Sanguine Tenacious Tidings

Road trip

12/06/16 Lasseter Highway, Ayers Rock, Alice Springs

The drive on the Lasseter Highway was certainly an adventure. Just riding down the left-hand side of the road was interesting. Like learning a language that is written toward the left will twist your brain, so moving at speed, down the left-hand side of the road when you are used to traveling on the right-hand side of the road also exercises your thinking cap.

The wild awesome space we viewed will remain a part of our thoughts forever. At Uluru National Park I was soon into the controversy concerning Uluru. The site is sacred to the indigenous people in the area. This is where they do spiritual dreaming as part of Walk About. Just taking pictures of part of Uluru is against the Aboriginal belief system. They are also against people climbing it. There are real concerns for the erosion brought about by climbers and bacterial problems with the water caused by human waste.

Watching the rock change many colors during a sunset can make anyone wonder at its awesome setting. Here is this huge, massive rock system out in, what I can only compare it to a basically flat prairie. No wonder it is part of a worship system. There are other spiritual systems centered around rocks on the earth.

Alice is a progressive city. It has a reptile center, camel rides, outback balloon flights, a special Aboriginal Art Center and indigenous tours. But, it also has problems with crime. Some of it is because some of the indigenous people, who are prevalent in the area drink alcohol to excess. This includes the children, who can be awake, drinking alcoholic beverages, during all hours of the night. Sometime during 2008 an ordinance was passed to exclude indigenous people from alcoholic sales. This is similar to problems caused by alcohol on Indian reservations in the USA. It is ongoing in the USA because their physical makeup has no tolerance for alcoholic drinks.

Parents and children of the area continue to go Walk About and there is an effort to pass down the Aboriginal knowledge and belief system to the generation growing up now. Conservationists abound in the area. Rob Randall, an Anangu Elder, speaking on a Youtube video exclaimed how important the land is to the people and how well they attempt to care for Uluru and the land when they become involved in Walk About.

I wonder at the amounts of knowledge of the wildlife, insects, soil types, and plant life these people must have stored in their DNA. If these people ever get the respect they deserve their lives will be easier.














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