Bronwyn Fredericks

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Bronwyn Fredericks
 

 
Will you move again?
 
Called Aracucaria bidwillii
Bunya-bunya, bunyi, booni-booni, bonya 
Collectively Booburrgan Ngmmunge [i]
You stretch up high
Reminding me of a time when my ancestors walked our lands
Before Europeans
You were here before us
Aboriginal Australians
With some 250 million years of lineage
Your ancestors were of the ancient family of coniferous trees
Who witnessed the dinosaurs
Who have since gone
As have your relatives in the northern hemisphere
These leafy, maginficant northern relatives are now all gone
Others have taken over now
Plants and weeds from elsewhere
It is more than people and goods
That are impacting in this time of globalisation
That are impacting in this time of climate change
And of global warming
What of the warm and the wet?
The Ceretaceous and Jurrassic times
Where you sought refuge in the mountains
And still do
What will happen to you as the earth changes now?
What will you do?
As the effects of human-induced climate change begin to be felt
Will you move again?
 
 
 
Bronwyn Fredericks has published in community and academic journals including SIGNS: Journal of Women in Culture and Society; Outskirts: feminisms along the edge 23, Cultural Studies Review, AlterNATIVE, the Journal of Australian Indigenous Issues and others. She is a founding member of the Capricornia Arts Mob (CAM) which is a collective of Indigenous Australian artists, photographers, sculptors, mixed media artists, writers and poets based in Central Queensland, Australia. Bronwyn is a Professor and the Pro Vice-Chancellor (Indigenous Engagement) at Central Queensland University Australia.
 
 
[1]The language term used by many Aboriginal people to describe the Bunya Mountains[1] and beyond as cited in Maxwell Consulting. (2010). Boyne Bu’ru Booburrgan Ngmmunge Bunya Mountains Aboriginal Aspirations and Caring or Country Plan. Bunya Mountains Elders Council and Burnett Mary Regional Group: Burnett Mary Regional Group.
 

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