In this poem, Kath Walker selects quite simple title which is Dreamtime. When the reader first read the title of this poem, they may think that this poem will talk about the dream or expectation of particular people. Yet, when they have read the whole poem and frame out the history that lies behind it about the Aborigines, they will find out that the term “Dreamtime” here is different with what they had thought earlier. Since the poem was related to the Aborigines, we relate the title of the poem with the Aborigines. According to crystallink.com, Dreamtime has a lot of meaning for Aboriginal people. It is like an Aboriginal beliefs. There are actually many versions of Dreamtime stories in Australia since there were many different clans of Aboriginal people. Big Black Dog Communications (2008) stated the Dreamtime stories in the following statements. "In most stories of the Dreaming, the Ancestor Spirits of Aboriginal people came to the earth in human form and as they moved through the land, they created the animals, plants, rocks and other forms of the land that we know today. They also created the relationships between groups and individuals to the land, the animals and other people." Thus, Dreamtime here is about the relations tied among human, plants, animals, and other natural things. Based on that term, Aboriginal people believe that all aspects of the Earth are from their ancestors. Their land, their plants, their animals, their cultures is all their relatives, their life and their identity
Essentially, the poem itself talks about the disappointment and the sadness that the aboriginal people felt for the colonization done by the invaders. The invaders here is the Europe people who come there around 1850 to dispose of the prisoner. However, because of some cases, these Europe people come to Australia, not only to dispose of their prisoners, but also to do the gold rush mission as they found out many gold mines there. In the following decades, the flow of immigrants and some great gold discoveries (gold rush mission) boost the economic growth and change the social structure of the colony of Europe people. In the effect of this rapid development, the Aboriginal people forcibly evicted from their homeland.
Therefore, we can say that the theme in this poem is simply about the grief feeling that the aborigines felt. It shows us the ironic thing that the poet wants to emphasize. This irony reflects on how the Aboriginal people, the real owner of Australia land had been chased away, discriminated, intimidated and colonialiezed from their own land. The poet seemingly wants to emphasize the inner depression felt by Aboriginal people at that time. Instead of showing us how these people fight and defend their homeland from the invaders, the poet just wants to show the readers what the Aboriginal people really feel. Therefore, the conflicts that was being drawn by the poet is no longer between the aboriginal people with the invader, but more among the Aboriginal people themselves with their own feeling which are the feeling of sad, hopeless, and angry.
On the other hand, although the larger theme of this poem is about the grief feeling that the aborigines felt, this poem also shows us the strong relation between the Aborigines themselves with their nature. Equally, we can see that aboriginal people stick to their traditions since they were in childhood and they ascertained that from one generation to other generations. They learned that nature is the mother of life so that they have to protect and keep the existence of it. When they destroy the nature, they’ll automatically lose their existence of their identity.
If we see the shift of the poem, we will find out that there is no dividing stanza. All the words in this poem are connected to each other. Therefore, we assume that the events in poem cannot be separated from the coming of invaders, the shattered of the aboriginal people’s sacred places, and the hopes of aboriginal people to get their happy life back just like before the invaders come there because after the invaders had come, not only the aboriginal lands that have been gone or taken away, the sacred place like Bora Ring has also been destroyed by them to make the farm field and also the houses. Bora Rings itself are the circles on the ground constructed from stones. The largest rings measure 30 meters in diameter and were typically related with male initiation ceremonies. Bora Rings were usually linked to a complex pattern of routes which ran to smaller circles, the size of which often reflected social hierarchies (Susan, 2012). They disrespect those Indigenous values of Aboriginal people. In addition, most of the sacred rituals or ceremony like the Corroborees were also disappearing since the Aboriginal people become very rare at that time.
Moreover, when we analyze the poem, we found out some connotation expression. The first connotation is stated in line 13 (You, who paid the price). The word you here refers to the spirit ancestors, while the meaning of who paid the price is that these spirit Ancestors has been sacrificed for the life of their race (Aborigines) when the invaders split their blood (Aborigines’ blood). The next example of connotation in the poem is stated in line 22 (The Mother of life). In this poem, the mother of life means the Aborigines’ spirit Ancestor because all of Aboriginal people believe that their spirit Ancestors who had reincarnated to be the natural things, such as plants, rocks, animals, and many others that they are all very related to the life of Aborigines themselves.
