#bushwomen

[kemetic-dreams]

The term "Bushmen," now often considered pejorative, originated from the 17th-century Dutch term "Bosjesmans," meaning "people of the bush," and was used to refer to the San people, the indigenous hunter-gatherers of Southern Africa

While the term "Bushmen" is still used, it's now often considered derogatory or offensive by many South Africans, and the term "San" is preferred in official contexts

[sublimerhymes]

The Poet’s Kiss By Henry Lawson

A comedy — a tragedy —

A broken head, or egg —

And some of us would laugh to see

A blind man's wooden leg.

So much that seemeth sad is gay —

That seemeth weal is woe —

That, till it's sung, I cannot say

If this song's sad or no.

 Her freckled face was small and sweet,

Her large grey eyes were sad;

Through cold and slush, and dust and heat,

She slaved to help her dad.

By ridges brooding ever now,

And gullies deep and dark,

She milked the everlasting cow

Out there at Stringybark.

 It was a fearsome life indeed,

That few might understand;

Her only pleasure was to read

The poets of the land —

The songs of drovers far away,

Of love, and city strife;

And Men that Might Have Been — 'twas they

Who brightened her young life.

 And when the evening milk was set,

And poddy calves were fed,

And when she'd cooked what she could get

For Dad and Tom and Ted,

And when she'd penned the calves and bought

The morning's firewood in,

She had a rest (as so she ought)

And read The Bulletin.

 There was a bard who sang the Bush,

The ocean wide and wild,

The bushmen and the city push —

She'd read him when a child:

He sang of Hope and grim despair,

Of backs bent to the rod,

Of fights for freedom everywhere,

And — oh! he was her god.

 He sang of gaunt bushwomen slaves,

Of bush girls sad and lone;

Of broken hearts and lonely graves

(Of others' and his own);

He sang of many a noble deed,

And many an act of grace:

And, all her life, since she could read,

She'd longed to see his face.

 She pictured him with burning eyes,

And heavy hair thrown back

From gloomy brows so worldly wise

And sadly on the rack.

A wasted form — transparent hands

That angels might caress;

A heart that ached for many lands,

And clean but careless dress.

 She longed to take those hands of his,

And, with her spirit, bow,

And kiss them, if she dared not kiss

His lips, or gloomy brow.

She longed to look into his eyes,

And ask him, with a sigh,

If they might meet in Paradise —

And then go home and die.

 They'd three green seasons after brown

(So runs the world away);

They sent her down to Sydney town

To have a holiday.

In fear and trembling — yet with joy —

In fluttering hope and doubt,

And, eager-hearted as a boy,

She sought her poet out.

 She found him too, no matter how,

Nor does it matter where;

The gloom upon his grimy brow

Was hidden by his hair.

The poet's words were thick and slow,

The poet's chin was slack;

His bloodshot eyes were burning, though,

And one of them was black.

 His clothes were careless, right enough,

But they were far from clean,

And he was, briefly — in the rough —

The Man He Might Have Been.

He heard her worship with a laugh,

Her sorrow with a frown —

He scrawled a drunken autograph,

And borrowed half-a-crown.

 The sky is lead — storm-waters whirl

Down gullies deep and dark,

And there's a disillusioned girl

Far out at Stringybark.

And, after all, there is a chance,

This is a song of woe —

'Twas sung to buy a pair of pants,

And that is all I know.

[portesina]

Visiting and learning from the #bushmen and bushwomen - how far we are away from #nature :-/ #world #look #impressive #travel #traveller #human #women #africa #botswana (hier: Kalahari)

[theponderanceblog-blog]

Australia needs a rebrand

Throughout Australian history there has been market duopoly. Our two cultural brands, our national identities. In one corner the noble bushman found by the campfire on horseback with a whip. In the other the multiculturalist, embracing language and culture and stirring the melting-pot that our suburbs hope to be. The reality is that our bush has no men anymore, and our suburbs are either ethnically fractured or completely clustered to the point of becoming monocultural. I know most of my mates can't ride a horse and there are suburbs in Sydney where almost all of the shopfront signage is in Cantonese or Arabic. This works in big cities where a street or two are culturally relevant, but not in the suburbs where you either don't need to go, or don't need to leave. 

