Nilmini De Silva, Connection to Country (May Theme: The Elegance of Nature)

I visited Laky Tyrrell recently. I am happiest in places such as this where there is space to roam and I can lose myself. The Boorong people have lived here for thousands of years. Together they travelled, lived, hunted and celebrated their spirituality in this sacred place. I had felt very privileged to be here and wondered what life was like 10,000 years ago. Much simpler than life is today, that’s for sure. Direl is the biggest ceremonial gathering place in this part of Victoria and clans travelled here for both ceremony and trade. To them everything was connected—time, language, people, the land, water, the sky, ceremony, ritual and lore—which is described so well in their Dreaming stories. Perhaps this is the biggest difference between their culture and mine, which taught me that all of these were separate. We call this place Lake Tyrrell but they knew this place as Direl—their word for sky. You can see why.

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