Butterflies and Demons. Eva Chapman

blacks were impressed – these axes were so sharp, so useful.

      Moonlight flooded the sand bank at the mouth of the Ngankaparinga where Murlawirrapurka sat. He was spending time in solitude, accessing the spirits of the land and its deep wells of wisdom. He gazed at the moon shining overhead and thought of Kirrila. When he had first heard that the white captain of the yoko was accompanied by a Kaurna woman, he fervently hoped it was Kirrila. The whole clan had awaited her return. But Sally informed him that she had known Kirrila on Karta, and the last she heard was that Kirrila set out to swim back to the land of her ancestors. Murlawirrapurka looked out to sea and was sure he could see Kirrila’s spirit shining in the shimmer of the moonlight on the water.

      Another sadness that weighed upon him was the murder of Collet Barker, the white man whom he had spoken to by this very river. He had liked the feel of his hand, and had seen the spirit of understanding in his eyes. Sally had informed Murlawirrapurka about the circumstances surrounding his murder, as she had been called upon to act as interpreter in the case. The three young Ngarrindjeri explained it was not only revenge that drove them to kill this pale naked man. They were in awe and fear of all white men who seemed to have so much power over them. They knew that whole races in the east had been destroyed by them. White man loomed as a ghostly, invincible spectre. And that strange round weapon that this particular white man carried? How were they to know it wouldn’t destroy them just as mysteriously as the exploding sticks? They wanted to know if a white-skin could actually die. Hence the frenzy with which they ran their spears through and through the hapless Barker; proving that a black man could vanquish a white man; that a black man did have some power over these white invaders, who showed no respect for their ancestral kingdom, let alone their women. While Murlawirrapurka had sympathy with this view, he knew the Ngarrindjeri had killed the wrong white man.

      Barker’s companions had explained to Sally what a good man Barker was, especially in his dealings with black men. In Western Australia, Barker had befriended Mokare. Unusually for a white man, he had let himself be guided through Mineng country, graciously accepting Mokare’s authority as its custodian. The two men became close as they camped together under the stars, explaining to each other their different cultural histories and deciphering the meanings of each other’s dreams. When Mokare heard about Barker’s’s demise he was distraught, and organised a group of Aboriginal men to travel the vast distance to the Murray mouth to avenge Barker’s death. But before they could carry out their mission, Mokare died from influenza.

      ‘Ah that such a good, white man was so cruelly murdered,’ agonised Murlawirrapurka. He loved the hot-headed Ngarrindjeri, who had always helped protect the gentler Kaurna from their common enemies. But he exhorted them to distinguish between good white men and bad white men. Murlawirrapurka knew it must work the other way around too. If white men were afraid of black men, they would be less likely to distinguish between good and bad black men. So far, most white men failed to distinguish between Aboriginal groups at all. They lumped them together as ‘savages’, refusing to recognise the rich variety of culture and hundreds of distinct languages that had resonated throughout this vast southern land for millennia.

      Sally also informed Murlawirrapurka that many ships were now docked at Karta, all waiting for Colonel Light to find a place on the mainland for their occupants to live. She predicted that it would be somewhere on the Tandanya plain. Sally told him that these people were different to the sealers and whalers who came and went. It seemed they were here to stay. Her opinion of Light was that he was a good man, hard working and dedicated to his task.

      Tindo, the sun, was sending up fingers of light over the sleeping ancestor in the east as Murlawirrapurka walked away from the sea. He surveyed the land, stirring in the splendid wiltutti dawn. Soon, white people would be watching this same dawn. Why were they here? What was his destiny with them? He was arrested by the sound of the crows in the tall eucalyptus trees. ‘Kua, Kua, Kua!’ His spirit guides called him. He was Kua Kertamerru; first born of the crow totem of Murlawirra at Ngaltingga. On completing his initiation ceremonies, he had inherited the totemic rites and songs of his ancestors.

