Noonuccal Oodgeroo Quotes

“Years ago, my family - my Aboriginal family - lived in Stradbroke Island. Years before the greedy mineral seekers came to scar the landscape and break the back of this lovely island.”

“Stradbroke, an island that was once stocked with natural beauty: the rocks of Point Lookout at the far end of the island, and the sea smashing its boiling foams against the rock base, ferns and flowers growing in abundance.”

“The island is different now. Civilizations and man’s greed have chased away out shy nautilus shells. Motorcars belch fumes over the land, and the noise of industry drowns out all other sounds of life.”

“The stories are traditional Aboriginal tales from Stradbroke Island, the tambourine Mountains and from the Old and New dreamtime. ”

“The big black dog sat in the yard looking at the sea. The tide was out and the mud flats were alive with seabirds. Curlews were calling and ibises walked with heads down, searching with their beaks for crabs in the seaweed.”

“For his work he received a small wage and rations to feed his seven children. (I was the third-eldest daughter.) We hated the white man’s rations - besides, they were so meagre that even a bandicoot would have difficulty existing on them. ”

“My sister and I always shot at our quarry from the ground. The boys would climb onto the branches of the gum tress, stand quite still, and pick out the choicest and healthiest birds in the flock.”

“On the way back we talked with awesome foreboding of the punishment we knew would come. I wished our father would beat us, but we all knew it would be a quick punishment.”

“My father was always on the lookout for the short of things that would make life a bit easier for all of us. As there was never enough money to buy what was needed, we had to make the most of what we could find living around __ usually on the white man’s rubbish dumps.”

“Stradbroke Dreamtime is a collection of 27 short stories from acclaimed Aboriginal author Oodgeroo. The stories are traditional Aboriginal tales from Stradbroke Island, the tambourine Mountains and from the Old and New dreamtime.”