Skin Deep by Tony Bradman

Author:Tony Bradman
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780141928456
Publisher: Penguin Random House Children's UK
Published: 2009-01-23T00:00:00+00:00

The black boy takes me to the water tap. He says his name is Danilo. I say my people call me Tatatin. It means ‘Smoke’.

I say he should leave this place and find another way to live. I say the Great Father is ashamed of a young man creeping about in rubbish. He says maybe.

The black boy Danilo asks where I am from. I say from my people's reserve far away. The reserve is ninety hectares.

He asks if I can kill animals with a bow and arrow. I say we use rifles. I know how to use a rifle fine. He asks if we eat monkeys. I say yes and we also eat honey.

He wants to know what I wear round my neck. My necklace.

‘Is it gold?’ he asks.

‘Gold,’ I say. ‘From the river near our village. Found by my father's mother.’

‘Is there still gold in the river?’

‘Little,’ I tell him.

We come to the tap. I wash. It is better. The black boy Danilo looks at my watch. He says it is a Japanese watch. He says I am not an Indian because I have a Japanese watch. It makes me laugh. I say, ‘If a Japanese buys a hammock from an Indian, does he stop being a Japanese?’

I laugh and he laughs now. I tell him we have a generator in our village and satellite TV. I always watch football. I tell him I have a camera too. He doesn't believe me. I finish washing, then I show him the camera from my pocket. He asks why I have the camera. I decide to tell him my story. I sit in the low sunlight and say this:

‘I am here because white woodcutters are invading our reserve to cut trees. They are cutting big trees. When my relative tried to stop them, they shot him. The white woodcutters think Kankarurú people are nothing. They think they can kill Kankarurú people. They think they can shoot us like forest animals. We want our relatives to be alive. We want our forest. We don't want to lose our way. But we don't want to make war. We want to use the justice system.’

I tell the boy, ‘I have found who is sending the white woodcutters: a man called Hildebrando. I have been to the police and to politicians and they say that if I can give the proof they will stop Hildebrando. So I went to a shop and bought the camera. I took photographs of Hildebrando's lorry on our land.’

I show this boy the photographs from my pocket. The white woodcutters. Tree trunks in the lorry. The number plate at the back: BIP 2222. And I tell the boy that this lorry is coming to Hildebrando's place. I say, ‘When it comes, I will take photographs. Then I will have proof. That is my mission.’

He says he hopes I am lucky. I ask him if his children will live in a better world than us. He says he does not know. I tell him we must think about that.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.