Save Djaki Kundu: Experience on Country

Our Songlines would like to acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the land we work and live. We acknowledge their ongoing spiritual connection to the land, water and culture. We acknowledge their ongoing fight and resistance, and we pay our respects to all elders past, present and emerging. 

I am a non-Indigenous ally originally from Wurundjeri country, sharing this message and joining the fight to save Djaki Kundu because I believe in protecting Aboriginal sites, and looking after Mother Nature, as she looks after us. Information in this piece has been given permission to be shared by some of the Kabi people of Djaki Kundu whilst visiting in July 2021, and I am honoured to share my experience.

Arau (hello in Kabi language) 

Djaki Kundu is an ancient healing site on Kabi land which is under urgent threat from the The Bruce Highway expansion between Cooroy and Curra in Gympie. This construction will destroy a number of culturally significant sites and First Nations culture, including the sacred Seven Sisters Dreaming site. The Kabi elders are standing their ground to protect Djaki Kundu, and they need us to share this important message. You can read the political overview in Claire’s article here.

As soon as I arrived at Djaki Kundu, I met Aunty Dawn, who could brighten up anyone’s day. The first thing she did was make me a cup of tea and I instantly felt at home. Any respectful guest on country was treated like family. I also met Wit-boooka who kindly showed me around the site, and shared his experience of the past year of protecting country. He is a proud Kabi man who is deeply connected to this site, his people and Aboriginal culture. It was an honour to learn from him and spend time on country; witnessing this community’s perseverance, sense of humour and strength through even the darkest of times. There were other humans from all walks of life who came by camp for a cup of tea, whilst offering their support, bringing cake, pies and lifting spirits when needed. Diane Djaki Widjung is the Keeper of Records for the site, and kindly welcomed me to stay on country at Djaki Kundu. Each of these humans shared one goal, to stand by Djaki Kundu and the Kabi people. As Aunty Dawn said to me, “You coming, gives us motivation to keep going.”  

I wanted to feel the spiritual immersion of the site’s surroundings, and share my experience with others, with the intention to empower more people to visit the site, and take action by calling the Queensland Minister for Transport and Main Roads Mark Bailey to attest the highway.

I woke up to the glorious morning chorus of kookaburras, kingfishers, willy wagtails (or Dinka Dinka as Wit-boooka calls them), and parrots singing in the trees. The wallabies, or Maree in Kabi, lived peacefully beside us, chewing on grass and basking in the morning sunshine. We laughed by the fire and made tea. Magpies joined us for breakfast hoping they’d get some crumbs, and most of the time one person would cave in and share their breakfast. During the day we walked through the forest, looking up at the various tree species and admiring the stone arrangements and remnants of crushed quartz stone statues beneath us. We lived with Mother Earth. From collecting sticks to gardening, to working in the veggie garden, maintaining the ground from weeds; everyone helped out in some way. We had tea in the afternoon and read by the camp. The sacred bunya trees and bauples (Macadamias) were planted around us. Dinner was shared together by the fire with whoever was there at the time, with more laughs and stories. We stared up at the sky and watched for shooting stars. We talked and yarned. We joked about who would wash up, and who hadn’t done any dishes this week. When we felt tired, we hugged and wandered off to our beds beneath the sky, always staying connected to earth’s elements.

Visitors come back here because it’s homely, but they also come back for the spirit. I describe myself as a spiritual human, and to me – the definition includes believing in something bigger than myself. In the case against Djaki Kundu, the government has asked the Kabi elders to prove the cultural significance of this site through archaeology testing. Now, you may describe yourself as religious or spiritual, and I would never question your religious or cultural beliefs (if they were not harming society), nor would I ask you to prove them with Western science, because you simply cannot. Spirit is felt. Culture for First Nations Australian’s is passed down through Songlines which carry cultural knowledge from ancestors and Dreaming stories. Culture is something that I as a non-Aboriginal Australian will never be able fully comprehend, but it is something I care deeply about, something I am honoured to learn about, and further to that – something I will always respect. 

The spirit of Djaki Kundu is undeniable. Walk up the mountain past where Kabi ancestors had ceremony hundreds of years ago, past the men’s business site to the left (which as a woman, I am unable to visit), and the sacred women’s site to the right, where Aboriginal lore was practised in the past. Walk through the forest, where the stones become colder from the change in air temperature, and the leaves become a darker shade of green. Walk through here, and tell me from your heart – that there is no culture, that you do not feel any of the magic.

