Nulungu Newsletter July 2022

Poem by, Professor Anne (Wagaba) Poelina Co-Chair, Nulungu Institute Research - Broome Martuwarra Fitzroy River Largest Aboriginal cultural heritage site in our hands 733 kms winding across our lands Don’t bring us harm We have friends of the Martuwarra Dreaming a forever dream River must have the right to live and flow I love E River cause E love us to. River all around us River watching us Wondering what we going to do River hold the memories of all of us passing through Past… Present… Future hold in this moment of time River must have the right to live and flow Yoongoorookoo, Galbardu, Kurrpurrngu, Mangunampi, Paliyarra and Kurungal Are the names we call the serpents from the beginning of time Nyikina, Warrwa, Bunuba, Walmajarri, Gija, Ngarinyin, Mangala, Gooniyandi We hold the River for all of us We need the River to have a fair go River must have the right to live and flow Let’s stand in unity, one mind one voice, one River Country Aboriginal and National Heritage Listed for you and me Birds, fish, animals, trees, all people sharing, trade, ceremony Living waters, law first, rules from our ancestors Keep the living waters, flowing free River’s right to live and flow River must have the right to live and flow Citation: Poelina, A., Martuwarra River of Life to Flow, in Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development (2022) Laudato Si’ Reader: An Alliance of Care for Our Common Home, (pp.137-141). Edited by Kureethadam, J. I., Fitzpatrick, N., & Glassman, J., Liberia Editrice Vaticana. ISBN 978-88-266-0696-5. Photography by Mark Jones Martuwarra Fitzroy River Right to Live and Flow