Finding The Site
The Australian National Rainbow Gathering was held September 2007 on Aboriginal lands. The site was actually an area being used as a native-owned community cattle farm, with the cows roaming free for most of the year, until being mustered.
We were guided to hold our gathering, a kind of peace and healing festival, on that land. When I first went out to the site to check it out more thoroughly with a group of scouts, we were flooded in.
The Washpool River swelled its banks and blocked the road. We took it as a sign that the land didn't want us to leave.
It turned out that the Rainbow Family had been invited by the elders of the local Bundjalung tribe to gather on that same land back in 1996, but we didn't know it at the time we found the place.
However, in 1996, the rainbow family hadn't been ready to accept the invitation. Eleven years passed, the invitation was forgotten. New people joined the rainbow family, and those elders had passed on.
Later, when we were all settled in on the site, our tepees and tents up, the sacred fire burning, we connected with the locals; the nearest village, about 45 minutes away, was an Aboriginal settlement. Some of the locals even came out to the rainbow gathering, to meet us, to see what we were all about, and to share with us.
A Remarkable Man
One day, just before full moon, we had a visit from a man named Lewis, a greatly respected man. I first saw him from a distance; a tall impressive man, his lean body and taut muscles carrying him with uncommon strength and confidence. Lewis moved as though he was truly a part of the land; and not merely walking on it.
Lewis was the nephew of the elders who had originally invited the rainbow family to their land eleven years before. At the time, the Bundjalung people had been offended that their invitation was rejected, but Lewis could see that the time wasn't right. He had come now to see if we were finally ready.
A ceremony was called, and we all gathered in a circle around the central sacred fire. Lewis had stripped off into a traditional skin loincloth, his face daubed with white ochre.
He stood in the centre of the circle and told us the story of his tribe; a deeply powerful tale.
I learned that he had been raised hidden from the white men; taken off into the bush as a small child and raised in the traditional native ways. He knew nothing of English, or of western ways, and was trained to be the tribe's secret keeper.
Lewis was taught to memorise and understand all the dreamtime stories of the Bundjalung people, their traditions, their ways, their medicine and their secrets.
A Special Ceremony
Groomed to become the next elder of the Bundjalung tribe; Lewis stood tall and strong and proud. He told his story to us, inter-mixing many Bundjalung words with his heavily accented English. Then he started a soft chant and went around the circle, smearing each of our faces with the white ochre.
Boogelbe boogelmumbela, boogelbe boogelmumbela
Thankyou, thankyou, Great Spirit.
My daughter and I were the last in the line; as he approached me, I felt such a strong presence emanating from Lewis; he seemed to vibrate with light. As the cool, white goo was smoothed over my forehead and cheeks, I felt a strong healing energy wash over me; I felt lighter.
Then Lewis moved on to my daughter. I was a bit nervous, as she doesn't really like to be touched by strangers and she hates to have anything wet on her face. Their eyes met, and they seemed to communicate for a moment, as if they knew each other. For some reason, Lewis didn't paint her face, but her feet. He understood.
After everyone in the circle was daubed with the ochre, a huge pile of green eucalyptus branches and leaves were brought into the circle. Lewis chanted a prayer that we all repeated, and the leaves were thrown onto the fire, filling the area with a fragrant, rich smoke.
Lewis continues in his prayers, his quiet voice resonating so strong it was as if he was shouting. He called in the spirits of the people, goori, the spirits of the animals, boorabi, the koala, junbung the platypus, the spirits of the trees, janangmwun, the spirit of the mountain, and yoolo-tahna, the spirit of the stars. Then Lewis told of Baiame, the father of the whole world, who sees all and knows all, but is unseen.
The smoke swirled in the breeze, covering us all, cleansing us all. When the translation came, I learned that he had been conducting a purifying ceremony. I let the smoke wash over me, feeling whole and healed, light and pure. Amazingly the smoke did not sting my eyes in the slightest!
Many people in the circle were crying tears of joy; everyone was smiling, in love and peace. We started singing together and chanted the sound AUM.
Lewis spoke again; he talked about the separation between white folk and Aboriginals, about the pain and suffering that has gone there. He said that he has seen the rainbow family as a way forward, and that in his mind, this ceremony had served to join the Bundjalung tribe and the rainbow people together - one people, one tribe.
The feeling around the camp was one of healing, of excitement, and reconciliation. We all experienced something very powerful, and very special.
Knowing the Aboriginal Way
The next day, a hunt was planned. The men all came together with spears and spear-throwers, and Lewis led them all in a ceremony to call in the spirits of the kangaroo, and off they went.
The women worked together collecting grasses, vines, feathers, stones and shells to weave a beautiful dream catcher to gift to the women elders of the tribe.
In the evening, a hungi, a traditional aboriginal pit-oven was dug and a hot fire built in it. We danced through the night, to the sound of drums and didgeridoo and the smell of roasting kangaroo.
I left feeling uplifted, as if some immense healing had taken place; something so subtle, yet so powerful that its repercussions would affect the land for a long time to come.