For those that visit Minjerribah (Straddie) each year and pass through Goompi (Dunwich) on the way to the “Point” named by Captain Cook would do well to remember the vibrant culture that has existed on the island for thousands of years. Many families have kept that culture alive despite attempts by successive colonial governments to kill it or to co-opt it.
Raymond Walker, the grandson of Oodgeroo Noonuccal (Aunty Kath Walker), and son of Dennis Walker is one song man who has kept the culture and language alive through song and dance. Onetime on Minjerribah five decades ago, I remember Raymond’s grandmother tell a group of students (myself included) the story of how her people joined with the dolphin to fish the waters of Quandamooka (Moreton Bay).
In a moving eulogy at a service at the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra, Raymond [Nunka Wulew] said of his father Dennis Bejam Walker: “He will be remembered not only as a father, grandfather and great-grandfather but as an advocate, leader and a warrior for our people in his mission for peace, prosperity and healing. May his spirit rest in the Dreamtime.” – Green Left Weekly, Jim McIlroy, January 18, 2018.
In the 19th century, one of my ancestors Edward M. Curr compiled a dictionary of the Jandai language spoken on Minjerribah. Raymond Walker has done a lot to help keep that language alive. Here are some songs and stories by him. – Ian Curr, Ed., 5 Dec 2023.