      He stretched up welcoming arms towards them. Within their cries he heard, ‘We of the Crow totem are creatures of change. We are here to help you through the tumult that will sweep your ancestral lands. You, Kua Kertamerru Murlawirrapurka, a fine embodiment of the Crow Totem, are charged with the following, “Be mindful of your opinions and actions, and always speak your truth in your life’s mission.”

      Your watchword is “Integrity”. This will guide you for the immense task ahead.’

      A sailor carried baby Elizabeth Beare from the ‘Duke of York’ on to Kangaroo Island and pressed her chubby feet into the sand; the first imprint of a white settler in South Australia. Samuel Stephens, bristling with importance as colonial manager, was a little peeved, and made sure he was the first adult. Albert Taplow and the Bradshaws, who had suffered Stephens’ sermons for weeks on the high seas, watched wearily as he attempted to instil order laced with Methodist virtues on the hardened sealers of Kangaroo Island. He failed dismally. By the time Walter Bromley – a future Protector of the Aborigines – arrived, the place had degenerated into squabbling, rum-fuelled chaos. Stephens had failed to control not only the sealers but also many of the ship’s crew and settlers who, in the arid, waterless environment, quenched their thirst with the demon rum. Stephens found solace by marrying Charlotte, Elizabeth Beare’s ancient maiden aunt. Bromley, while awaiting the job of Protector of the Aborigines to materialise, started a school for white children under the shade of a large currant tree. The Africaine arrived with colonial secretary, Robert Gouger. He urgently pressed Light to decide where the new city was to be. He was concerned for his wife Harriet, who had discovered during the arduous voyage from England that the nausea she was experiencing before leaving was not only due to anxiety about travelling half way around the world, but also because she was pregnant. Light directed the Africaine, and the swollen-bellied woman to Holdfast Bay.

      Midlato was dismantling her wardli at last. The women and children carried their possessions down to the plain as the men hunted game. The extensive freshwater swamps behind the dunes at Patawalonga Creek were rich pickings during wiltutti. Midlato gathered succulent roots of bulrushes and reeds, as well as the eggs of countless water birds. Her special job was to find emu eggs. Members of her totemic group were forbidden to kill emus, to ensure that these large meaty birds would always be plentiful. However, Midlato was free to gather some of their eggs. She crept up quietly behind the male emu who sat on about ten at a time, and deftly removed two or three. Mmmmm. These eggs were delicious and nutritious. In addition, there were many different varieties of grains to be gathered, ground, and baked. Midlato was digging for roots with her katta, when her older brother Milte-widlo shouted from the top of a sand dune, ‘Yoko, yoko.’ Children scattered and screamed. ‘White sharks! White sharks. They are here!’

      Among the adults, heated discussions were afoot about the impending invasion. Wirra children hunted for a certain kind of bird dropping at Yartabulti so that Wirra sorcerers could make a special charm to keep white-skins out. Young warriors advocated war tactics but knew they were at a disadvantage – this was an unknown enemy who had already vanquished eastern peoples with their magic weapons. While some thought ghost-skins were long lost ancestors, others hoped that by ignoring them, they might go away. Murlawirrapurka reminded everyone that the traditional Kaurna role was as educators, and they would just have to teach these ghost-skins how to behave on their land, just as Mokare had taught Barker. Murlawirrapurka advocated that first, they watch and wait.

      From the vantage point of a leafy gum, Midlato and Milte-widlo espied strange white people being rowed from the ship. They watched as sailors carried them through the surf on to the hard sand. Midlato was particularly struck by a girl with green eyes, who squealed as a wave swept up and drenched her. Midlato gazed with wonder and fear. She couldn’t understand why this girl wore so many strange coverings all over her body. She was encased in them, with hardly any skin showing. A wardli type thing, which had spread out in the water, draped her body; black stuff encased her legs and pelt imprisoned her feet.

      ‘Perhaps white skin is delicate,’ Midlato said to Milte-widlo.

      White-skins squinted in the hot sun as it bounced off the