00:00:05
S1: If you listen to the program and we certainly hope you are. I have the time. We would have caught up with a wonderful author and artist, a very proud Noongar woman, Aunty Rhonda Collard spread. And it's great to welcome Aunty Rhonda back to the program. Aunty Rhonda, love to speak to you again. Thank you so much for your time.
00:00:24
S2: Thank you. You're welcome. It's good to be with you all again. So happy, everyone. You've got another book out. The book apps. Yes, that's right. It was launched not too long ago and called Old Man O'clock. It's titled All Men Caring for Country. And it carries ancient knowledge from our people, which is still valid in the modern society about caring for each other, for Mother Earth and all living life that shared this planet with us. Because it's a place for all of us, not just human beings. I was thinking of getting back at language, the new language in the book as well, and I've done all the illustrations, which is very colourful.
00:01:09
S1: I was thinking about this before chatting to you, Aunty Rhonda, and I thought, you know, this is like way, way, way ahead of your times as far as your message goes. I mean, like this, looking after our country, looking after nature's something we're more aware of today. But this is from times of a long time ago that you've drawn upon.
00:01:31
S2: That's right. And because, you know the Earth is the mother of all of us, she provides us with everything. And we need to keep her strong and healthy, keep the waters clean, the air fresh and clean so that we can have a healthy life. And we mustn't use greed to destroy her. Like chop down all the trees or pollute the oceans. We must care for her because this is the only home we all have. And it's about us all doing our little bit in our personal life, picking up your rubbish as you go along and just to respect the earth by doing these little things in your own way. And if we all did that, what a beautiful place and healthy world it would be for all of us and all the animals.
00:02:20
S1: And you're pitching this story, if you like, particularly at our younger readers.
00:02:25
S2: Well, really, it's for everyone, really. We mainly wrote it in this format so our children can relate to it through the bright colours. And I'm embracing our Aboriginal way of sharing our stories through art, music, dance and song. So we're still keeping our culture strong and alive because it's the longest living culture on the planet. And as Australians we should all be proud of this fact and embrace it. And say, you know, we've been here for forever and ever and we have lived here in harmony with the land and we can learn from each other.
00:03:03
S1: It's a message that isn't there, given the fact that you are the longest living culture. I mean, for that to have happened, you must have been doing something right for a long, long time.
00:03:14
S2: That's right. We've we've lived in harmony all this time. We've we didn't destroy the land. We did soft, gentle burnings of the country. But now the the bushfires are raging and they're so hot and they kill the earth and kill the seeds beneath it, you know, come to us. We've lived here all that time and we know how to treat Mother Earth and care for her through gentle cultural burnings. And we've done this forever and ever and embrace our knowledge. We're ready to share it with you all.
00:03:50
S1: Auntie Rhonda, how do you come up with your idea for your book? Is it something that comes to you in the middle of the night, or do you wake up one morning and think, I've got a good idea? How does it happen?
00:04:02
S2: Well, my brain never sits, sits still, or it's on the go all the time. And as an artist, I see, you know, I get visions and I get. I feel like the old people talk to me. Like we believe our spirit ancestors walk beside us in front of us and behind us. And I feel I get inspiration from them as well. And when I paint, I'm connected to my ancestors. It's a spiritual thing, you know, because we are a part of this land and our stories belong to this land that's a stolen child. All my life I heard of Bible stories and just spoke English. So now it's an honor and a privilege to share our ancient stories with the world, really to pass on our culture. Because as human beings, it's a story that embraces all cultures really about being kind and caring and respectful. And we can all learn from these stories, not just young people, all of us bananas and pops, uncles and aunties, nephews and nieces, young people, the youth. And it's also bringing back pride in our our Aboriginal children to build their courage and their strength and who they are as young people that belong to this land. And for them to know that there is a place for them and.
00:05:24
S1: You would feel you would feel very passionate about that because you in a sense that was stolen from you, wasn't it, that that part of your life?
00:05:32
S2: That's right. And it's no fault of ours if we don't know our culture because we've stolen generations. And by reaching to the elders, we pass on our knowledge through our songs, through our dances, through our art and that's a very important way. And young people can relate to this because we are a visual people. We like to see things and learn by looking, listening and then doing. That's really great, isn't it?
00:06:03
S1: It certainly is. With with your artwork. As you say, you love colours. You love the the vividness and the aliveness of what you do. How did that come back to you? Because as we touched on, you were part of the Stolen Generation, so you were kind of discouraged from expressing that for a while. How did that come back to you or did it never really lead?
00:06:25
S2: Well, it didn't really leave me. I was always artistic. I always loved singing songs and writing stories. I used to tell stories in the red earth with a stick. That's the ancient way. And now I'm telling stories on paper And before the wind and the rain would wash it away in the earth. But now it's there forever and ever by doing it in the modern way. So they were lovely. Awesome.
