Ngulunhdhul Pearson at CYP’s 30th Anniversary Gala

I acknowledge the Gadigal People of the Eora Nation. Greetings to traditional owners from throughout Australia and our Pama from Cape York Peninsula.

My name is Ngulunhdhul. My Alma Mater is St Peters Lutheran College. I am in the third year of law at the Queensland University of Technology. I want to express my gratitude to St Peters and to the Cape York Leaders Program.

My father is unable to be here but he wished me to share some brief remarks.

My father, his older brother and younger sister were all alumni of St Peters. The Lutheran Church – like other Christian churches – provided educational opportunities for children of the missions of Cape York from 1965.  My father tells us that his 5 years as a boarder at St Peters in the late 1970s were “the best 5 years” of his life.

When I was born my father was well into what he had made his life’s purpose since he was a 23 year old: service to the cause of our people in Cape York Peninsula.

He said his purpose came from his father: it was to serve God and to serve your fellow man. My father tells me he has sometimes expressed misgivings about this patrimonial duty, but the truth is that what his father ordained for him was not optional.  At least according to we Lutherans, it is a higher power who calls you to your Life’s Purpose.

My father wanted me to convey four thoughts on his behalf.

First, that on an occasion like this, there is the error of attributing to him too large a role. He says he was a young servant of the Elders that he had the great fortune of getting to know them in days when he was a student in this city,  and would travel back to Cape York on university breaks. These old people became his friends and allies.  They were the last of the bush born generation:  the last link to the world that existed before the British invasion of Cape York.

In a verse called ‘The Pantheon’ my father described them as:

Our generals,
warriors, strategists, philosophers, soothsayers
Medicine women and conjurers of magical potential,
Our children.

He said we had a duty to never forget them:

Duty falls ‘pon us to dedicate, by hallowed
Lore of our traditions, of these heroes
Never lose memory. Never let their names
And more, pass from eternal gratitude
For they be our inspiration, linked to the past
Illumined our path to the present, and
Guiding our future.

He spoke of four elders with whom he worked closely. The first was Kuku Mumin leader, old man Robert Holroyd :

Our leader,  this colossal man of Nukkayenka
The mighty, Black Moses
among that band Zorzi called:
The Greatest Generation. Yeeum of that river
Holroyd, pious friend to all things good
foe of injustice. In old age
Unyielding, shades of youthful vigour -
Obsidian skin in ritual scars, barricades
with such a man, we gamely stormed.

Then he referenced one of his own grandfathers, Kuku Taipan leader, Peter Costello:

Next him his brother, who swallowed the Taipan’s eye
Blue-eyed visionary, name-saked totem from Musgrave marched, a child in chains, wrenched his mother’s arms. Stolen boy,
old woman’s wretched tears on infant footprints,
wailing cold campfires of happier memories.

This is how he described the great Umpila leader, old man Isaac Hobson:

To their fore that statesman Hobson, natural orator
launched soaring this movement, cadenced
with deep culture and evangelical infusion
The Bale mission’s illustrious All Souls scholar
From that River Nesbit, power of stunning argument.

And finally the great Wik leader from western Cape York, old man Francis Yunkaporta:

To his right that wise warrior of the clan,
Charismatic philosopher-general, of Keerweer
hard of countenance, generous of heart. Wielding
fighting authority from fighting people, the Wik.
urging patriots to civic duty, on behalf righteous cause.

The second thought he wanted me to convey was that the education of the young was the greatest investment. He is so proud of his niece Tania: he says she is the best return on investment he has ever made.  He is so proud of her.  Tania was an investment in the cause of the Cape York Elders, including her own Koko Bera Elders from Kowanyama – and she honours those elders in everything she has done since she left home for Clayfield College, and will doubtless continue to do so in the future.

The third thought my father wanted to share is this: It is our survival as a people that is at stake with the Cape York Agenda – and only we can ensure it. We need good friends and partners, but at the end of the day, no one else can do what we ourselves are unwilling to do for our own people.

Finally, he wanted to convey four words: Unity, Trust, Sacrifice, Belief.  No cause can be effective without unity.  The forces of entropy in families, societies and politics must be countervailed by leadership that urges unity.  This means that even where leaders are not trusted, they must nevertheless show trust.  This is the kind of trust that comes from belief.  When we believe in our people, we show trust  -even where others don’t give us the benefit of the doubt.  It is the example of trust that builds trust.

Finally, there can be no progress without sacrifice.  Sacrifice is our lot.  My father was struck by the words of former prime minister Paul Keating, who once observed that “the only reward for public life is public progress”.  On this night, we celebrate the progress of our people towards our long-term survival.

Thank you.