slithered under a rock for he heard the foot stomp of man coming near, “I do not want to be someone’s dinner tonight.”

“Don’t forget to tell the animals you meet along the way that it was heard in the Big City along ‘Maiwar’- the winding brown snake river of the Turrbal and Jagera people that the Aboriginal population has dwindled to less than 4% in 2023 of the 26 million people living on this great big southern land according to government statistics,” said snake as he slithered under a rock for he heard the foot stomp of man coming near, “I do not want to be someone’s dinner tonight.”

The message travelled far and wide, it travelled everywhere to the Cape of Tribulation up to Arnhem land via Alice Springs, over to Broome and Monkey Mia and the furthest eastern part of this Mainland, Byron Bay and even down to little Tasmania.

All the animals searched each other out from the lands of the Billabongs to the creek ways and larger rivers and out to the sea to find out what messages have been occurring amongst the many country men.

Willy Wagtail shared she overheard a little Gubbah (white one) who they call auntie sometimes sharing with a brother in Creator God’s family at a big-sound event where there were many of his cousins, aunties and uncles performing their musical gifts and talents in the Turrbal and Jagera peoples city venues of Meanjin (Brisbane) for a three day festival. This big-sound in song and music was of shared personal life moments and lessons and the old stories of the dreaming.

The little one shared they were all beautifully gifted and there was so much joy in the room from the wonderful sounds as they shared and presented their talents, hard work and history on the stages to the small number of patrons in the room. She said, “it was a shame that more of the Mob and community had not come along to see a larger presentation of First Nations performers this year at this annual festival. They were all so wonderful and so many missed out seeing how good they all were presenting their song and dance, playing the didgeridoo and boomerang clapsticks. There was Eddie Mabo’s niece who shared the story of her Uncle who fought for the countrymen’s rights, yet it didn’t stop at that, she had a beautiful singing voice and was magnificent up on stage. Her set was too short for that outstanding performance.”

This little Gubbah shared too that there is a new bridge that looks like a big boomerang across Maiwar connecting Southbank Grasslands to George Street, Meanjin where sits a lovely busk of Uncle Neville Bonner. He was the first of the Uncles to enter Federal Politics.  Uncle always kept lots of $1 notes in his wallet when he visited the Aboriginal Land Reserves like Cherbourg to give to the kids on his arrival. They flocked to him.

The animals began their meetings with ‘We the animals need the traditional custodians land management and care for flourishing fauna and flora and plentiful food for all. Does no one see this or understand this?’

Stories were being collected far and wide.

From Tasmania came, “We cannot allow the natural caretaker First Nations inhabitants to dwindle to a few like what happened in Tasmania where from stories of old the last full blood aboriginal passed along to spiritual ancestor resting place back in 1876, a woman I hear.”

‘The Aboriginal camps have been getting smaller and smaller for way too long; the loss of the caretakers of this land through the early black wars of the new found settlers and the trading and consumption of the British fare and its Europeans goods and wares is leaving us animals with few who still care about the land and have focus on our survival and theirs.’

‘The numbers dropped too out here in the bush when the taking of the children into white fella camps as the new settlers attempted to civilise the Aboriginal clans into British way of life and dull the traditional Aboriginal cultural ways and grow them into a more domesticated European way of life.’

Through Willy Wagtail who sits and darts quietly along the fence lines listening to the chattering of the humans of all colour and kind; it appears the stolen children generation didn’t happen alone to the Aborigines of this vast mainland, it happened too many who lived on this land and the big cities from all walks of life, rich and poor, black and white.

We the animals have to awaken the traditional custodians to what is harmful to their lifestyle so they don’t disappear altogether, for this will be harmful for us animals. Do they forget when one is sick it affects everyone. Do they forget to be free and well they must continue with the lessons of the Elders in their care of self and family and not just focusing on their entertainment, they must remember Creator God who brought them here. Do they not know that spirit drink does not love them, it exhausts them and makes them sick; that their children are waiting on them to quit the harmful drink and get rid of this substance abuse and love them.

We the animal kingdom need to remind Mobs the great Creator God Baiame and how He gave them dominion over us animals and to care for us so they can get back to what is healthy for them and resulting in what is healthy and good for us animals.

Uncle Vince Ross reminds us that, “I know that God is worshipping in spirit and in truth and our mob have practiced that for a long time and continue to do so today”.

Perhaps the First Nations people need to be reminded of the Creator God our Sky Father to help get them back on track; how He gave them to care for all us animals so they can get back to what is healthy for them, resulting in what is healthy and good for us. Some have fallen to the wrong spirit practices in more ways than one; this is not helpful for longevity of life. Maybe they need the reminder of God’s sustaining in their life when law customs and ceremony were more prevalent in their communities, when God’s Spirit was at work revealing His creation to them. As some have said, “a reminder of the love and grace of Jesus as He walks around the land, seeking to bring health and freedom to all people”. 

Maybe Sky Father can help them to quit this indulging in the deadly spirit drinking?

Maybe if they ask Sky Father to help and intervene in this troublesome deadly spirit drinking, this harmful substance abuse against the body, maybe Sky Father will help them to see that consulting and speaking to their ancestral spirits invites trouble that lingers on stronger as generations come along and they need Sky Father’s help to put these troublesome ancestral spirits back to bed in the place He has provided for them.

For consulting their ancestor family spirits may not be their beloved member but a troublesome familiar bad spirit, one of the many spoken of in the Dreamtime stories. For when a loved one passes away their living spirit goes home to Sky Father and no longer roams the Mainland or Islands.

Maybe seeking forgiveness from Sky Father that in the error of seeking ancestral spirits the tribes could not distinguish between the good and the mischievous wicked spirits and so this unawareness has resulted in spiritual defiling of family clans and harmful effects upon the mobs in community in some form or another like increased lawlessness in community.

Kookaburra says, “I see the most High and sovereign Creator God, the Sky Father Baiame help is needed to right the wrongs, to remove the harm so that the trouble stops and healthy bodies may reign again and more importantly healthy happy and at peace families, and no wicked spirits like Mokoi loosed to steal the children away at night. They need to see it too.”

We certainly don’t want to find ourselves in this situation where a young Aboriginal boy said to his Christian Aboriginal Father, “What is God like?”  Father replied, “I don’t know we have forgotten.”

Maybe Sky Father (God) Baiame can help them Mobs quit this indulging in the deadly spirit drinking, making everything good again.

Yes, God is good.