St George Dragons 2023 Indigenous Training Shorts Adult

Indigenous Story: 

• After reading about Pemulwuy I chose to use strong images as the backdrop for this painting. He was a remarkable individual.

  The first being the silhouette of an indigenous man who represents all the warriors who fought for their Country - Pemulwuy and all the others who helped him defend their Country against the settlers of the time.

  The second being the lighning strikes which light up the background of the artwork. The lightning strikes are symbolic of the strikes led by Pemulwuy as all strikes against the colonists were stategically planned to be quick and unexpected to avoid capture. Pemulwuy often observed the settlers and colonists to learn of the routines in order to pick the perfect time to strike.

  The third image is that of the whale in a powerful breaching motion, this again is representative of Pemulwuy and all other warriors defending their nation as they too were powerful as they defended their Country and Countrymen.

  The larger red circles represent the leaders of each clan/family who stood alongside their family and friends to fight against those who planned to claim their lands. Inside those circles are the weapons used by the indigenous warriors at that time.

  The winding travel lines show the distance they travelled in order to defend, and all other smaller circles represent all others involved.