TELL magazine: December 2020 - Emanuel Synagogue

they tell the stories, they provide
comfort, solace, grounding, place.
In Indigenous culture when a child
is born, their placenta is mixed
with the seed of a tree planted in
the earth. From that day forward,
the tree becomes that child’s
‘directions tree’: a place they can go
for guidance for their spirit, where
they can connect with the past
and hear the stories of ancestors in
the whispered song of their special
place. Alongside ‘directions trees’
are grandfather and grandmother
trees: two trees which grow
together, a pair which support and
care for one another. And there
are ‘birthing trees,’ where women
sheltered to bring new life into the
world. All these trees tell the story
of a people. They are deep, ancient
teachings, embedded in the soil
of the children whose lives began
beneath the branches; generations
of families, their roots intertwined
with those of the trees; songlines
which link across country. These
trees are guardians, and are
described as being like the most
magnificent cathedrals, spiritual
places where you can feel the
presence of the sacred ancestors.
A group of such trees, sacred to
the Djab Wurrung people, are
slated for destruction to make
way for a highway in Victoria.
A pair of trees, a grandmother
and grandfather who are 800
and 700 years old, stand guard
over the land. The grandmother
tree will be spared, but the
grandfather will be chopped
down. A Djab Wurrung woman
said: “...they would be nothing
without each other … standing
this ground for so long and being
with her would be like losing
someone very close … a spouse.”
An article describes the two trees:
“...the grandmother, a tall Red
River Gum, is in fact two trees
that have joined just above a
large hollow, also believed to be
the place of thousands of Djab
Wurrung births. The trunk of
the grandfather tree opposite her
bends around and over, forming a
“U” like shape. His veiny branches
are intricate, curly and erratic, but
reach outwards towards her.” 1
This pair, grandmother and
grandfather, will be forever
separated when the grandfather
is chopped to the ground. And
already a sacred directions tree, a
Yellow Box Gum, has been killed,
chainsaws destroying a sacred site:
hundreds of years of spirituality, a
holy place, destroyed. One of the
Djab Wurrung women likened it
to the fire which burned Notre
Dame. We fight to protect our
sacred buildings, our places of
worship, our holy sites, but we
Continued over...
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