Australian
Screen

an NFSA website

The Last of the Nomads (1997)

play May contain names, images or voices of deceased Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
Email a link to this page
To:
CC:
Subject:
Body:
clip Firestick farming

Original classification rating: PG. This clip chosen to be PG

Clip description

The narrator tells us that, according to Mandildjara beliefs, an evil spirit lives beneath the lake and wanders it searching for Mandildjara people to devour. In sepia tones, there is a re-enacted sequence of Warri and Yatungka breaking tribal laws and leaving their people. Mudjon from the search party, in seeing that his country is unkempt, leaps from the vehicle to light the spinifex. This is a traditional way of managing the land.

Curator’s notes

by Romaine Moreton

There are two perspectives that constantly interact in this narrative: that of the Western filmmakers, who narrate from within a Western scientific discourse, and that of the Indigenous peoples – specifically the Mandildjara people. Though the filim does not delve deeply into the Indigenous perspective and cultural practices, it does offer a window through which the relationship between the people and the land can be understood – especially to non-Indigenous peoples. The use of firestick farming to tend the land is a form of ancient cultivation. The film does establish the link between the health of the land being synonymous with the presence of the caretakers – the Mandildjara people. The eventual death of the land then, is the consequence of the removal of the Mandildjara from their ancient homeland.

Thanks to the generosity of the rights holders, we are able to offer Firestick farming from the documentary The Last of the Nomads as a high quality video download.

To play the downloadable video, you need QuickTime 7.0, VLC, or similar.

You must read and agree to the following terms and conditions before downloading the clip:

australianscreen is produced by the National Film and Sound Archive. By using the website you agree to comply with the terms and conditions described elsewhere on this site. The NFSA may amend the 'Conditions of Use’ from time to time without notice.

All materials on the site, including but not limited to text, video clips, audio clips, designs, logos, illustrations and still images, are protected by the Copyright Laws of Australia and international conventions.

When you access australianscreen you agree that:

  • You may retrieve materials for information only.
  • You may download materials for your personal use or for non-commercial educational purposes, but you must not publish them elsewhere or redistribute clips in any way.
  • You may embed the clip for non-commercial educational purposes including for use on a school intranet site or a school resource catalogue.
  • The National Film and Sound Archive’s permission must be sought to amend any information in the materials, unless otherwise stated in notices throughout the Site.

All other rights reserved.

ANY UNAUTHORISED USE OF MATERIAL ON THIS SITE MAY RESULT IN CIVIL AND CRIMINAL LIABILITY.

This clip is available in the following configurations:

File nameSizeQualitySuitability
lastofno2_pr.mp4 Large: 21.9MB High Optimised for full-screen display on a fast computer.
lastofno2_bb.mp4 Medium: 10.3MB Medium Can be displayed full screen. Also suitable for video iPods.

Right-click on the links above to download video files to your computer.

Thanks to the generosity of the rights holders, we are able to offer this clip in an embeddable format for personal or non-commercial educational use in full form on your own website or your own blog.

You must read and agree to the following terms and conditions before embedding the clip:

australianscreen is produced by the National Film and Sound Archive. By using the website you agree to comply with the terms and conditions described elsewhere on this site. The NFSA may amend the 'Conditions of Use’ from time to time without notice.

All materials on the site, including but not limited to text, video clips, audio clips, designs, logos, illustrations and still images, are protected by the Copyright Laws of Australia and international conventions.

When you access australianscreen you agree that:

  • You may retrieve materials for information only.
  • You may download materials for your personal use or for non-commercial educational purposes, but you must not publish them elsewhere or redistribute clips in any way.
  • You may embed the clip for non-commercial educational purposes including for use on a school intranet site or a school resource catalogue.
  • The National Film and Sound Archive’s permission must be sought to amend any information in the materials, unless otherwise stated in notices throughout the Site.

All other rights reserved.

ANY UNAUTHORISED USE OF MATERIAL ON THIS SITE MAY RESULT IN CIVIL AND CRIMINAL LIABILITY.

Copy and paste the following code into your own web page to embed this clip: