In the olden days I was a teacher, and one of the schools I taught in was Shepherdson College at Galiwin'ku on Elcho Island in the Northern Territory, Australia. What a privilege. I was there for two years (1971-72), one of a small community of balandas (white people) in a community of yolngu (black people) living on the island just off the northern coast of Arnhem Land. Some of you may be familiar with the films
Crocodile Dundee or
Ten Canoes. They were filmed in the Arnhem Land as well.
The theme photo for
Sepia Saturday this week includes a turtle, a soldier, a watch, a hat, a pipe. I've chosen the turtle.
The turtle is very important in the culture of many aboriginal peoples of Australia, and on Elcho Island even small children knew how to find turtle tracks in the sand to locate the eggs buried underneath and the hunters were very skilled at catching turtles for food (none of which was wasted).
 |
| The catch |
 |
| Sand turtle |
 |
| Turtle tracks |
 |
| Baby turtle |
OK, I've cheated a little. All of the above photos are from scanned
colour slides. I've given them the sepia treatment with Picasa for the Sepia Saturday theme. Am I sacked from the group?