00:06:49
S1: They were lovely word pictures you painted when you talked about your past spirits walking in front of you, beside you and behind you. That that is such a lovely, beautiful image.
00:07:02
S2: Thank you so much. That's what we believe. And we get strength from that because growing up as a stolen child, we had nobody. We weren't nurtured. So I always felt good out in Mother Earth. I saw the climate country and hugged the trunk, listen to the birds, the cicadas, and feel as one with nature. The nation never Mother Earth never let me down. She was always.
00:07:27
S1: There. Tell us about how you came up with the title for your book, Old Nana. How did you come up with that?
00:07:34
S2: I'm an old nana now because I'm a great grandmother and an Aboriginal culture. Old is precious and it's a privilege to reach our age because not many of our people reach our 70s. So that's an honour to be called Old Nana. And my daughter is Nana because I'm a great grandmother now. Fantastic. So it had to have old Nana to show that she was she had knowledge and wisdom through life experience, through learning from her elders all the cultural ways. And she passes that on to all the characters in the book. That's all for me.
00:08:08
S1: And the Quokka. Any particular reason for the Quokka being chosen?
00:08:12
S2: Well, we wanted the story to be set on Rottnest Island, but the real name for Rottnest is volume up where the spirits go. But when the newcomers came to Australia, they thought the crackers were red, so they called it Red Mist. And then eventually it became Rottnest. So that's how Rottnest came about. But and the history of Rottnest Island isn't that it's a very tragic history for our men and boys who were actually my great great grandfather was arrested for spearing a sheep on two different occasions, and he was sentenced to all up for each sheep. He was sentenced to six years, so 12 years hard labor to Rottnest, but he had to be marched to Rottnest with chains shackled around his neck, arms and legs and marched with hundreds of Aboriginal men and boys to Rottnest. So I acknowledged that in the front page of the story, we need to know the true history of this land.
00:09:15
S1: A lot of us don't know.
00:09:17
S2: It's a history that seems to be a secret, but we need to face up to what happened and to have courage to do it because, you know we know it because it's our life history, our it's our history. We've known all our lives and it should be known right across Australia. So the knowledge that the book.
00:09:38
S1: Know that that's totally understandable and the right thing to do. We chatted about the fact of the the spirits of those past marching with you either in front, behind or beside. I love the image. The dreaming is. The dreaming never ends as far as you're concerned.
00:09:56
S2: I would still here. It never ends because it's about creation. And we are creating new stories, new songs, new memories. It continues. It will never end.
00:10:07
S1: And is that kind of the positive thing that we can take something from? Take something like this from from your book and and from your culture and from the stories that we hear.
00:10:19
S2: Yes, yes. Yes. You know the stories for everyone. Young people, old people, the youth, nannies and pops, I believe, is for everyone and across the world as well, because we all live on this planet, which we call our home. So we must not be greedy and chop down all the trees or take all the fish out of the ocean. We must care for every living life because all life is sacred and we must mustn't be cruel. I can't stand it when people are cruel to animals and only take what you need. Because there's no need to be greedy. Because greed seems to run humans. They want to make so much money. And in the end, when the earth dies, we can't eat money. We cannot drink oil to quench our birth. So it's a message for the world, really.
00:11:13
S1: Auntie Rhonda, it's always a privilege speaking to you. And I even only have about ten minutes with you. I always learn so much in that short period of time.
00:11:23
S2: Well, thank you for having me. It's been an honor and a privilege to talk to you and your listeners.
00:11:27
S1: All right. Now, you know, where much do you know where people can get your book from?
00:11:32
S2: Yes, you can buy it from any bookstore. But if you want a signed copy, come to us on our website, which is spirit of the dreaming.com and we will sign it and post it to you.
00:11:44
S1: You're very kind. One one day that'll be worth even more money than today.
00:11:49
S2: Yes. Thank you very much.
00:11:52
S1: Auntie Rhonda.
00:11:52
S2: Take your go Well and go strong now with a good heart and kind spirit.
00:11:57
S1: Lovely words to end on. Thank you so much, Auntie Rhonda.
00:12:00
S2: Thank you very much.
00:12:01
S1: Bye bye. That's Auntie Rhonda Collard spread. Who were. We've started to in the past and it's got such a simple but such powerful message, a very proud Noongar woman. And the text about her book, which is just out, I guess in in respect to Nick Week and I guess just the, the great work that Auntie Rhonda has done both as an artist and an author, Old Nana Quokka. And we'll put the link up on our Facebook page, the link as to where you can purchase the book and get a signed copy.
