The Be (Video)

CRACKERJACK EDUCATION — TEACHING WITH AUNTY Year 6

Knowledge area: Dreaming

TEACHING NOTES The Be (Video)

Text type: narrative, spoken, online, multimodal

VISUAL STIMULUS FOCUS

The Be is one of twelve ancient Dreaming stories, each story uniquely interpreted by contemporary animators, musicians, artists, writers and actors. It explores kinship and identification with a community through language, song and dance.

PRIOR TO VIEWING

Introduce the video The Be to students. Start the video on the website. To engage your students, pause the animation after the first 10 seconds to show the initial first frame of the story and ask the students to identify the landscape or setting. Answer:( It is set in the desert. Ask the students how they know it is the desert.) Ask the students to think about what clues the first frame of the animation gives about the type of story it is. Ask the students to predict who or what they think ‘The Be’ might be.

Background • The Be is an animated Dreaming story • At the time of European colonisation there and is part of the Dust Echoes video series were hundreds of different traditional Aboriginal produced by the ABC. The story explores languages and several geographically defined kinship and identification with a community. Torres Strait Islander languages spoken in It includes full narration to assist teachers Australia.1 with enunciation of language words and • Historically, clan groups could speak not only songs, and introduces Aboriginal language to their own language but also the language students. belonging to their neighbours. This was very • The Be is a Yirritja (Year-rit-cha) story told in important when trade and travel occurred Dalabon (Dal-a-bon) language from Central across traditional language boundaries.2 Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory. Sometimes up to 17 languages were known. It is passed down to all young people who live in the area and share the same type of language.

SHARED VIEWING

The story in the video The Be was told by Jimmy Wesan from the riverside country around Bulman in the Northern Territory. The Be [which is the mysterious thing in the story] reminds us that humans and animals are connected and belong to a place [a tribal or language area]. And that [language] songs and dances help build and maintain the necessary relationships between humans, nature and country.3 The moral of the story is not to judge others by what they look like, and that people will communicate better if they are shown kindness.

46 sec

The characters start speaking in Dalabon (Dal-a-bon), an Aboriginal language from central Arnhem Land. (This is a great way to introduce to students that there are different languages in Australia and highlight that this is only one of over 250 different Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander languages.)

1 min 8 sec

The Aboriginal man starts singing a language song using clap sticks and the people start to dance. (Ask the students why they think the man does this. Explain that perhaps it is to calm the people in the camp because they all seem worried and scared about the unknown thing. To add more mystery to the story, ask the students why they think the mysterious thing or person leave no tracks.) Note: Clap sticks are the most commonly used musical instrument of Aboriginal Australians and are made from wood.

2 min 33 sec

We are introduced to characters with special powers (the brothers) that could see through things. (Ask the students why they would like to have that power and what they would do with it.)

3 min 7 sec

When the brothers are tracking the mysterious thing, they use hand signals to talk to each other. (Point out to the students that hand signals were one way Aboriginal hunters communicated very quietly with each other, so as not to scare away animals or people. Ask the students to identify hand signals that are used today to communicate with each other [e.g. stop, come here, quiet, etc.].)

4 min

The mysterious thing starts to sing a song, and the brothers realise that he is part of their family. (Aboriginal people have been connected by songs and language that are unique to each language or tribal group for thousands of years. The mysterious man knew the brothers’ language and songs; therefore, he must have been connected in some way. There are many ways families are connected, no matter where they come from — through language, similar looks, place, shared knowledge and information.)

In the end, the mysterious thing just wanted to belong and connect up with his family. This was only able to happen when the brothers were kind and talked to him to find out his problem. This allowed them all to identify those with the same language songs and country — their family.

Aboriginal Language Groups To use a modern comparison, ask the students to think of pre-colonised Australia (before 1788) like a map marking the boundaries of Australian regional areas. These boundaries have been set up to efficiently care for people in a region of manageable size. This is what Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Australia looked like as well. Show the students the Aboriginal Tribal Language Map (see the Additional Resources section). Explain to the students that each colour on the Aboriginal Tribal Language Map represents a different language (around 250) spoken by Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander people. Point out that there are more groups Map of the Dalabon language group and its closest neighbours near the coast on both maps. Ask the students why they think this might be. (Answer: This area is able to sustain a larger population.) You may wish to show the students the map of the Dalabon (Dal-la-bon) language group and its neighbours in the Northern Territory.

Direct neighbours of the Dalabon Arnhem (Are-nem)/Yolngu (Yoll-nue) Ngandi (Narn-dee) Rembarnga (Rem-barn-gar) Numggubuyu (Num-gab-you) Dangbon (Dang-bon)

Torres Strait Islander languages There are three main languages spoken by Torres Strait Islander people: 1. Kalaw Lagaw Ya [Kalor Lagor-Ya], which is similar to Aboriginal languages and is spoken on western, central and northern islands. 2. Meriam Mir [Mirriyam-merr] is the language of the eastern islands (including Mer) and is derived from Papuan languages. Individual dialects are also found on each of the islands. 3. A third language has also developed over time. This is Torres Strait Creole [Yumiplatok (You- me-pla-tock)], which is a mixture of the two traditional languages and English.4 This is now the most common language of the Torres Strait Islands.

