Tensions between Aboriginal communities and other Australians will only be resolved when the truth of past violence and loss of cultural connection to land is acknowledged.

Both the  poems ‘Unearth’ and ‘Oombulgarri’ describe a land once inhabited exclusively by Aboriginal people and then go on to imply that a proper reckoning for their displacement has not yet occurred. The tone of ‘Unearth’ is angry and threatening, whereas ‘Oombulgarri’ – while it contains similar ideas – is more melancholy. Here are some examples where the poems explore these ideas:

The metaphor of resurrection in ‘Unearth’

let’s dig up the soil and excavate the past / breathe life into the bodies of our ancestors / when movement stirs their bones / boomerangs will rattle in unison

The first thing to notice is the inclusive language: ‘let’s’ is a contraction of ‘let us’, inviting the reader to take the side of the persona. The image of ‘breathing life’ into the dead is a metaphor for remembering them and reassessing their importance as a part of our shared Australian history. The image of a ‘boomerang’ is also important, since it immediately brings to mind Australia’s ancient Aboriginal civilizations. Significantly, the boomerang always returns to its owner. We could interpret this to mean that Australia will someday return to the guardianship of Aboriginal Australians. Note that ‘boomerang’ also appears in the final stanza, reinforcing this idea that it always comes back.

Pathetic fallacy in ‘Oombulgarri’

echoes of laughter roll like distant thunder / but unlike a storm cannot pass by / hysterical energy whips and wails and wails

The simile at the start of this stanza is eye-catching because it links ‘laughter’, with its positive connotations, to ‘thunder’, which often implies power and destruction. The implication is that this once thriving community has been destroyed and so laughter has given way to resentment and ‘hysterical’ grief. Although the thunder is ‘distant’, it is significant that it cannot ‘pass by’. This indicates that more and more anger is gathering around Oombulgarri, ready to be unleashed in the future. The weather itself seems to be revolting against the expulsion of the residents from the land of their ancestors.

The repetition of ‘wails’, coupled with the alliteration (with ‘whips’) in the third line is unsettling and gives the impression of many voices crying out in pain. The contrast between the ‘laughter’ at the start of the stanza and the ‘wails’ at the end is intended to demonstrate how extreme the treatment of Aboriginal people has been in the poet’s view.

Changing relationships to family members result from the process of growing up and allow for a redefinition of our sense of self and identity.

Personification in ‘Leaves’

that lone tree on the ridge

is that my father?

it stands like him

Throughout this poem, the persona uses the image of the tree on the horizon to explore her relationship with her father. By comparing and personifying him as a tree, she suggests that she does not know him well – he lacks human characteristics in her mind. In another sense, however, this metaphorical identity makes her father seem strong, solid, reliable and in tune with the natural world. The adjective ‘lone’ in the opening line that lone tree on the ridge is important – he stands on his own, and we wonder whether he is lonely. Given the spiritual connection which Aboriginal Australians traditionally feel with the land, we might also wonder whether the rhetorical question in the opening lines of the poem - is that my father? - is intended literally: has the persona’s father really been reborn as a tree? If so, will the same thing happen to her in the future? At the end of the poem, the persona speaks of her need to be ‘consoled’  and comforted after suffering loss. Responders can infer from this that she misses her father and wishes to be reunited with him somehow.

 Symbolism of standing on the threshold in ‘Key’

the girl stands at Grandmothers door

there is no key hole to the future

and no vision to the past

Thresholds symbolic of transitions and the fact that the girl can stand right outside her grandmother’s room but can’t enter symbolises the fact that she knows her grandmother really well, but there is still a part of her identity which remains hidden. 

The ongoing impacts of past suffering are evident in the present.

‘Trance’ and ‘Eyes’

Each of these poems concerns a woman who has suffered in the past. While ‘Trance’ has a reflective, soothing tone, ‘Eyes’ ends abruptly with an image of ‘rage’.

Abstract imagery in ‘Trance’

During the trance, the old woman’s thoughts stray to her former lover, who is now dead.

heat was a grip with fingers entwined / the firmness of his torso / the instrument of his voice / his smile missing in her empty hand

The trance state appears to allow the old woman to appreciate her senses more vividly. Flashes of her past relationship pass before her. She not only visualises her former lover, but also feels his presence in different ways – the ‘heat’ of his grip, the sound of his voice (the word ‘instrument’ implies that it was musical and pleasant). The final line contains synecdoche – where one part of a person (his ‘smile’) stands in for the whole person. By focusing on his smile, the poet shows us what the old woman remembers most clearly about him: the smile connotes happiness, satisfaction and security. The lack of punctuation at the end of the line could suggest that the trance goes on, but because it is so private the poet now withdraws.

Implications of loss and sufferings in ‘Eyes’

the eyes of terror she has thrown away / the eyes of submission are blinded now / she avoids the eyes of shame

Like the old woman in ‘Trance’, the persona here has suffered in the past. The nature of her suffering is less clearly stated, but this stanza indicates that she has previously experienced terror and has now overcome it; that she has previously had to submit (give in), but now refuses to do so. Each of these lines tells us a little more about her identity: she has grown stronger, and perhaps harder, because of her past suffering. She is not innocent, but rather experienced. In the remaining two stanzas she considers feeling ‘wonder’, ‘contempt’ or ‘compassion’, but decides instead to feel ‘rage’. The poem is ambiguous: should we celebrate this woman’s strength, or regret that she chooses rage over these more positive emotions?

How do the poems Unearth and Oombulgarri explore tensions between cultural identities?

Multi-cultural communities are a complex mix of identities and the language of poetry is a powerful tool for the exploration of differing cultural identities. We see this exploration of clashing cultural identities in Ali Cobby Eckermann's poems Unearth and Oombulgarri. Both these poems allude to the complex tensions that continue to exist between those who belong to Aboriginal communities and other Australians. The Aboriginal identity of the speaker in ‘Unearth’ is connected to that of her ‘ancestors’. She recites the oppression of her Aboriginal ancestors and it is implied that the persona's own life has been shaped by what happened in the distant past. ‘Unearth’ uses a violent metaphor in the line ‘there is blood on the truth’ to issue a warning about the need to face the bloody and violent truth of the past. The poem also employs the symbolism of renewal attached to digging up the earth to encourage the reader to be part of the solution to these tensions, ‘let’s dig up the soil and excavate the past’. On the other hand, ‘Oombulgarri’  places the blame for racial oppression on the government who drove the Aboriginal population of the town away. The poet's use of repetition and metaphor in the line ‘the town is empty now / as empty as the promises / that once held it together emphasises the feelings of emptiness and betrayal that result from lies and deception. Cobby Eckermann indicates that the identity of non-Aboriginal communities is defined, in part, by how they relate to their Aboriginal neighbours so it is important for reconciliation to mend this relationship and prevent further conflict. Tensions between Aboriginal Australian communities and other Australians will only be resolved when the truth of past violence and dispossession is acknowledged.

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