Yanagai! Yanagai! Read online

QC: This hearing is to be adjourned until a later date.

  TELLER 1: All rise!

  TELLER 2: All rise!

  TELLER 3: All rise!

  TELLER 1, 2 & 3: [together, slower] All… rise!

  The TELLERS slowly rise up. Another ancestor’s image fades.

  ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

  SCENE SEVENTEEN: OUR PROTECTOR, THE RIVER

  Early morning at Uncle’s camp.

  UNCLE gets out his best shirt and puts it on. He kneels down by the river and washes his face. As he does this, LITTLE ALBERT and his sister MAE come floating by. He watches them as they dive into the water, laughing.

  LITTLE ALBERT: Come on, Mae! Swim, swim!

  MAE: I’m coming!

  LITTLE ALBERT: I’ll beat you to the other side.

  MAE: [dog paddling and trying to catch up] Okay!

  LITTLE ALBERT: Come on, Mae, follow me!

  MAE: Yeah, alright!

  LITTLE ALBERT: Faster!

  MAE: I’m coming!

  LITTLE ALBERT: This is fun! You can do it!

  MAE: Yes, Albert.

  LITTLE ALBERT: Just like me. Swim like me. Watch.

  MAE: Okay.

  LITTLE ALBERT: Follow me.

  MAE: I’m right behind you.

  LITTLE ALBERT: When we get over to the other side let’s play mudsticks. That’s fun, ay Mae?

  MAE: Yes, Albert!

  LITTLE ALBERT: Come on! Faster!

  MAE: I’m swimming as fast as I can!

  LITTLE ALBERT: See those flowers on the bank, we’ll pick them for Mum. Those little yellow ones.

  MAE: Wait!

  LITTLE ALBERT: Remember when you caught that little lizard and we took him home and you named him Mister?

  MAE: Yeah.

  LITTLE ALBERT: Keep going.

  MAE: Albert! Wait!

  LITTLE ALBERT: Just follow me!

  MAE: It’s too far away.

  LITTLE ALBERT: No, Mae. It’s just there. You can do it.

  MAE: No!

  She stops and treads water.

  LITTLE ALBERT: Mae! What are you doing?

  MAE: I can’t do it. I’m going back.

  LITTLE ALBERT: No, Mae! You can’t! Come with me.

  MAE: Ooh, Albert! Too far.

  LITTLE ALBERT: Remember what Mum said?

  MAE: Yes!

  LITTLE ALBERT: If you see the black car, jump in and swim to the other side.

  MAE: I know!

  LITTLE ALBERT: Come on then, Mae! You can do it!

  MAE: Alright, wait for me.

  LITTLE ALBERT: Good girl. Come on, you can do it! Swim! Follow me!

  MAE: Albert! It’s moving me away.

  LITTLE ALBERT: Keep swimming! Keep swimming!

  MAE: It’s too far!

  LITTLE ALBERT: Just a little further to go.

  MAE: Albert!

  LITTLE ALBERT: You’re nearly there.

  UNCLE shouts out to MAE too.

  MAE: Nearly there!

  LITTLE ALBERT: Swim, Mae!

  UNCLE shouts to MAE too.

  We’re nearly there. Look, Mae, I can touch the bottom. See! We made it! We beat ’em!

  He turns around to look for MAE but realises she is not there. UNCLE on the shore yells too.

  UNCLE: Mae?! Mae?!

  LITTLE ALBERT & UNCLE: [together] Mae!

  The image of LITTLE ALBERT floats downriver. UNCLE washes his face.

  ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

  SCENE EIGHTEEN: ON THE HUNT

  MUNARRA enters, cautiously. Searching. Hunting. She whistles to the DINGOES and they enter. The DINGOES catch a scent and are sniffing madly.

  MUNARRA: What is it?

  DINGO 1: Oooh, a smell.

  DINGO 2: Ditjumurra! [‘Stink!’]

  MUNARRA: What kind of smell?

  DINGO 2: No good.

  DINGO 1: Like maggots.

  MUNARRA: What you got there?

  The DINGOES’ sniffing intensifies.

  DINGO 1: Oooh, bloody hell!

  DINGO 2: A rotting carcass.

  DINGO 1: Stinking flesh.

  DINGO 2: Putrid!

  DINGO 1: Rotten!

  DINGO 2: A dead thing.

