Pottery In Australia Vol 39 No 4 December 2000

PROFILE
YENGO DREAMING
Recent work by respected Aboriginal Elder, Clifford -James Ridgeway. Article by SUE STEWART.
Jim Ridgeway's pots rellcct the deeply felt beliefs that
have been passed on to him from family members,
particularly his father. Growing up on a reserve at
Purlleet outside Taree, Ridgeway was taught about the
Christian religion after being rounded up each Sunday to
attend Church. After church Ridgeway's father would tell
him that the Bible was white man's Dreaming and that
they had their own Dreaming. So his father and other
relatives would tell him some of the stories from the
Biribi tribe Dreamings.
Unfortunately it was not permitted to tell Dreaming
stories at the time when Ridgeway was a boy as
Christianity was the dominanr religion. These stories were
told in private and not at the gatherings that would have
been the traditional method of handing on these beliefs.
Jim feels regret for the loss of spirit from not hearing all
these Dreamings stories. However, not being a person to
dwell on the negatives for too long he uses and builds
onro the remembered stories.
Many of the traditional stories told coincided with the
seasons and food gathering - where to go and not to
go. Interestingly these stories continued even when the
Biribi people were confined to the reserve and unable to
follow these 'song lines'. They had no need for the
concept of days and dates, only for seasons. Other stories
told were for the safety of rhe children, such as the
Bunyip tales that were told to keep them away from the
two dams in the area. It seemed to work as it was very
unusual for black children to drown in the very places
that white children perished.
Aboriginals believe animals and bird, communicate with
them and send messages. Most tribes have animal totems,
for the Biribe tribe it is rhe slmk. TIle families have their
olVn totem and this is passed to the children from their
fathers. Hidgways's family totem is the turtle. You must not
eat an animal that is your totem. Ridgway has a vivid
childhood memory of an old man talking to birds in a
manner that seemed a most natural form of communion.
He believes that he too ha s experienced this type of
conununication. On a particular day an annoying gray bird
kept bothering him, making alot of noise. He sensed it was
trying to give him the message that a boy cousin had died,
a fact that was confirmed later in the day.
Life was tough on the reserves and food was often in
short supply so it was supplemented with a diet of
kangaroo, wallaby and fish that was hunted plus an
occasional 'borrowed' sheep.
All of these early experiences have contributed to the
way Ridgway expresses himself in the many and various art
forms he uses to express himself. In the 70s it was as an
entertainer, Ridgeway was an importlJ1t figure in Aboriginal
Country and Western musi c performing throughout
Australia. He was voted the Best Aboriginal Country and
Western Performer in Australia in 1976. This was also a
period of poetry and songwriting, and a poem 'Ticket To
Nowhere' has been published in ale Me-anjin magazine, a
highly regarded Australian literature journal this year.
Painting is another means of manifesting his spiritual
inspiration. He has been painting in a traditional manner
for about twenty years. Ridgeway starts with a vague idea
of what he wants to describe in a painting and continues
working intuitively until the work is completed. As a
community artist/educator Ridgway teaches aboriginal art
as artist-in-residence in many local primary and
56 POTIERY IN AUSTRAlIA + 3914 DECEMBER 2000