For all of us living in this modern, technological society, Indigenous Dreaming stories like ‘How the Water got to the Plains’, of the Butchulla people of K’gari island, continue to bring invaluable lessons and reflections to the ever-shifting identity of ‘the human’. While news narratives feed our minds with the tale of humanity’s destructive nature, in the name of technological innovation and progress, we humans are left wanting for a better definition of ourselves. Indeed, it is the resonance of truth which we see in these narrative’s, which make it imperative that we find and tell stories that can bolster our resolve and cultivate characters of integrity, who are worthy of confronting the challenges they present. If we are to feel inspired to face the technological and environmental realities of our time, we require stories that can remind us of our fundamental existence as living lifeforms in the network of nature. We require stories like “How the Water got to the Plains.”  

When thinking of the significance which story has to humans, it is worthwhile considering the words of Welsh academic, Raymond Williams in his study of the concept of culture, he says “the making of a society is the finding of common meanings and directions, and its growth is an active debate and amendment under the pressures of experience, contact, and discovery, writing themselves into the land” (2).

If we consider the reflections of Olga Miller, who tells us the story,  “How the Water got to the Plains” on the internet portal site, Dreamtime.net. She shares that the key function of the story before European colonisation, was to educate the Butchulla children of long ago, about the realities of travelling away from their island-oasis and into the plains where water was not always abundant (Dreamtime How the water got to the plains explanation story). We can admire from this story the creative ways in which the Butchulla people write themselves into the land. Yet, what relevance does this story have within the framework of our shared modern society? Does it help to place pressure for the amendment of our culture, by offering experience, contact and discovery? In short, I would say, absolutely!

Though some would claim the technological age is one which is outgrowing the incessant obsession with the Enlightenment ideal for progress, the article, “That future age of which we can only dream”: exploring the origins of the climate crisis in the story of progress,” by researcher Michael Smith, raises some serious doubts about any such claim. According to Smith “the story of progress and the abiding faith in salvation through the technological manipulation of the planet endures” (407).

He points to an array of technological influencers such as Wired magazine, Steven Pinker, Bill Gates and the American Broadcasting Service’s, Stephen Johnson, as being advocates for the ongoing narrative, which would have us find the answers to our problems in the developments of the future (Smith 407).

Which brings us back to our story, “How the Water got to the Plains.” Not only is it a story which looks to the wisdom of the past, to remember the value of gratefulness over greed when it comes to the preservation of fundamental but finite resources of the earth, but it also places the human within the living environment.  The way in which the story is placed, “way back in the first time, when very strange things happened,” is captivating, as we see human characters transformed by the clever man into an emu and a blue tongue lizard (Dreamtime How the water got to the plains). Regardless of the meaning which we can draw from this narration, something vital which it offers, is an opportunity for the human to regain a connectedness to the intrinsic link that binds human minds to the wonders of the natural world around us.

In this sense we can grasp what Professor Tracey Bunda and Dr Louise Gwenneth Phillips bring us with their five principles for storying. Such principles as, “storying nourishes thought, body and soul,” as well as, “storying is embodied emotional meaning-making,” and “storying enacts collective ownership and authorship” (Bunda and Phillips 6). These are concepts which are accessible through this story. For if we are to be grateful for what this earth has to offer, it is necessary that we each craft the connection which can cultivate the compassion for doing so. By engaging with storying in the dynamic and expansive way which is presented by “How the Water got to the Plains,” we remember that there is an abundance of wisdom to be found in our past, and that, as humans, we are empowered to ‘write ourselves into the land’ as authors of our own stories.

Works Cited:

Aboriginal Dreamtime stories. “How the water got to the plains.”  Dreamtime.net 15 April. 2000, https://dreamtime.net.au/water/ 

 

Bunda, Tracey and Louise G. Phillips. “Storying: The vitality of social movements.” Storying social movements, edited by L.G Phillips and Tracey Bunda. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, 2023, pp. 1-17. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3- 031-09667-9_1#Sec3

 

Miller, Olga and Margaret Power. “How the water got to the plains.” Internet Archive, 1998, https://archive.org/details/howwatergottopla0000mill

 

Miller, Olga. “How the water got to the plains explanation story,” Dreamtime.net, 2 May. 2001, https://dreamtime.net.au/exp-water/ 

 

Smith, Michael, B. “’That future age of which we can only dream’: exploring the origins of the climate crisis in the story of progress.” Journal of the history of the behavioral sciences, vol. 57, no. 4, 2021, pp. 396-408. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/jhbs.22133 

 

Williams, Raymond. “Culture is ordinary (1958).” Raymond Williams on culture and society: essential writings, edited by Jim McGuin. Sage Publications, 2014, pp. 1-18. https://sk.sagepub.com/books/raymond-williams-on-culture-and- society/n1.xml

Sourced Images:

ABitOfWhimsyShop. “Emu Art, Photography Print, Whimsical, Fun Wall Art, LOL, Magical, Spell Book, Animal Lover, Elephant, Squirrel, Animals in hats, Funny.” Etsy.com, https://www.etsy.com/au/listing/746788235/emu-art-photography-print-whimsical-fun?show_sold_out_detail=1&ref=nla_listing_details

AgsAndrew, “Realms of Dream.” Dreamstime.com, https://www.dreamstime.com/stock-illustration-realms-dream-lucid-dreaming-series-composition-human-face-colorful-fractal-clouds-suitable-as-backdrop-projects-image52614797

Miller, Olga and Margaret Power. “How the water got to the plains.” Internet Archive, 1998, https://archive.org/details/howwatergottopla0000mill

Image: AgsAndrew, Dreamstime.com