So after spending 4 days in the Great Barrier Reef, I decided to make an overnight stop back in Cairns, where I’d flown in initially. It’s a seemingly simple town, renowned for sailing, though I admittedly didn’t get a good feel for the place because I was only there for 24 hours. But here is the highlight, and the reason for the early island departure: for dinner, I checked out a nearby aboriginal cultural park, and it was so, so worth the stopover.

The Park celebrates the culture of the Tjapukai aboriginal people, a nomadic, trading tribe, the name of which means “Village of the Rainforest.” Because I know very little about aboriginal culture, the entire thing sort of blew me away. The Tjapukai place great importance on passing down beliefs, customs and tradition from elders, and the Park patrons are the great recipients of this practice.

Throughout the evening, Tjapukai members and descendants performed ceremonial dances, rituals and music. We started easily enough, with wine and original art viewing in a medium-sized gallery. After a few minutes, though, the lights went out, and a performance about the gods took center stage (literally, in the middle of the room). I sat, cross-legged, with what I’m guessing was the expression of a 6-year old.

We then moved out back around a huge campfire that was the direct result of a community effort — the guys started the fire by seemingly holding a small bushel of sticks and grass (don’t ask me, it’s an ancient thing), and then everyone in the campfire circle blew on it to create what became a huge, magical blaze. I mean, really.

This was all followed by a buffet meal. I’d write about all of the interesting native foods that we ate but, well, bush cuisine (which generally involves cooking under the ground) isn’t exactly geared towards modern culinary technique or Western palates. Luckily, the food did display a number of beautiful native spices — citrusy-y fresh lemongrass, tart limes, strong mint, pungent bush tomato seed — so no complaints there. One of the most notable parts of dinner was the on-stage dance performance in which, oh yes, my friends, I was involved (guess it’s what you get when you make friends with one of the tribe members beforehand and they remember you when looking for dancing volunteers). I couldn’t take pictures and dance at the same time, unfortunately, but trust me when I say it was very, very good fun.

Overall, it was an amazing way to end my time in Australia, to add a little culture and history to the luxury I’ve been so fortunate to savor lately. It’s important for me, too, because these are people whose history does not seem so different from that of my own family’s African heritage, that of incoming colonial settlers and violence and oppression. I wish I knew it all, but realize that sometimes it’s good to just know something. So I learned. I finished up the evening around the campfire, sharing coffee and making new friends, chatting with Jermane, who answered every question I could come up with.

Books are written about this stuff, so clearly it’s hard for me to summarize everything in any meaningful way. Suffice it to say, though, that the aboriginal people have had quite a time preserving their culture and opposing racism in a land that was once exclusively theirs. I felt honored to be a part of this direct education, humbled to be included in the celebration of tradition… and, let’s be honest, face-painting is just freakin’ fun. Triple bonus.

My new friend, Warren

Campfire Chatting.