2011 - Theses - Flinders University

White Lives in a Black Community: The lives of Jim Page and Rebecca Forbes in the Adnyamathanha communityTracy SpencerVolume One Creative Writing Component: Excerpted Chapters from Volume Three Appendix One‘That one’s there now. You gonna get him?’ Ted Coulthard’s camp is close to the road: heand Winnie and their nine children are often the first to meet visitors travelling through theRam Paddock Gate. They have been watching the man for about half and hour, and areimpressed that he has stayed put, just moving into the shade at the side of the road, butotherwise, waiting. 144 But now Winnie tucks the younger children back into their hut behindher, and Ted addresses the senior man, Fred McKenzie, again.‘You gonna get him?’ Fred’s movements are measured, testing at the thin, pink manstanding awkwardly on the track, switching at flies in sudden jerks. Fred pokes at his fire;packs his pipe. Squats down at Dick Coulthard’s fire, where the two men watch the ashes insilence. Dick breaks the reverie, talking low in quick yura ngarwala.‘How do we do this? What’s he coming for?‘He’s the Missionary. He can teach the kids udnyu ways.‘What for?’‘Get those other udnyus off our back. Let us keep this camp here. Get those rations for us.’Fred looked across the gate, where the shining man is still waiting.‘Doesn’t look much, innit? This still yura place. He’ll be a right one for us. Look, he’swaiting for us already!’ With discreet movements of their heads, they are both able to see thewhite man, whose clothes are the same musty colour as the dirt, except for where large darkcircles have formed under his arms, and around his crotch. He stands awkwardly leaningagainst the frame of his bicycle, balancing its uneven weights, quite still. Quietly waiting.Dick scowls back at the fire, but a series of shrugs, and hand movements, give Fred thesign he is waiting for.88