The first brand-myth, the strong and steady Aussie bushman of our post-colonial past left us with traditions, a weather repellant but neat dress code, poems and of course colloquial language. The skills, musings and attire of our rugged hero slowly falling through the cracks as the baby-boomers moved toward the cities in the 70's and 80's. What's left of him is his bastard nephew, a simple, less noteworthy cultural institution responsible for B&S balls, casual racism, and the Southern-Cross-tattooed 'bogan' and the word / hashtag 'Straya'.

The Bushman's crack-of-dawn, analogue brand doesn't represent the modern, digital, processed version of the original product. It does a terrible job. All we honestly have left of our hero archetype is Akubra hats, the post-cockney slang and a false confidence when it comes to wilderness and snake handling skills.

So what about the brand-myth of multiculturalism?

The Australian interpretation of multiculturalism is at best an ethnic collaboration. A collaboration where maintaining cultural customs is great, often bordering on fashionable when just-enough of them are included in a public event. Celebrating or practicing ones imported customs is acceptable, as long as it more-or-less doesn't go over the fence into the neighbours yard. In Fear, Race and National Identity Peter Gale describes Australian multiculturalism "as ‘us’ accepting ‘them’ (or at least enjoying their food)". Which would be great if the dominant 'us' wasn't a post-colonial politically prevalent anglo-elite class. The decision makers. Leaving 'them' to be... Well anyone without an anglo genetic line or enough cash to behave like they are a mix between and episode of Downton Abbey and MTV Cribs.

The affluent class and the plebs. Us accepting them.

It's been a case of 'us' accepting them since the moment Captain Cook first landed on Australian soil. Only 'us' in that case was the first people of Australia and 'them' was the British colonists who accepted their warm welcome with genocide, conquering and foreign diseases that they had managed to avoid for 40 Millenia... Like the flu.

We aren't bushmen, or bushwomen anymore. Family farms are selling off and the next generation of Aussie's aren't learning to fend for themselves out there, let alone ride a Clydesdale and bring in the Angus. 

Both of our dominant cultural brands can't hold enough weight to be our dominant identity. So where does that leave us?

The definition of 'us' in 2017 is blurred, as is the line that separates 'them'. It's certainly not as white as it has been have been in the past but there is one major conflict in our Multiculturalism branding too. The very term itself, multi-cultural, infers a singular of mono-culture. A singular culture to which others are added to make it a multitude of... That mono-culture in Australia's case is a UK born, white Australian.

So who the bloody hell are we? 

Our flag doesn't help, it's mostly the British flag anyway and the other bit, the southern cross, has become a pointy set of racist "ninja stars" as pointed out in the film, we don't need a map.  The jagged things are thrown by 'us' at 'them' when and if they arrive on Aussie soil. Then we leave them on the flag to remind past victims not to bloody muck around.  At the end of the day ‘National identity is an invention.’ (White, R 1981 pp. viii), an invention forged from a curated history, documented and taught by the governing, conquering and colonising 'us' of past and present. That begs the question:

 Is it time to rebrand Australia?

    --------- 

References for this articles research and further reading:

Ward, R 1958, ‘The Legend and the task’ in Australian legend, Oxford University Press, Melbourne, pp. 1.

Carter, D 1994, ‘Future Pasts’ in Headon, D, Hooton, J & Horne D, The Abundant Culture: Meaning and Significance in everyday Australia, Allen & Unwin, St. Leonards, pp. 13.

Gale, P 2006, ‘Fear, Race and National Identity’, Dialogue, Vol.25, No. 3, 2006, Academy of Social Sciences, Australia pp. 36.

White, R 1981, Inventing Australia: Images and Identity 1688-1980, Allen & Unwin, Australia, pp. viii.