We Are Going
They came in to the little town
A semi-naked band subdued and silent
All that remained of their tribe.
They came here to the place of their old bora ground
Where now the many white men hurry about like ants.
Notice of the estate agent reads: ‘Rubbish May Be Tipped Here’.
Now it half covers the traces of the old bora ring.
‘We are as strangers here now, but the white tribe are the strangers.
We belong here, we are of the old ways.
We are the corroboree and the bora ground,
We are the old ceremonies, the laws of the elders.
We are the wonder tales of Dream Time, the tribal legends told.
We are the past, the hunts and the laughing games, the wandering camp fires.
We are the lightening bolt over Gaphembah Hill
Quick and terrible,
And the Thunderer after him, that loud fellow.
We are the quiet daybreak paling the dark lagoon.
We are the shadow-ghosts creeping back as the camp fires burn low.
We are nature and the past, all the old ways
Gone now and scattered.
The scrubs are gone, the hunting and the laughter.
The eagle is gone, the emu and the kangaroo are gone from this place.
The bora ring is gone.
The corroboree is gone.
And we are going.’
Oodgeroo Noonuccal
Appreciating “We are Going” by Oodgerooo Noonuccal
Read Oodgeroo’s “We are going” (p. 32) and answer these questions on it:
1. Explain why they are “silent and subdued”.
They are silent and subdued because most of their tribe has died and where they celebrated ceremonies and told stories they stand there, quiet, looking at it like caged animals while other white men put signs up as if it were a rubbish tip.
2. How are white men represented? Why?
They are represented as ants hurrying about and also as the white tribe as strangers.
3. What is a bora ring and explain why it is so central to this poem.
An aboriginal bora ring is a raised platform of dirt in the shape of a circle. At this site aboriginal boys are transformed into men, showing that they have gone through intiaion they go through circumcision or scarification.Women are strictly prohibited from a bora. It is central to this poem because
Oodgeroo Noonuccal is talking about half of a tribe of men staring silent at their bora ring which was the aboriginal men’s space, which is now gone.
4. Explain their reaction in line 8.
The line ‘We are as strangers here now, but the white tribe are the strangers is referring to the fact that before the white men came the aboriginals thought of the white men as total strangers to their land because the aboriginals owned the land but now that the white men have come and destroyed their ceremonial gathering place, the aboriginals look at it as if they are now the strangers of their own home. So what Oodgeroo Noonuccal is trying to say is that the aboriginals might be strangers now but the white men are the real strangers.
5. Lines 9-17 begin a ‘litany’. What is the effect produced?
The effect produced is a sense of ownership and telling the reader that this is the land of the indigenous people and that they belong here for the right reasons.
6. Comment on the significance of metaphors used in the poem.
The metaphors are good and they also mean well and the metaphors are important as well because they represent what is not said and Oodgeroo Noonuccal puts these metaphors in great detail.
7. Comment on the structure and form of this poem.
The structure of the poem i think is very good as Oodgeroo Noonuccal starts off with the mourning people and goes into detail laying down her views on the white men taking over the bora ring and the tribe.
8. Why does Thunder have a capital letter?
Thunder has a capital letter because thunder to us is to lightning and storms where as Thunder to the aboriginals, Thunderer is personified as a real person whose lightning bolts could kill a man.
9. Comment on the mood and atmosphere created here.
The mood is intense and it is very touching, how the poet really improvises the words and how she writes it.
10. Combine comments on its theme, title and conclusion.
The theme of this poem is very understanding as to how she writes about the white men taking over the aboriginal men tribal area and also the title ‘WE ARE GOING’ is explained in these four lines:
The eagle is gone, the emu and the kangaroo are gone from this place.
The bora ring is gone.
The corroboree is gone.
And we are going.’
Meaning as to they have nothing left so whats the point in living there when there is nothing for them to look forward too, and the best thing to is to move on.
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