Exchange Country
Part 1
Wild Flower Women
most say the beauty is lost
a flower removed from the ground
women before me always hung
flowers to dry all around
to capture essence and maybe truth
to keep them growing wild
keeper of seeds
keeper of smiles
keeper of flower sounds
so when I pick a flower today
its for the sake of beauty
for art
wild flower women’s
secrets
capturing those ladies laughs
Exchange Country is a new series of projects thanks to the City of Melville. In particular, this is an opportunity for collaboration between the Juluwarlu Art Group and myself.
This project is revealing itself more with each day, with each day more of an understanding of what my role is within this cohort, the first of its kind. I consider myself an exchange student. A student of art and culture, of sacred stories and current social dialogue—of country. Except most exchange students leave home, I am visiting right here in W.A—Ngarluma/Yindjibarndi Country.
17th September 2023
Washing over me on the plane is a feeling of forgetting something extremely important, missing a piece of me: my daughter Kai. I close my eyes and focus into this moment. Stepping out of the plane, I take the time to acknowledge the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people of this land. Elders past, present and future. I am respectful of the memories and time I share with them today and in the days to come.
I was thrown into the deep end, with the weight of what this project meant—meeting Yindjibarndi Elders and learning the ways they celebrate and preserve culture. But there was more on the line, something personal was tugging on my heart strings.
It is not the first time coming here, this trip was a returning for me. When I was barely two months old my mother moved here with our family, and we stayed in Karratha until I was turning six. I was raised here as a kid, both my parents were ministers and my mother worked closely with the women’s refuge in Roeboune. This time however, it would be seen with fresh eyes, as an adult—as a creative. I wondered if I would remember anything.
Like ripping off a band-aid we went straight from the airport to Roebourne. The first thing I noticed on our way was the sturt desert pea flowers: they were my favorite, along with the funky orange cockroach bush. If you think you’ve seen women get excited about the latest makeup at a Mecca store, you ain’t seen a carful of women chatting about Native wildflowers on a road trip. Colour spread as far as the eyes could see complimenting one another — the muted purple in the mulla mulla and the soft yellow in the spinifex. The vibrant orange in the rocky mountains with the bright blue sky. Already I was thinking of painting this landscape. Maybe it was thinking of painting me.
Everything looked exactly as it was meant to, except in the high definition of a fresh experience. It was easy to spot what was out of place. These stunning natural rock formations on my right and sky-rise apartment buildings on the left. And there was no escaping the reality of the iron ore trainline. We drove into the town of Roebourne; through some of the streets where the Juluwarlu artist live, the radio station that reaches the surrounding towns, and the old prison, listening to stories of how this town has grown and changed over the years. I saw two small, abandoned houses, and somehow knew they had a special significance to this story. I was soon after told one of these tiny homes was where Lorraine Coppin was raised and where her family broke in wild horses. Now, along with Michael Woodley and the community, they work hard collecting and preserving the knowledge of Yindjibarndi culture. Not only ensuring that their own future generations have a strong identity, self esteem and respect, but extending this knowledge out by taking big companies on cultural camps: contributing to the wider Australian community. It was one of these cultural camps that I had the absolute pleasure to experience.
18th September 2023
We get on the road early, on route to Ngurrawaana. Driving down to the Juluwarlu work hub is like travelling the veins of mother nature, right to the heart of Yindjibarndi country— the Pilbara region south-east of Karratha. Some spots remind me of home—driving through the Stirling Range—yet hot, rugged and red. Pulling up to the smell of Lorraines kangaroo stew, I meet the community and Juluwarlu artists/elders Judith Coppin and Wendy Hubert. Wherever I look there seems to be the joy of a smiling baby, or toddlers playing.
Alongside a small group of Rio Tinto employees, the Juluwarlu Group gave us a Welcome to Country and a feed before heading to the next location. I had avoided any expectations for this trip and what I was to experience, so when word started to go ‘round we had to drive the cars through deep water, it hit me that we were going off grid. I got even more excited.
