Fragment 8: Emu In The Sky

FRAGMENT 8 T H E E M U I N T H E S K Y

“Look into the space between the stars, what do you see?”138

Standing on Country, at the Munna Reserve in August, I was overcome by the intensity of the Celestial Emu (Dark Emu). I was fortunate to be able to capture these moments, on site, through photographs; a truly grounding experience. The ambiguous presence of the dark spaces and the unveiling of this form, spoke to the narrowness of my knowledge, my knowing in the most profound way that I will never look to the sky or land, as I did yesterday.

The Emu in the Sky, is recognised as the dark space stretching across The Milky Way. During the summer months, the Milky Way dominates the night sky and as the seasons change in March toward winter, the Milky Way continues to be the main actor under lights that dance across the sky. This is the scene that the eye is drawn to, the scene that I had forever tracked when I looked up into the darkness.

The sky though, is composed of dark spaces too. For the Wiradjuri Nation and the Mowgee people, these dark spaces are that Dark Emu, or the Celestial Emu. The dreaming story of the Celestial Emu connects with the breeding cycle of the Emu, across seasons and months, correlating with seasonal planting, reproduction and harvesting and life on land.

Between April and May, the Emu first appears fully in the sky and is positioned as though it appears to be running. On land, this coincides with mating season, where in chase, the females run to pursue the males. Through June and July, the Emu can be seen sitting horizontally, symbolising the nesting season on land, whereby Emu eggs are available for collection, as an important food source for winter. Community are reminded that only taking what is needed, is ethically grounded in sustainable practice. The Emu, protecting the young, provides a learning for Aboriginal men, about their own, “roles in protecting children in their communities,”139 as discussed in the fourth book of First Knowledges, Astronomy, Sky Country, by Karlie Noon and Krystal De Napoli.140 During August and September, the Emu leaves its place of nesting and dives toward land, signaling that it is too late to collect eggs and that new life is about to be realised. The correlation to seasons in Australia, is a signifier of spring and the abundance of life at this time.

For Aboriginal people the knowledge of the sky, land and water are one. The nexus of all is lived through ecological, medicinal, celestial and technological knowledge systems. The value of relationships and the interconnectedness of all matter positions us all as one ecology.

“Our spirituality is oneness and an interconnectedness with all that lives and breathes, even with all that does not live and breathe.” Mudrooroo141

All “Emu in the Sky.” images captured in conjunction with Ambercreative 93