Everett Johnson, Gooreng Gooreng
EVERETT JOHNSON: My name’s Everett Johnson, I’m from the Gooreng Gooreng parent language nation. My tribal name is Goongaree Goondill Bunda. That means, young man from, young medicine man from the Banda Banda clan.
This place here, it’s called Eurimbula National Park. So yarlim means to ask permission and boolar means two or pair of. So Yarlimboolar means ask permission from the two clan groups from this area.
Spirits move with you through country. Even the she-oaks when they blow in the wind they’re talking. So that wind through these she-oaks here, that’s them old people talking.
This place here, this lookout’s called Ganoonga noonga. In our language, goon means fresh water and nooga, nooga means look, look. So in reference to the landscape, we still have the language attached to it. So yeah, a very special place where our old people would have come.
You know when you walk on country sometimes you can picture them and still see them. To have your connection to country, to have knowledge passed down through the songlines, consulting your spirits and getting permissions, it’s very special. There’s a saying like knowledge is power but cultural knowledge is empowering.
The furthest headland, the point right out from last point of the land touching the ocean, there’s a Dreaming place. Because all those high point areas is where the old people went to cross over into the spirit world or get permission to leave. Their spirit leaps off the highest point so these high points here that was passed down through the old people are very, very special. And they’re still special today.