Finding the Heart of the Nation by Thomas Mayor

Author:Thomas Mayor
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: ebook
Publisher: Hardie Grant Travel
Published: 2019-10-09T16:00:00+00:00

Dancers and spectators alike wearing vibrant colours and adorned with fragrant flowers during the biennial Winds of Zenadth Cultural Festival on Thursday Island

Elverina Johnson

GUNGGANDJI, QUEENSLAND

ELVERINA JOHNSON LIVES IN YARRABAH, a small community in North Queensland with a population of almost 5000 people. She is a mother of four sons, with two grandsons. Elverina is a creative person – she designs clothes, paints and performs on stage as a musician. She is proud of her community; I was excited at the prospect of meeting her there.

* * *

It was mid-morning when I drove up the steep, winding mountain road, surrounded by lush green jungle. When I reached a crest atop the mountain, before the road meanders down to Yarrabah, the dark emerald vegetation slipped away to reveal a turquoise blue sea. Nearby, in the beautiful waters of North Queensland is a living treasure that is visible from the near reaches of space, the Great Barrier Reef.

I stopped to take some photos of the magnificent view. As I looked around, from the sea to the dense jungle, I thought it curious that the mountain formed an all too convenient barrier between farmlands, settled and inherited mostly by the descendants of colonisers, and a small Aboriginal community called Yarrabah. From atop the mountain, the little town loked like any other tropical paradise. But this one has different laws to others, because of the Indigenous population.

Yarrabah is the largest regional Aboriginal community in the country. When I asked Elverina where we should meet, she simply said, ‘Meet me by the church down at the beach.’ I agreed without asking for any more details. It can’t be too hard to find a church on a beach in a little community, I thought. I was right.

I couldn’t have imagined a more beautiful setting for an interview. The little old white church, with a roof as green as the jungle on the mountain, is surrounded by lawn that meets the beach and the sea. After a cup of tea at the small cafe nearby, Elverina took me on a tour of the community. When we returned to the beach, we walked over to a concrete table on the church grounds, and we began.

‘I love Yarrabah, it’s my home. Because I’m an artist, I have travelled the world using different genres; I’m a performing artist, visual artist. I’m a creator, they say, my art covers all bases. I’ve also been very passionate as a community leader for social justice. That’s always been my passion and that pretty much started at a very young age.’

When I met Elverina at Uluru, I didn’t know she was a great artist. When I saw her again, it was at the National NAIDOC Awards Ball in 2017 accepting an award – NAIDOC Artist of the Year. She was an extremely popular winner, a crowd favourite.

She explained where her creative mind came from, as well as her inspiration and fighting spirit.

‘My grandfather was a trumpet player. So, that’s the music side of it. And my grandmother, she was a singer in the choir, she has a soprano voice.

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