Yanagai! Yanagai!

Andrea James

• Publisher: Currency Press
• Year: 2016
• ISBN:
  9781760620349
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: Drama
• Index: Literature

Munarra is a black woman, thrown from the skies into the Dreaming so that she may heal her land, the mighty river Dhungula and her people. In the present day, the Yorta Yorta people are in court, fighting for a right to their land. Yanagai! Yanagai! is a war cry, the first recorded Yorta Yorta words spoken to the white men who went onto their land uninvited.%##CHAR13##%%##CHAR13##%Since its premiere in Melbourne in 2003, Yanagai! Yanagai! has been performed in France, the United Kingdom, the United States and the Philippines. Now in a revised edition Yanagai! Yanagai! is a celebration of Yorta Yorta stories and song.%##CHAR13##%%##CHAR13##%Some of the stories are told so that they may be remembered; others are told in the hope that they never occur again.

ACT ONE

SCENE ONE: STORYTELLERS’ FANTASY

Four STORYTELLERS stand in an empty grey space, their eyes closed. Finally, they speak.

TELLER 1: We are here.

TELLER 2: We are here.

TELLER 3: We are here

TELLER 4: We are here.

TELLER 3: Expansive blue sky. Bright sun. Biami looking down on us.

TELLER 4: Clumps of Murray pine. Standing strong on the sand.

TELLER 2: Birds.

TELLER 3: Fish.

TELLER 4: Turtles.

TELLER 1: Circling eagles.

TELLER 3: Frogs.

TELLER 1: There are thousands of trees.

TELLER 3: As far as the eye can see.

TELLER 1: Redgum.

TELLER 4: Like blood.

ALL: [together] Our blood.

TELLER 2: The People.

TELLER 4: Forever.

TELLER 3: The trees hush and sing.

TELLER 1: They hold our spirits.

TELLER 2: The grass is soft beneath our feet. The earth is cool.

TELLER 1: The air is clean.

TELLER 3: And quiet.

ALL: [together] Sshhhh!

Pause.

TELLER 3: The distant sound of the eagle.

TELLER 4: Crow.

TELLER 1: The corellas.

TELLER 2: Thousands of birdcalls. The flat grassy floor. Heavy air. Am I underwater?

TELLER 3: In this place there are thousands of reeds.

TELLER 1: Spears!

TELLER 4: The tallest in the world.

TELLER 2: Flood marks on the trees. At head height. The smell of water. Grainy sand crunching underfoot.

TELLER 1: And the river?

TELLER 2: Our beautiful river.

TELLER 4: Flowing. Ever on.

TELLER 2: Chocolatey brown. A few shades lighter than my grandfather’s skin.

TELLER 3: The river is pure.

TELLER 4: We see right down.

TELLER 1: To the bottom.

TELLER 2: We see turtles!

TELLER 1: And fish.

TELLER 4: We call that one ‘burnanga’.

TELLER 2: Murray cod.

TELLER 3: Big ones.

ALL: [together] That big!

TELLER 3: True!

TELLER 2: Heavy canoe cut from tree. Toe holes in the trunk. Thank you, tree. Poling down the river. Fire on the canoe. Catch ’em fish and eat ’em up.

TELLER 1: We dive into that river.

TELLER 2: Dhungala.

TELLER 3: Our life blood.

TELLER 1: We float.

TELLER 4: She carries us wherever we want to go.

TELLER 1: To the lake!

TELLER 3: The lake!

TELLER 2: Moira.

TELLER 4: Our beautiful lady!

TELLER 1: Full!

TELLER 3: Full and clear and bright.

TELLER 4: Where the eagles fly!

TELLER 2: Ducks’ wings hit the water. Bird chatter never stops.

TELLER 3: That one over there squawks like my sister.

TELLER 2: Wind high in the trees. A shiver in the reeds. Is there anyone in there?

ALL: [together] Sshhhh.

TELLER 4: Children laughing.

TELLER 1: Words echoing.

TELLER 3: So much to eat! Emu, kangaroo, yabbies, fish cooked in clay…

ALL: [together] We’re full!

TELLER 3: [recited under the dialogue which follows] … possum, and turtles and swans and their eggs and ducks, snakes, goanna, lizard, big ...