Furthermore, in the poem, we can also find out that the poet uses the word “we” instead of “I”. It underlines that the poem does not talk about the individual person who is intimidated by the invaders, but it talks about the whole group of Aboriginal people themselves. Related to that, the speaker uses the word “we” to talk with the Ancestors Spirits from the unhappy past (line 9 and 26). From these lines we can understand that the ancestors' spirit here is not the former ancestors from the Creation Period, but they are just the ancestors from the previous generations who also felt the intimidation and colonialisation from the invaders.
Based on the explanations above, we can conclude that the speaker of this poem is the aboriginal people. Just like what is stated before, the speaker in this poem is not only one aboriginal person, but the poet described this poem as the representative of the situation of all Aboriginal people in Australia. How they live under pressure and cannot live in their homeland because of the invaders.
However, the subjects which is being the main attention of the speaker in this poem is the ancestor spirit of aboriginal people. We can see it from the words that the speaker chooses to describe their sorrow and disappointed toward the condition of her race. In the line 22 and 23 it is seen that the aboriginal people wanted to see their ancestor to shed their grievances. They really wanted to change the condition of their race by praying to their ancestor. They hope that their ancestor can lead them on to the happy life and lead them to the better place. In the cultural concepts, especially in a religious context, something that is appreciated by people in particular place means that it can bring big impact for people who lived there.
In addition, in the line 1-8 of the poem (Here, at the invaders talk-talk place....That once was ours), the speaker seems to feel so weak, hopeless, and just give up with the condition of colonialisation. We can feel it from the words she choose in the poem. When we try to pronounce the words “invaders, strangers, hearts, Corroborees, ceremonies, dust, ours”, it feels so soft and weak. That is why we interpret the feeling of the speaker in these lines are so hopeless. Yet, we can feel that the words chosen the following lines are getting stronger and stronger as they talked and lamented to their ancestors to hear them, to help them and to lead them into the happy life. In contrast, the speaker was once felt desperate and giving up to fate again, since he/she said “let it be so”. It emphasizes that although when the speakers are enthusiastic in lamented and talked to their ancestors about their sadness, they still feel hopeless. There is nothing that they can do to defend their lands from the invaders.
In conclusion, Dreamtime poem is an expression of grievances among the Aborigines that the poet wants to convey. It emphasizes the unfair treatment faced by the Aboriginal people that their land has been taken away from them and that they have no right at all of their motherland. The poem has caused us to feel the hopeless feeling of Aborigines since even though their land has been taken away, they cannot fight for it as they defeated by the invaders (the white Australian / Europe people).
Written by : Aida Shine (Me), Fikri Atmi (My classmate), Lutfi Wafiru (My classmate)
References:
Anonymous. Religion and Ceremony. (Online), (http://www.aboriginalculture.com.au/religion.shtml), accessed on May 31, 2014
Anonymous. Aboriginal Australia Art & Culture Centre – Aliuce Springs. (Online), (http://aboriginalart.com.au/culture/dreamtime2.html), accessed on May 31, 2014
Anonymous. Aboriginal Corroborees. (Online), (http://www.ntsearch.com.au/darwin/attractions/aboriginal-corroborees.asp), accessed on May 31, 2014
Anonymous. 2012. Australian Aboriginal Heritage: the Tucki Tucki Bora Ring. (Online), (http://soundslikenoise.org/2012/12/15/tucki-tucki-bora-ring/), accessed on May 31 2014
Anonymous. Aboriginal Sacred Sites. (Online), (http://www.mbantua.com.au/sacred-sites/), accessed on May 2013
Anonymous. Australian Aboriginal Dreamtime. (Online), (http://www.crystalinks.com/dreamtime.html), acessed on May 31, 2014
Anonymous. The Dreaming. (Online), (http://australia.gov.au/about-australia/australian-story/dreaming), accessed on May 31, 2014
Anonymous. Aboriginal Dreamtime. (Online), (http://www.personally-selected-aboriginal-art.com/aboriginal-dreamtime.html), acessed on May 31, 2014
Anonymous. Australian Indigenous Cultural Heritage. (Online), (http://australia.gov.au/about-australia/australian-story/austn-indigenous-cultural-heritage), acessed on May 31, 2014
Siasoco, R. V. 2007. Aboriginal Australia. (Online), (http://www.infoplease.com/spot/aboriginal1.html), acessed on May 31, 2014
Anonymous. A Short Aboriginal History. (Online), (http://www.personally-selected-aboriginal-art.com/aboriginal-history.html), acessed on May 31, 2014
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