FEATURE
Brisbane River Heart of the city
While most of us enjoy a temporary connection with the river that snakes through the heart of the city – perhaps as a picnic spot, a kayak course, commute or even a party cruise – others are bound to it in very different ways, as Tonya Turner discovers
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HANNON RUSKA, TOORABUL AND YUGGERA ELDER, TRADITIONAL OWNER, STORYTELLER When he gathers with family and friends by the Brisbane River to celebrate they make music, dance, swim and fish, catching freshwater mullet “as long as your arm”, hunt for witchetty grubs in the gum trees and use river rocks and river water to cook freshly caught fish and food wrapped in paperbark or lemon myrtle leaf – although these days they often use banana leaves or alfoil. “We move with the times,” Ruska says with a laugh. Ruska says he couldn’t live anywhere else but the land of his ancestors. “I did move up to Mackay once but I moved back because this is my home both physically and spiritually. I can’t go away for more than a month before I need to be on Brisbane soil again.” While the social gatherings by the river are a great get-together for the tribe they are also an opportunity to pass on traditions and keep their language alive, which Ruska has also been sharing with a much wider audience for the last 25 years as a storyteller for his people and, more recently, as managing director of corporate event company Tribal Experiences. He estimates he has shared the story of Brisbane River and his homeland through music, dance and storytelling to at least 15 million people around the world.
8 | BNE September/October 2019
One of his favourite stories to tell from the Dreamtime and one that is featured at almost all of the cultural events performed by Tribal Experiences here and overseas is about the creation of Maiwar (Brisbane River). According to tribal lore the story of the river begins with a battle between land creatures led by Yowogurra (a goanna) and water creatures led by Gowonda (a dolphin) which carves dry gullies into the landscape and, years later when Kaboora-gan (the rainbow serpent) wriggles her way into a tight gully and gets stuck, she calls upon her brothers, Yaro (the rain) and Ngalan (the clouds) to help free her. “When Moogera (the big storm) comes down Kaboora-gan is able to slither free and the gully is opened up to become Brisbane River, which became our life source,” says Ruska. Significant places to the Toorabul and Yuggera people along the river include Kangaroo Point Cliffs, where battle terms were once negotiated by tribal leaders, and City Botanic Gardens, where tribal women once gathered to welcome new life into the world at their birthing place. For Ruska and his mob their celebrations at spots along the river, from Fisherman Island to Colleges Crossing at Chuwar, are a time-out from the city to reconnect with culture. “At the fast pace we live in modern society it’s easy to lose touch. It’s important to keep our ancestors’ ways as you learn a lot from the old ways, no matter what culture you come from.”
