Dance of the Plants

Sonia Marie, Bunurong woman and author of Kulin Tales was born and raised on King Island, but now calls the beautiful Dandenong Ranges, just east of Melbourne her home. The Bunurong people are members of the Kulin nation and their land covers from Werribee River up to the Dandenong Ranges and down to Wilsons Promotory, also taking in the lands of Mornington Peninsula and including parts of what is now the city and suburbs of Melbourne.  In the 1820’s sealers stole Bunurong women from their homes, the coastline of Victoria they were taken by force to the islands in the Bass Strait.  

Sonia wasn’t told much about her family history, more that she grew up knowing the stories of how the Bunurong people and Tasmanian people inter-married and now make up the Bass Strait Island people. Sonia’s family have always talked about where they came from and who they are. They have always talked about the apical ancestors, being the first women Sonia descended from. In anthropology, an apical ancestor is a common ancestor from whom lineage or clan may trace its descent and in the case of the Bass Strait Island community, they are made up of 13 Aboriginal apical ancestors, four Bunurong women and nine Tasmanian Aboriginal women. 

Despite the tragedy of it all, if it weren’t for the sealers who stole these four Bunurong women from their home, there would have been no surviving Bunurong people to tell their story, or to share their wisdom, given that the Bunurong people were murdered, eradicating the population. Inter-marriage with the Tasmanian aboriginal people kept the Bunurong bloodline straight and their stories strong.  “We come from a really isolated area, we didn't grow up in Melbourne, we come from the islands, so as my uncle Lucas used to say, there's no Kmart on Cape Barren, so a lot of our culture is still strong and still practised”. Sonia added, “my Aunties still makes the shell necklaces, the baskets and the weaving. The men still do their tools, collecting their glue from trees. Island life was really rough and my people are really strong, and they kept all those things really strong”.

The Bunurong women remained fierce, they fought for the future of their people and 200 years later, that future is now! For the last 200 odd years the community has remained as Sonia put it, “very much still strong and very much still a tight knit community”. 

After spending over 20 years supporting family politically, regarding Aboriginal heritage, which as Sonia put it, is “really vicious and cut throat”, Sonia was burnt out, and decided to focus her attention again on bush medicine.  From as early as Sonia can remember she has loved plants and is highly knowledgeable in growing, making and teaching plant medicine. As a young woman growing up in a house that was pretty full on, with lots of alcohol. For Sonia spending time outside in the garden became her safe place, and the place where her love of plants all started. 

Sonia shared with me two standout experiences that influenced her passion and more importantly her knowledge of plants and bush medicine. Sonia had the good fortune to participate in volunteer work with ‘Blue Feather Randall White’ who had a nursery in Gembrook. Side by side, for two years, ‘Blue Feather Randall White’ taught Sonia everything he knew about herbal medicine. 

Together with wisdom imparted by Sonia’s great, great aunt, and older elder, Nana Girlie, Sonia’s knowledge of plant and bush medicine went from strength to strength. Nana Girlie, who’s now passed away, was quite a well-known matriarch of the Tasmanian Aboriginal community but also a proud Bunurong woman, who Sonia was fortunate to spend time with one on one down at Wilson Promontory learning everything Nana Girlie knew. 

Sonia not only makes her own bush medicine but teaches workshops so that others may learn too, but teaching didn’t come easy. Sonia describes herself as an introvert and while she found it hard, she felt grateful for the opportunity. Sonia not only teaches plant medicine but has been instrumental in shaping the bush food garden at Selby Community House. 

The bush food garden not only has 55 or 60 plants in there, it also has language signs, and Sonia shares, “it’s a real sense of pride that people can connect with my culture in that way”. For Sonia to be able to take ownership of a piece of bush and nurture the area for generations to come is, her own words “healing”. 

Sonia has been working with ex-partner, and father of her four children, Stephen to resurrect the Bunurong language for over 30 years. As an Aboriginal man too, Stephen is equally obsessed with ensuring that Aboriginal language is remembered, celebrated and able to be shared with younger generations to come. 

Sonia’s love of plants and their use as medicine grew from a personal interest to one day being asked to share her knowledge, to a friend suggesting she start a Facebook page and Sonia’s presence in the community grew organically from there. Sonia started by sharing a couple of stories on Facebook and while it was initially difficult people were drawn to the page for her stories. Sonia says she likes to share because as she put it, “People were really hungry for any stories that I had or any knowledge I could share about my community” and Sonia believes that stories help connect people to country. 

With a strong response and continued encouragement from the community, Sonia decided to write the book Kulin Tales. Not only is it important to Sonia to ensure that her knowledge is passed down to the generations coming after her but she wants people to read the stories and connect with country.  If people slow down and see the beauty of the country, then they’ll be in a better position to care for country, “my elders are so proud that their language is there in the book and we know that language is culture, so it's keeping that strong forever”.

Sonia agrees that there is an ever-increasing appetite to know and understand aboriginal culture, “People are becoming aware of what’s appropriate and what’s not appropriate, what’s respectful and what’s not. More and more people are seeking out aboriginal companies for everything and respect is growing”. 

In terms of breaking down barriers and developing a shared understanding of indigenous culture, Sonia believes strongly that people need to volunteer their time to look after country, “go to your local Landcare or your local group or local community garden like Selby Community House, and put back into the country”. 

 Sonia is incredibly proud that not only her clan the Bunurong people have survived but a great deal of pride that they are now back on county, “I imagine our ancestors are really proud that everybody fought really hard and we're still here”.

To find out more about Sonia Marie or to purchase her book, Kulin Tales you’ll find her book available on her website Dance of the Plants or follow her on Facebook

Author - Jacinda Erich
Jacinda is our guest blogger and this is the first of 5 Blogs Jacinda has written for The Forever Agenda. Learn more about this incredible woman HERE