Warren H Williams, the stories, the songs
Clip 2: Falling from the sky
2 min 57 sec
Taken from the documentary Warren H Williams, the stories, the songs (2004)
Original title classification not known – this clip chosen to be G
Availability of the complete title
Please be aware that this clip may contain the names, images and voices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who may now be deceased.
Curator’s clip description
Warren H Williams introduces us to his aunt Mavis Malbunka who tells us the Tnorala (Gosse Bluff) story. Mavis Malbunka is a senior custodian and tells us that Tnorala was created when a baby in a coolamon (or turna) fell from the sky, while the whitefella version of the story is that the circular rock walls of Tnorala were created by a comet. Mavis talks about the responsibility to place, and the duty of looking after country, and the importance of passing on the stories.
Curator’s notes
A seamless telling of an ancient creation story of a baby falling from the sky in a coolamon is juxtaposed with the Western scientific story of a comet hitting the earth. The gentle pace of this film allows the audience for a moment to consider that perhaps both accounts are true, and are merely different interpretations of the same event.
Romaine Moreton, curator
have teachers’ notes.