S1: If you listen to the program and we certainly hope you are. I have the time. We would have caught up with a wonderful author and artist, a very proud Noongar woman, Aunty Rhonda Collard spread. And it's great to welcome Aunty Rhonda back to the program. Aunty Rhonda, love to speak to you again. Thank you so much for your time.
00:00:24
S2: Thank you. You're welcome. It's good to be with you all again. So happy, everyone. You've got another book out. The book apps. Yes, that's right. It was launched not too long ago and called Old Man O'clock. It's titled All Men Caring for Country. And it carries ancient knowledge from our people, which is still valid in the modern society about caring for each other, for Mother Earth and all living life that shared this planet with us. Because it's a place for all of us, not just human beings. I was thinking of getting back at language, the new language in the book as well, and I've done all the illustrations, which is very colourful.
00:01:09
S1: I was thinking about this before chatting to you, Aunty Rhonda, and I thought, you know, this is like way, way, way ahead of your times as far as your message goes. I mean, like this, looking after our country, looking after nature's something we're more aware of today. But this is from times of a long time ago that you've drawn upon.
00:01:31
S2: That's right. And because, you know the Earth is the mother of all of us, she provides us with everything. And we need to keep her strong and healthy, keep the waters clean, the air fresh and clean so that we can have a healthy life. And we mustn't use greed to destroy her. Like chop down all the trees or pollute the oceans. We must care for her because this is the only home we all have. And it's about us all doing our little bit in our personal life, picking up your rubbish as you go along and just to respect the earth by doing these little things in your own way. And if we all did that, what a beautiful place and healthy world it would be for all of us and all the animals.
00:02:20
S1: And you're pitching this story, if you like, particularly at our younger readers.
00:02:25
S2: Well, really, it's for everyone, really. We mainly wrote it in this format so our children can relate to it through the bright colours. And I'm embracing our Aboriginal way of sharing our stories through art, music, dance and song. So we're still keeping our culture strong and alive because it's the longest living culture on the planet. And as Australians we should all be proud of this fact and embrace it. And say, you know, we've been here for forever and ever and we have lived here in harmony with the land and we can learn from each other.
00:03:03
S1: It's a message that isn't there, given the fact that you are the longest living culture. I mean, for that to have happened, you must have been doing something right for a long, long time.
00:03:14
S2: That's right. We've we've lived in harmony all this time. We've we didn't destroy the land. We did soft, gentle burnings of the country. But now the the bushfires are raging and they're so hot and they kill the earth and kill the seeds beneath it, you know, come to us. We've lived here all that time and we know how to treat Mother Earth and care for her through gentle cultural burnings. And we've done this forever and ever and embrace our knowledge. We're ready to share it with you all.
00:03:50
S1: Auntie Rhonda, how do you come up with your idea for your book? Is it something that comes to you in the middle of the night, or do you wake up one morning and think, I've got a good idea? How does it happen?
00:04:02
S2: Well, my brain never sits, sits still, or it's on the go all the time. And as an artist, I see, you know, I get visions and I get. I feel like the old people talk to me. Like we believe our spirit ancestors walk beside us in front of us and behind us. And I feel I get inspiration from them as well. And when I paint, I'm connected to my ancestors. It's a spiritual thing, you know, because we are a part of this land and our stories belong to this land that's a stolen child. All my life I heard of Bible stories and just spoke English. So now it's an honor and a privilege to share our ancient stories with the world, really to pass on our culture. Because as human beings, it's a story that embraces all cultures really about being kind and caring and respectful. And we can all learn from these stories, not just young people, all of us bananas and pops, uncles and aunties, nephews and nieces, young people, the youth. And it's also bringing back pride in our our Aboriginal children to build their courage and their strength and who they are as young people that belong to this land. And for them to know that there is a place for them and.
00:05:24
S1: You would feel you would feel very passionate about that because you in a sense that was stolen from you, wasn't it, that that part of your life?
00:05:32
S2: That's right. And it's no fault of ours if we don't know our culture because we've stolen generations. And by reaching to the elders, we pass on our knowledge through our songs, through our dances, through our art and that's a very important way. And young people can relate to this because we are a visual people. We like to see things and learn by looking, listening and then doing. That's really great, isn't it?
00:06:03
S1: It certainly is. With with your artwork. As you say, you love colours. You love the the vividness and the aliveness of what you do. How did that come back to you? Because as we touched on, you were part of the Stolen Generation, so you were kind of discouraged from expressing that for a while. How did that come back to you or did it never really lead?
00:06:25
S2: Well, it didn't really leave me. I was always artistic. I always loved singing songs and writing stories. I used to tell stories in the red earth with a stick. That's the ancient way. And now I'm telling stories on paper And before the wind and the rain would wash it away in the earth. But now it's there forever and ever by doing it in the modern way. So they were lovely. Awesome.
