Wurundjeri elder Murrundindi talks bush tucker with student SarahRussell at the launch of
By Kath Gannaway
“When I was a young boy I wasn’t proud of being Aboriginal because of the racial taunts that I suffered,” he says on the dedication to his just released DVD “Murrundindi Dreaming – Wurundjeri Aboriginal Culture in Australia”.
“My mum and dad, Jessie and Colin Hunter stuck with it and taught me to take pride in our people and our beautiful culture.”
Jessie, whose Aboriginal name was Gumbri, was the last girl born on the Coranderrk Aboriginal Reserve in Healesville.
“She taught me everything I know and gave me the confidence to stand up and be proud that I am an Aboriginal man,” said Murrundindi, the Ngurungaeta (head man) of the Wurundjeri people.
At the recent DVD launch at Healesville Sanctuary, he said it was his mother’s dream to create a book on Wurundjeri bush foods and medicines.
“She never got the chance, but I am glad that I am now able to fulfil her dream,” he said.
The DVD contains the cultural presentation that Murrundindi has presented at Healesville Sanctuary for 26 years, and a bush walk exploring the medicinal and food uses of plants on Wurundjeri land.
Students Amy Hardie of Beaconhills College and Sarah Russell from Catholic Ladies’ College in Eltham were among those who spoke at the launch.
Both spoke with emotion of the role Murrundindi had played in raising awareness and engaging young people in indigenous culture.
Amy is part of her school’s ICUC team – Indigenous Culture Unites Casey. The team sought Murrundindi’s help in building a bush tucker and medicine garden to preserve and highlight indigenous culture.
Amy said his stories of his people and how they were able to co-exist with the land were inspirational.
Sarah said she had been touched by Murrundindi’s sharing of his culture and told of how she was overcome with emotion when her class visited a sacred ancestral tree.
“He shares his stories with so much compassion and knows so much. For someone to get through to a bunch of teenage girls … you could hear a pin drop.
“Aboriginal people had everything we have now, but it came from the land,” Sarah said.
While the DVD is a valuable educational tool, it is about engaging more than teaching.
“Murrundindi is a story-teller, telling the story of an individual man, of racism, of a beautiful culture and of history,” said Torquay College environment teacher David Pace.
“Murrundindi Dreaming is a celebration of culture, it comes from the heart, in an honesty that deserves to be heard by all Australians,” he said.
For Murrundindi, the DVD is a timely extension of his life’s work.
He said he was proud to dedicate the DVD to his parents and to continue to teach about Wurundjeri culture and promote racial harmony and understanding.
