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Clip description
Narrator Rachel Perkins tells the Dreamtime stories of the desert people in Central Australia. The importance of the belief system and sacred law of the Arrernte people, Altyerra, is explained by Herman Malbunka of the Western Arrernte Nation. Perkins then sets the scene for the changes that are brought about by the white man and the coming of the telegraph pole.
Curator’s notes
This clip is quite moving and typical of the opening sequences seen throughout the whole series. The grand sweeping shots of landscape are simply breathtaking. Combined with Perkins’s narration and the stirring soundtrack of South African composer Philip Miller it is enough to give you goosebumps.
Despite the use of Arrernte language you can really feel the emotion of Herman as he explains his Altyerra. The use of archival images is haunting as you are transported back to a very different time in Australian history.
