Thukeri

Thukeri
told by Veena Gollan

This is a story about two men who lived on the shores of Lake Alexandrina. They belonged to the Ngarrindjerri people. The two men set off in their bark canoe to go fishing on the lake. They travelled along on the calm, cool waters until they came to their favourite fishing place, called Loveday Bay, where they always caught the best and most delicious bream fish. In their language, this fish is called Thukeri. They found a good sheltered spot among some high reeds. They had made their own fishing lines, called nungi, from cords they had made from the reeds. They used very sharp bird bones for hooks. They knew the women were collecting vegetable plants to eat with the fish. As the day went on the two men sat there catching more and more fat, juicy Thukeri. They were having such a wonderful day catching so many fish and wanted to keep catching more and more, but the canoe was almost full and looked like it would sink. As they paddled in closer to shore, they could see a stranger in the distance. He seemed to be walking straight towards them. The two men looked at each other; what if this stranger wanted some of their beautiful, juicy Thukeri? They were greedy and decided not to share with the stranger. They decided to keep all the fat, lovely Silver Bream for themselves and quickly covered the fish up with their woven mats so that the stranger would not see them. When the stranger came up to the two men he said, 'Hello, brothers. I haven't eaten anything at all today. Could you spare me a couple of fish?' The two men looked at each other and at the mats hiding the Thukeri. They turned to the stranger and one of them said, 'I'm sorry, friend, but we caught only a few fish today and we have to take them home for our wives and children and the old people, because they are depending on us. So, you see, we can't give you any.' The stranger stood there for a long while and then started to walk away. He stopped, turned around and stared at them. 'You lied,' he said. 'I know that you have plenty of fish in your canoe. Because you are so greedy, you will never be able to enjoy those Thukeri ever again.' The two men stood there, puzzled, as the stranger walked away into the sunset. They shrugged their shoulders, then quickly took off the mats and began to gut the fish. But as they did this, they found that these beautiful silver Thukeri were so full of sharp, thin bones that they couldn't eat them. 'What are we going to do? We can't take these home to our families, they'll choke on them.' So the two men had to return home in shame with only the bony fish. When they got home, they told their families what had happened. The old people told them that the stranger was really the Great Spirit called Ngurunderi. Now all the Ngarrindjeri people would be punished for ever, because the two men were so greedy. And so today, whenever people catch a bony bream, they are reminded of long ago, when Ngurunderi taught them a lesson.
Why the stories are told

told by Warren Foster
My name is Warren Foster, I come from the Yuin-Monaro tribe of Wallaga Lake, far south coast of New South Wales. Why these stories are being told is because they keep our culture alive. Keeps us living and knowing that we're living. 'Cos these stories they were handed down by word of mouth for generations upon generations for thousands of years. The reason that we tell these stories is to know where we're coming from. Gives us an identity of the people. And if we know where we're coming from, we know where we're going. As long as we keep telling these stories we know that our culture is alive and running strong through our veins. Why I like telling the stories is because it's keeping the culture alive. As I get older, I'm going to pass it down to younger generations so that they get interested in it and that they keep the culture going. I'd like to see more young blackfellas get right into their culture and start learning more about their culture. Knowing their stories, their songs and dance and art. Keep it alive. (Warren Foster. Wallaga Lake, New South Wales, 1998)
Why the stories are told

told by Aunty Beryl Carmichael
My name is Beryl Carmichael and my traditional name is Yungha-dhu. I belong to the Ngiyaampaa people, come from the Ngiyaampaa nation and the area we're in now belongs to Eaglehawk and Crow. I'm a storyteller as well and all the stories have been handed down to me by my people. I am now custodian of about twenty-eight stories. The stories are a wonderful and a valuable tool, an education tool in teaching our children. The 'Dreamtime' stories as they are referred to today, we didn't know that there was such names for them. Because when the old people would tell the stories, they'd just refer to them as 'marrathal warkan' which means long, long time ago, when time first began for our people, as people on this land after creation. We have various sites around in our country, we call them the birthing places of all our stories. And of course, the stories are embedded with the lore that governs this whole land. The air, the land, the environment, the universe, the stars. The stories that we are passing and talking on today, we are hoping that, some way, it will help our people-and our children, our young people in particular-to get a better understanding about the lore that governs our lives today. No matter what we do, there is always guidance there for us and the guidance comes through in the stories. And the direction that we are giving to our young people on how we expect them to grow up. How to listen to the old people, but also, never to be disobedient. We must never be disobedient; we must always obey the instructions of our old people and people in authority; always do the right thing; never be greedy; never be a thief and so on. So all these little things are embedded in the stories to our children. That's why the stories are so powerful as an education tool when we're teaching our young kids. We must always refer back to the stories because they're the ones that's going to give them the guidance that they need today.

Thukeri

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Thukeri

told by Veena Gollan

Why the stories are told

Why the stories are told

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