00:06:49
S1: They were lovely word pictures you painted when you talked about your past spirits walking in front of you, beside you and behind you. That that is such a lovely, beautiful image.
00:07:02
S2: Thank you so much. That's what we believe. And we get strength from that because growing up as a stolen child, we had nobody. We weren't nurtured. So I always felt good out in Mother Earth. I saw the climate country and hugged the trunk, listen to the birds, the cicadas, and feel as one with nature. The nation never Mother Earth never let me down. She was always.
00:07:27
S1: There. Tell us about how you came up with the title for your book, Old Nana. How did you come up with that?
00:07:34
S2: I'm an old nana now because I'm a great grandmother and an Aboriginal culture. Old is precious and it's a privilege to reach our age because not many of our people reach our 70s. So that's an honour to be called Old Nana. And my daughter is Nana because I'm a great grandmother now. Fantastic. So it had to have old Nana to show that she was she had knowledge and wisdom through life experience, through learning from her elders all the cultural ways. And she passes that on to all the characters in the book. That's all for me.
00:08:08
S1: And the Quokka. Any particular reason for the Quokka being chosen?
00:08:12
S2: Well, we wanted the story to be set on Rottnest Island, but the real name for Rottnest is volume up where the spirits go. But when the newcomers came to Australia, they thought the crackers were red, so they called it Red Mist. And then eventually it became Rottnest. So that's how Rottnest came about. But and the history of Rottnest Island isn't that it's a very tragic history for our men and boys who were actually my great great grandfather was arrested for spearing a sheep on two different occasions, and he was sentenced to all up for each sheep. He was sentenced to six years, so 12 years hard labor to Rottnest, but he had to be marched to Rottnest with chains shackled around his neck, arms and legs and marched with hundreds of Aboriginal men and boys to Rottnest. So I acknowledged that in the front page of the story, we need to know the true history of this land.
00:09:15
S1: A lot of us don't know.
00:09:17
S2: It's a history that seems to be a secret, but we need to face up to what happened and to have courage to do it because, you know we know it because it's our life history, our it's our history. We've known all our lives and it should be known right across Australia. So the knowledge that the book.
00:09:38
S1: Know that that's totally understandable and the right thing to do. We chatted about the fact of the the spirits of those past marching with you either in front, behind or beside. I love the image. The dreaming is. The dreaming never ends as far as you're concerned.
00:09:56
S2: I would still here. It never ends because it's about creation. And we are creating new stories, new songs, new memories. It continues. It will never end.
00:10:07
S1: And is that kind of the positive thing that we can take something from? Take something like this from from your book and and from your culture and from the stories that we hear.
00:10:19
S2: Yes, yes. Yes. You know the stories for everyone. Young people, old people, the youth, nannies and pops, I believe, is for everyone and across the world as well, because we all live on this planet, which we call our home. So we must not be greedy and chop down all the trees or take all the fish out of the ocean. We must care for every living life because all life is sacred and we must mustn't be cruel. I can't stand it when people are cruel to animals and only take what you need. Because there's no need to be greedy. Because greed seems to run humans. They want to make so much money. And in the end, when the earth dies, we can't eat money. We cannot drink oil to quench our birth. So it's a message for the world, really.
00:11:13
S1: Auntie Rhonda, it's always a privilege speaking to you. And I even only have about ten minutes with you. I always learn so much in that short period of time.
00:11:23
S2: Well, thank you for having me. It's been an honor and a privilege to talk to you and your listeners.
00:11:27
S1: All right. Now, you know, where much do you know where people can get your book from?
00:11:32
S2: Yes, you can buy it from any bookstore. But if you want a signed copy, come to us on our website, which is spirit of the dreaming.com and we will sign it and post it to you.
00:11:44
S1: You're very kind. One one day that'll be worth even more money than today.
00:11:49
S2: Yes. Thank you very much.
00:11:52
S1: Auntie Rhonda.
00:11:52
S2: Take your go Well and go strong now with a good heart and kind spirit.
00:11:57
S1: Lovely words to end on. Thank you so much, Auntie Rhonda.
00:12:00
S2: Thank you very much.
00:12:01
S1: Bye bye. That's Auntie Rhonda Collard spread. Who were. We've started to in the past and it's got such a simple but such powerful message, a very proud Noongar woman. And the text about her book, which is just out, I guess in in respect to Nick Week and I guess just the, the great work that Auntie Rhonda has done both as an artist and an author, Old Nana Quokka. And we'll put the link up on our Facebook page, the link as to where you can purchase the book and get a signed copy.