Sometimes you can feel when a site is sacred, when it holds special meaning to song lines and creation time, places with the power to call in seeds, to bring fertility, and to tell stories of how ancestors lived and cared for the land. I am so grateful to have been taken to these sacred places. We stayed that night at Georges Gorge, a freshwater area in the Millstream Chichester National Park.
After offloading our swags and setting up art supplies I was attracted to the sound of children’s laughter bouncing off the high walls of the gorge, so I went to explore this oasis, palms and streams of water. This led to me swinging from a hanging rope into the cool waters and a swim with this community’s next generation. This was the beginning of me feeling at home—water is my way of connecting to country. Once I swam I was able to sit down with the Elders Judith and Wendy and enjoy the evening of painting with a front row view of the face of George. This moment in time was a pinch me moment, feeling the flow of brush to canvas in absolute peace and quiet with the sounds of the fire crackle in the background. It was also beautiful to witness the management and care takers of this art group working with the young women, taking images of the latest beautiful bucket hat designs. I have so much respect for what goes on behind the scenes of the Juluwarlu Art Group and those involved in sustaining such an important legacy.
When it was too dark to see what we were painting, that meant time for dinner. Surrounding the Thama (fire) we ended the evening with conversations about language and social responsibilities. These camps happen multiple times a week, providing local youth with not just employment but ways to show how being being back on country helps First Nation people find their spirit and power amongst their ancestors.
These thoughts and feelings filled me as I lay on my swag, eyes wide open, staring at the stars—my spirit lifted.
19th of September 2023
I wake to birdsong, and take a meditative walk alone. Drawn to the burning coals, feeling at home I naturally start putting in my share of help. Cracking eggs lead to helping Lorraine make her damper. It’s moments like this the camera can’t capture. I squeeze my eyes shut, hoping that my mind will somehow store this moment forvever.
Back in the ute and onto the bumpy roads, through the deep waters to more meaningful and mystic landmarks. As I stepped out of the car I was handed a branch of leaves and advice, “cover your face with this if you don’t want to get pregnant”, to which my response was, '‘but what should I do if we want another baby later?” After the laughs and banter, we learned about the fertility site, one they still perform song and ceremony on today. We also visited the gorge lookout, and other sites where artifacts and carvings still remain, etched in ore.
We headed back to the women’s art studio and I spent some one on one time painting with the elder, Wendy, who took a lift with us back into town from Ngurrawaana, with a quick stop along the road to check for bush lollies. Yup, candy that grows on trees. I have seen so much of what bush medicine provides but this takes the cake. It was at first salty, then bitter, and finally sweet with the texture of rock candy. Again, eyes clenched, picture taken. There was a lot more of this, as the trip was full of side stops to view flowers, ant hills, and bush medicine. What looked like miles and miles of spinifex was actually a mixture of hundreds of very important flora, begging to be admired.
I was whirling with inspiration from this trip and already painting the landscapes in my mind that my hands would soon create.
20th September 2023
Out of the plane and into the arms of my partner Chris. Immense gratitude for holding our home while I was away. My eyes set once more on my beautiful daughter Kai, eyes clench — my prettiest picture yet.
The next stages of Exchange Country will have the Juluwarlu artist coming to visit me and my family. I will be guiding them on a road trip, exploring parts Noongar Country significant to us. We will paint our experiences and showcase them in an exhibition together. So, although I have painted a picture of what the first steps look like, there is a lot more to say—a whole canvas’ worth—yet to be created and I look forward to sharing that with you all.
Judith Coppin, Wendy Hubert, Emily Rose and Lorraine Coppin.
In the mean time if you wish to learn more about Juluwarlu Art Group or purchase one of the beautiful bucket hats you can do so Here
You can also find the book Title Fight by Paul Cleary, revealing the harsh realities of iron-ore mining in the Pilbara. Here
To stay informed about this coming exhibition, the amazing events and opportunities within the City of Melville Here
