There is something primal, raw, and powerful about standing
in the mouth of the 3rd largest navigable river on earth that puts “all that
is” in perspective.
One small human in the broad riverscape, I felt diminutive,
and found it difficult to comprehend this place where the Southern Indian Ocean
tides feed the mouth of Millewa “Big Water”.
I stood on the salt-water soaked sand, realizing she had
just been there lapping against the dunes. Looking out toward where she had
retreated and marveling at her strength and beauty, I felt trepidation growing
inside me. There was nothing between me and her spare a narrow sand bar with a pod
of playful Australian sea lions and a sand-dredger. Though I knew the tide was out, I did not
know for how long and the only exit behind me was the sluice of land that
funneled her mighty, salty fluid into the river.
Taking all this in, I stood mesmerized, thrilled to explore
the mix of sensations: danger, fear, awe, vastness, smallness. I was giddy with
the sheer joy of being witness, no, being
in the raw energy of untamed creation!
My feet began to sink deeper into the sand, getting wetter with each step and I recognized it was time to bid farewell. I thanked her for allowing me to be part of her
…and for bestowing her gifts upon me.
Once home in the U.S., the intensity of my Millewa
experience lingered and urged me to learn more about this sacred place. I
quickly realized that some of what I was feeling was the energies of an ancient
Aboriginal culture dating back 40,000 years! More than 3000 of the Ngarrindjeri
people ("the people who belong to this land") had lived at the mouth
of the river, gathering fish and working the land.
In the 1990’s, a huge controversy erupted over the building
of the bridge from Goolwa to the island.
Hindmarsh Island, on which I stood, was regarded by the Ngarrindjeri
as a fertility site, as its shape and that of the surrounding wetlands
resembled female reproductive anatomy when viewed from the air. Their name for
the island, Kumarangk, was similar to the word for pregnancy, or woman and was
used for sacred rituals.
They also believed that the waters of the Goolwa channel
required uninterrupted views of the sky, particularly the Seven Sisters
constellation, which features in several aboriginal dreaming stories.
Wow! Yes, the red dot is where I stood!!! No wonder…
More on the bridge controversy
How the Murray River was Made- Dreamtime Bangarang story
Aboriginals and the river