Image 1: The Djaki Kundu Flag hanging next to the Stop Adani Flag from the Wangan and Jagalingou people who are the Traditional Owners of the land in Queensland’s Galilee Basin, fighting against the Carmichael mine.

Image 2: Kabi (People of the Nation) / Bunya (The Bunya Tree) / Djha (Country) = Kabi Bunya Country

Image 3: Djaki Kundu flag: Hand painted are the Aboriginal colours of black, yellow and red. This bee painted in the middle is called the Kabvou bee (said as Kav-ai). The stars to the upper left are the Pleiades star cluster, also known as The Seven Sisters in Aboriginal Australia’s Dreaming, and Matariki in New Zealand’s Māori mythology. The sky Ancestors hold significant importance to this site and its spirituality. The Moonaboola River (Mary River in English) runs through the flag, and sitting in the bottom right corner is the Bunya tree, the sacred tree of the nation.

In 2015, the Sovereign Tribes of the Kabi Nation of South East Queensland, led by Wit-boooka, wrote to the Australian government to advise them that the Kabi people wanted self-determination. This means that they reasserted Sovereignty over their sacred lands and sites. And they have done this – beautifully; from protecting land with their physical presence on the Djaki Kundu frontline camp, to building gardens, compost systems, installing rainwater tanks and fire pits built by the community.  

Not one day went past that the construction workers didn’t pull up outside, and flash their lights inwards towards us at camp – making their presence known. This fear mongering did not work at Djaki Kundu as these incredible humans have culture to protect, and nothing is stopping them. The people at Djaki Kundu come in peace, to stand on their country and protect their sacred land. The Kabi people are not causing harm to anyone, nor are they doing anything illegal. The community is simply demonstrating their spiritual practises and strives to live with the land, instead of against the land, admiring all of Mother Nature’s beauty and her elements. They live a simple life that us city folk, as well as our politicians sitting in the cabinet in Canberra, can often forget about. It’s a life that we should value, and respect. 

We can learn and benefit from culturally significant places such as Djaki Kundu, as well as from the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders peoples who have lived on this land and cared for it for thousands of years. However, if we continue the way we are, bulldozing sites, history, culture and spirit; what will be left for our children and their children? Australia’s bird species are dwindling through habitat loss, as Queensland holds the highest deforestation rates in Australia, mostly due to agriculture and industrialisation. Every time we cut down forests, we cut down homes for wildlife species. Every time we destroy another sacred site, we destroy First Nations culture. We destroy connection and history. We must stop decimating Aboriginal sites, building roads, blowing up caves, and digging for coal into sacred ground because Mother Nature is struggling.

When you look towards the culturally significant Djab Wurrung Sacred Directions tree and the Juukan Gorge Caves – which were both destroyed in 2020 and media was outraged after the fact, we see that consultation does not have any meaning to the government when they believe that the dollar will outweigh the transient media attention. It is clear that the government makes up their own minds before they embark in any form of consultation. Until the day when there is proper consultation, including deep listening of First Nations people by our government and we begin to put Mother Nature above our economy – nothing will change.

When will we begin to put people and environment over profit? If not for ourselves, then for our children and their children. I’ll leave you with a quote from Wit-boooka:

“We’ve been here since day dot. And we’ll be here till the end of time. This land does not belong to us. It belongs to future generations.” – Wit-boooka (Kabi Elder)

As I waved goodbye to the friendly smiles waving back at me from the Djaki Kundu community as I drove out of the camp; they said to me, ‘Bona wup’pin’ which means to ‘Go invincible’ in Kabi. I’ll keep sharing this message and standing by the right side of history in Australia, the one that is protecting sacred sites like Djaki Kundu, and all Mother nature from industrial development, land clearing, mining and fracking. And so I say to all of you, Bona wup’pin, because together – we are invincible.  

Diane, Wit-boooka, Amy, Aunty Dawn

You can learn more about the Save Djaki Kundu movement here.
Follow the Kabi Dreaming Facebook page for current updates here.  

Written by Amy.
Photos taken on-site by Amy July 2021