Clip description
Arrernte Mat-utjarra Elder Rupert Max Stuart sits by the fire, telling his descendents a yarn about the Dreaming. Max has a grandfather from the Lurritja side, and a grandfather from the Arrernte side, and says he didn’t know which one to believe, though they were both telling the same Dreaming just in a different way. Max says that though blackfellas don’t have the bible, ‘…we still know the ten commandments’. Max explains that the beliefs of Indigenous peoples are different altogether and the Dreaming can’t be seen by women, but only by men and it is men that hold the stories, and that the Dreaming – that runs through the ground – is the ten commandments. Before the township of Alice Springs, Max explains, the Indigenous peoples were self governing and had a good life, until the white men came and destroyed it.
Curator’s notes
The respect with which the information is being passed on by Arrernte Mat-utjarra Elder Rupert Max Stuart is evident. Elders such as Stuart are a dwindling voice, though each one seems to be speaking a similar message, that being the importance of passing on ancient knowledge and wisdom so that the language and traditions of Indigenous peoples can continue. The language and traditions, and the preservation and relationship to land are interconnected, and to live in the land, it is important that ancient stories and customs are practiced and passed on to the next generations.