  The cow puppet has entered and moos loudly. A light rises on CURR’s ghostly homestead. CURR’s ghost is clinging onto an ornate chair in the ruins of his sitting room. He stares straight ahead, oblivious to the presence of MUNARRA and the DINGOES. A rusty bell and ornate tea set stand beside him. His gun leans against the chair.

  MUNARRA: There he is.

  Silence.

  The DINGOES and MUNARRA regard CURR for a long time before they slowly approach and stand in front of him. He stares right through them.

  Hello, Curr.

  DINGO 1: It’s us.

  DINGO 2: We found you.

  CURR is unaware.

  MUNARRA: We are here.

  DINGO 2: Curr?

  DINGO 1: We are here.

  They circle him as they speak.

  MUNARRA: We travelled a long way to find you.

  DINGO 2: A long, long way.

  DINGO 1: Curr.

  MUNARRA: Curr?

  DINGO 2: Curr? [Pause.] Is he dead?

  DINGO 1: [yelling] How ya goin’, bruz?

  MUNARRA: [waving a hand in front of CURR’s eyes] Yoo-hoo?

  DINGOES 1 & 2: [together] Grrrrrr!

  DINGO 2: Does he see us?

  MUNARRA: No… Yurrungurra. [‘Blind.’] That’s the problem.

  DINGO 1: He doesn’t see?

  MUNARRA: He sees.

  DINGO 2: But, does he see us?

  MUNARRA: He sees what he wants to see.

  CURR ignores them.

  DINGOES 1 & 2: [together] Grrrrrrrr!

  CURR leans forward and rings the rusty bell.

  MUNARRA: Sshhhh! Wait!

  MUNARRA and the DINGOES take position and watch CURR. Curr mutters to himself.

  DINGO 1: [whispering] Who is he talking to?

  MUNARRA: [whispering] Himself.

  DINGO 2: [whispering] He’s mad.

  MUNARRA: [whispering] Yep. They’re all mad.

  DINGO 1: Madder than hell.

  DINGO 2: Grrrrrr!

  DINGO 1: Let’s rip him apart!

  DINGO 2: Into tiny pieces.

  DINGO 1: Tear his guts out!

  DINGO 2: Chew his bones.

  DINGO 1: He’ll make a good feed.

  DINGOES 1 & 2: [together] Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

  CURR leans forward and rings his bell.

  MUNARRA: [stopping them] Sshhhh! Wait! Go back!

  MUNARRA motions to DINGO 2 to go to CURR.

  CURR: Oh, there you are! I’d wondered where you got to. Five o’clock is tea time.

  MUNARRA motions to DINGO 2 to pour CURR his tea.

  Not five past five. No no no. Five… o’… clock.

  DINGO 2 hands him his teacup.

  We also have tea at eleven o’clock and tea at two in the afternoon. [He sips his tea.] Sugar?!

  DINGO 2 works out how to put sugar in his tea, stirs it and hands the cup back to him.

  That’s better. Thank you.

  DINGO 2 joins MUNARRA and DINGO 1. They watch CURR finish his tea. When he is finished CURR rings the bell once more. This time, MUNARRA moves to CURR’s teapot and slowly and deliberately pours a cup of tea, sugars it twice and pours in the milk. She places the cup delicately in her own hands and begins to drink.

  Excuse me?

  Pause. They look at each other for some time.

  MUNARRA: Do you remember me?

  CURR: I’ve never seen you before.

  MUNARRA: I remember you.

  CURR: Where is my tea?!

  MUNARRA: There’s nobody here.

  CURR: It’s tea time!

  MUNARRA: Terra!

  She sips her tea.

  CURR: Serve me my tea!

  MUNARRA: Nullius!

  She sips her tea.

  CURR: Tea!

  Silence. She sips her tea.
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  MUNARRA: It’s been a long time.

  CURR: Sorry?

  MUNARRA: Since we last met.

  CURR: I’ve never seen you before.

  MUNARRA: Really? [She sips her tea.] And now I am your guest!

  CURR: My what?

  MUNARRA: Your guest… of honour.

  CURR: My guest?

  MUNARRA: Yes.

  CURR: An honourable guest?

  MUNARRA: Indeed.

  CURR: Oh… I see… Welcome!

  MUNARRA: Thank you.

  CURR: Welcome to my house.

  MUNARRA: Most kind of you.

  CURR: My homestead. Did you see the luscious crop on your way in? I grew that crop.

  MUNARRA: I saw nothing. I saw dust and sand and cracks in the earth.