ACTIVITY

Aboriginal English students know the Aboriginal English word or Aboriginal English has evolved because of the phrase that matches it. For example, “What need to communicate between the Europeans is the Aboriginal English word for ‘great’ or and Aboriginal peoples. It is a mixture of both ‘impressive’?” languages, just like the Creole from the Torres Answer: Deadly Strait Islanders. You can also flip this activity and say an Say a Standard Australian English word or Aboriginal English word or phrase and ask for phrase from the list below and see if the the matching Standard Australian English.

Aboriginal English Standard Australian English Camp Home Mob A group or family Big Mob A lot of Sorry business Ceremony associated with death/funeral Deadly Great or impressive (you’re too deadly) Gammon Kidding/joking or not good quality (real gammon way) Solid Fantastic Growl To scold or go cranky at someone True Fair dinkum, I had no idea Which way How? Not even No way Shake a leg Dance Ya jokin’ me You have got to be kidding Cuz Mostly used by young Aboriginal people to other Aboriginal people who are not their brothers or sisters

AFTER VIEWING DISCUSSION

• Discuss how Aboriginal Dreaming stories are • Discuss with the students some different thousands of years old and are some of the ways of communicating. Ask the students oldest stories in the world. Explain to the how they think Aboriginal people in the past students that Aboriginal people in the past communicated their stories to others without did not have technology like we do today to books, paper or pens. (Answer: They told write these stories down when they were them the story in words or song, or perhaps first told. through using Aboriginal symbols/pictures by drawing in the sand or on rock walls.)

• Discuss with the students that this is how • Ask the students about their families. What stories are told and how culture survives do they think is the same or similar about — this is why people say Aboriginal culture their families (e.g. eye colour, language, hair, is cyclical. It is ongoing and evolving because place)? their stories, songs, beliefs and language are • Ask the students why they think it worked still being handed down and kept alive. better when the brothers were kind and • Ask the students if they think the mysterious listened instead of the Aboriginal men being was a man or a spirit. (Answer: He was tracking the mysterious being with spears. a man; however, the designers made him (Answer: The mysterious being was frightened look different to highlight that it was not and was being naughty by stealing and playing immediately obvious that he was connected tricks. Once someone showed him kindness to the group’s family.) and talked to him, the truth came out and everyone was happy.)

SUPPORTING WORKSHEETS

Worksheet 1: ‘The Be’ — Multiple Choice Questions A short quiz where students answer questions about the Dreaming story The Be.

Worksheet 2: Aboriginal Language Word Search An activity where students find the Aboriginal language words in the word search.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Worksheet 1: ‘The Be’ Multiple-Choice Questions (Answers)

Worksheet 2: Aboriginal Language Word Search (Answers)

Aboriginal Tribal Language Map http://www.crackerjackeducation.com.au/resources/aboriginal-tribal- language-map

CURRICULUM

ENGLISH Content description Elaboration

Understand that different social and geographical • recognising that there are more than 150 dialects or accents are used in Australia in addition to Aboriginal languages and two Torres Strait Islander Standard Australian English (ACELA1515) languages and that they relate to geographic areas in Australia • recognising that all languages and dialects are of equal value, although we use different ones in different contexts, for example, the use of Standard Australian English, Aboriginal English and forms of Creole used by some Torres Strait Islander groups and some of Australia’s near neighbours

MUSIC Content description Elaboration

Explain how the elements of music communicate • identifying and comparing how the elements of meaning by comparing music from different social, music are used and combined in different music cultural and historical contexts, including Aboriginal styles from different cultures and Torres Strait Islander music (ACAMUR091) • Considering viewpoints – societies and cultures: For example – How do different cultures use music? Why is this piece of music important in this culture?

KNOWLEDGE AREAS AND THE NATIONAL CURRICULUM

English The Be is a Yirritja story told in Dalabon language from Central Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory. This animated Dreaming story includes full narration to assist teachers with enunciation of language words and songs and introduces Aboriginal language to students. (ACELA1515) Music Aboriginal people have been connected by songs and language that are unique to each language or tribal group for thousands of years. The mysterious man in The Be knew the brothers’ language and songs; therefore, he must have been connected in some way. (ACAMUR091)

REFERENCES

1. Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, ‘Language, Totems and Stories’. Accessed February 23, 2017. http://www.gbrmpa.gov.au/our-partners/traditional-owners/traditional-owners-of-the-great-barrier-reef/ language-totems-and-stories. 2. Ibid. 3. Lewis, Robert/ATOM. Dust Echoes: The Be — A Study Guide. PDF. Accessed May 18, 2017. http://www.abc.net.au/dustechoes/studyGuides/DustEchoes-TheBe-StudyGuide.pdf. 4. Trevor Black. ‘Reconnecting with the Torres Strait Islanders’. In Annual Report 2008. (Magistrates Court of Queensland, 2008.) PDF. Accessed 25 May, 2017. http://www.courts.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/84753/m-ar-2007-08-part4.pdf.