  CURR: Come, please take a seat. Rest up a bit. You look like you’ve been walking for miles. Would you like to join me in a game of pool? A stroll in the garden perhaps?

  MUNARRA: I’ve got prickles in my feet from your dead garden. See?

  CURR: You’re bleeding!

  MUNARRA: It’s the blood of my people, Mr Curr.

  CURR: Would you like some cake? I have some excellent fruit from my orchard. Peaches. I could have them picked for you.

  MUNARRA: Do you remember us?

  CURR: I have some wonderful music I could play on my gramophone. Shall I play some for you?

  MUNARRA: The people?

  CURR: Game of tennis?

  MUNARRA: We were on the riverbank.

  CURR: Backgammon?

  MUNARRA: And we’re still here.

  CURR: I have written my recollections down. You can read them if you like. They have been published into two editions.

  MUNARRA: No… thank you.

  CURR: Oh, look! There is my wife. Planting roses.

  MUNARRA: Give up, Curr.

  CURR: The sprinkler, dropping water all around.

  MUNARRA: Let go!

  CURR: Such lovely weather.

  Pause. MUNARRA noisily finishes her tea and then places the cup inside her dilly bag.

  Excuse me, madam! That teacup is mine.

  MUNARRA: What’s yours is mine.

  CURR: I must ask you for its return.

  MUNARRA: Do you remember us?

  CURR: I’m afraid I must ask you to leave!

  MUNARRA: The people?

  CURR: Get out!

  MUNARRA: On the riverbank.

  CURR: This is trespass!

  MUNARRA: We’re still here.

  CURR: Get out!

  MUNARRA: Don’t you remember us?

  CURR: Leave!

  MUNARRA: I remember you.

  CURR: I shall have you removed!

  MUNARRA: We are here!

  CURR: Get out! Get out!

  He points the gun at them. Pause.

  MUNARRA: We are here.

  They exit, leaving CURR on his own. CURR sits, clinging to his chair tightly. Silence. He rings the bell. Nobody comes. The lights fade.

  ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

  SCENE NINETEEN: UNCLE IN COURT

  The courtroom. Three loud knocks sound out.

  QC: We call Mr Albert Reginald Wallace to the stand.

  UNCLE moves to the stand.

  Mr Wallace, do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?

  UNCLE: I most certainly do. I swear on my mother’s grave.

  QC: Can you state your full name for the court?

  UNCLE: I call myself Galnya.

  QC: Mr Wallace, you must state your birth name for the court.

  UNCLE: Albert Reginald Wallace.

  QC: Mr Wallace, please state for the court your birth date and place.

  UNCLE: I was born on the banks of the Murray River. January. Not sure which day. Around 1920. My grandmother delivered me in an old tin shed and I have not moved three ks west or three ks south from that place.

  QC: Thank you, Mr Wallace.

  UNCLE: [under his breath] Galnya!

  QC: Now, Mr Wallace, we’re just going to ask you, for the court records, a few questions about what you know.

  UNCLE: I’ve got important things to say.

  QC: Good. Can you please state, for the court, your mother’s name?

  UNCLE: Priscilla. Priscilla Louise Wallace.

  QC: Thank you, Mr Wallace. Can you please state the name of your father?

  UNCLE: My father taught me how to fish using an old canoe and spear. You ever seen that?

  QC: Your father’s name?

  UNCLE: He’d get a long, skinny reed and tie it in a knot and put it down the grub hole, tease him until he bites then whip him up. He showed me that.

  QC: Your father’s name—?

  UNCLE: He showed me where the fish trap is. At the cutting. If you head upstream from there that’s where I saw the old canoe tree. A farmer chopped it down! It was a thousand year old!

  QC: Mr Wallace, we need you to simply answer the question.

  UNCLE: They chopped that tree down—

  QC: The question, Mr Wallace?

  UNCLE: It was a sacred tree.

  QC: Your father’s name, Mr Wallace?

  UNCLE is silent.

  Mr Wallace! Was your father’s name Reginald ‘Reggy’ Wallace, born at Maloga in 1901?

  UNCLE: That’s right.

  QC: And is it correct that, according to government records, your father left your family home at the Cummeragunja Reserve without you, your sister or your mother when you were seven years old.

  UNCLE: He showed me all the best fishing spots. The places where the really deep holes are. He showed me what signs to look out for too. When it’s the best time to fish.

  QC: But he left your family when you were seven?

  UNCLE: He showed me how to dive for ducks. Sneak up on them underwater and grab their legs.

  QC: Mr Wallace, did your father leave your family when you were seven years old?

  UNCLE is silent.

  According to government records, your father was removed from the reserve for illegal alcohol use? Is that correct?

  UNCLE: He was a top shearer. A hard worker.

  QC: Mr Wallace, I will re-phrase the question. Is it correct—?

  UNCLE: He was taken off.

  QC: For illegal alcohol use?

  UNCLE does not answer.

  Mr Wallace, is it correct that, according to the Aborigines Protection Board records, you were removed at the age of nine and put into child welfare?

  UNCLE: Who told you that?!

  QC: Please answer the question.

  UNCLE: I don’t want to talk about that.

  QC: Mr Wallace—

  UNCLE: I’ve come to talk about the land.

  QC: Mr Wallace, were you in child welfare, and away from the reserve for over twenty years?

  UNCLE: I spent the best part of my childhood running away from black cars!

  QC: Were you away from the land in question for twenty years?

  UNCLE: We were told to swim across the other side of the river if we saw ’em. Stick to the riverbank.

  QC: Mr Wallace, the question was—

  UNCLE: My mother! She didn’t cry for days or weeks or months. She cried for years! Looking for us.

  QC: I’m sorry, Mr Wallace, we are asking you to verify whether you were put into child welfare when you were nine years of age. Yes, or no?

  UNCLE: We just want our land back!

  QC: And were you away from the land from the time you were nine years old and did not return until you were the age of thirty? Is that correct?

  UNCLE: I’ve been back for fifty years.

  QC: But you were away from the land for twenty years?

  UNCLE: [pointing to his heart] Not in here.

  QC: Yes, Mr Wallace. However, you did leave the area when you were nine and were you away then for over twenty years?

  Silence.

  UNCLE: That’s it.

  Pause.

  QC: And your sister? I believe you have a sister?
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  Pause.

  UNCLE: Yes.

  QC: Her name?

  UNCLE is silent.

  Mr Wallace, can you please state the name of your sister for the court records?

  UNCLE is silent.

  Mr Wallace…?

  UNCLE is silent.

  Her name?

  Pause.

  UNCLE: She died.

  Pause.

  QC: Mr Wallace, we need her name. For the records.

  UNCLE: Mae. Little Mae.

  QC: Thank you, Mr Wallace. You may stand down.

  UNCLE: I have other things to say!

  QC: That’s all for now. Thank you, Mr Wallace. The court will call the next witness.

  UNCLE: What about the canoe tree?!

  UNCLE stays on the stand. The lights fade.

  QC: Thank you, Mr Wallace.

  ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

  SCENE TWENTY: WAR PAINT

  It is night time at Munarra’s camp. A storm is brewing. Electricity fills the air.

  Seated by a fire, the DINGOES are sharpening their spears. MUNARRA is kneeling by the fire and is surrounded by broken pieces of Curr’s teacup. With her digging stick she grinds the porcelain to powder. She spits on the powder and, with war on her mind, paints her face and body with the clay. They recite the words ‘nyini dhan’ [to fight] and ‘Ngatha batima dinyuwinya’ [I will spear him now].

  ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

  SCENE TWENTY-ONE: THE WAY HOME

  Late at night at Uncle’s camp.

  UNCLE takes off his best shirt, screws it up and throws it at the base of a tree. He opens a beer and swigs. Suddenly the bell from his fishing rod goes off. He dives for it and has a monumental struggle with the fish on the end.

  UNCLE: Woo. Look out! Bloody hell! Who’s knocking on me door?

  He dashes to the line and carefully reels it.

  Ooooooh, it’s a big one! Come on, big fulla, don’t get away on me now!

  He hooks the fish.

  I got him, I got him, I got him, I got him! I got the big fish! See? I got him.

  The fish on the end of the line is huge. UNCLE pulls the line in.

  Come on, old fulla. I’ve hooked you, ya mongrel. Come on. I’ve got ya. I’ve been after you. Come on, big fulla. I’ve got ya.

  He hauls the fish to the surface and sits on the bank exhausted.

  Jesus Christ! You’re uglier than I thought you’d be. Harold bloody Whithers come back to haunt me.

  With one last heave he hauls the fish up onto the bank. He catches his breath.

  I got you now. I got ya.

  He looks into the face of the fish, gasping for air. It’s as though he sees his entire life flash before his eyes.