Leila: A Life Renewed One Canvas at a Time: The Sacral Series

By Dawn Bates

Looking at her younger brother and sister, she knew something bad had happened. The silence in the house was no longer a welcome relief; it was deafening, all encompassing.

Then the police came, and then a nice lady, then something about a new family.

Everything a blur, until she became lost in her own silent world of colour and canvas.

Being the unwanted child of a prostitute, life was never going to be easy.

Becoming a sister gave her life meaning, then they were taken away from her.

Who was she now? Where were they taking her? And would the sounds of her mother's screams haunt her forever more?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dawn Bates
• Release date: Dec 22, 2020
• ISBN: 9781913973117

Book preview

Introduction

Of all the books I have written, this book has proven to be the most challenging when it came to finding the right person to write the foreword. Sadly, no matter how many people I reached out to in the Indigenous Art Society of Australia, and how many thought this book was much needed, none of them had the time to write 1500 words, three pages of A4, or join me for Collection Two of The Sacral Series Podcast.

One of the many problems in the world today when it comes to making a fundamental difference in the world of abuse is people are often worried about associating themselves with the darkness or seen to be highlighting things within their own community which already has a number of challenges or stigmas.

Whilst I appreciate people genuinely believe they are too busy, I also know that if something is really truly important to us, and we want to make a difference, even if we cannot gift our time, we will always find a way to support a project which resonates with us.

Maybe this project wasn’t in alignment, maybe it was too damaging to their brand; perhaps too controversial, or they simply didn’t want to get involved because it was something too close to home, and it doesn’t really matter why they said ‘No’, I am committed to sharing this brave woman’s story, highlighting the beauty of Indigenous Art and the power of Art Therapy; whilst also bringing the challenges faced by the Indigenous Society in Australia and the Torres Strait Islands.

The young lady who shared this story faced many challenges throughout her life, and yet she still found the courage deep within her, and her past to make a positive difference in her life, and the lives of so many others. This is not an easy story to write, nor will it be an easy story to read; but these stories never are easy to read or be aware of… unless of course they are watched through a screen and come under the guise of a crime thriller, because it’s easier to forget about it, to dismiss it as real, because it’s fiction right? Wrong. What you watch on the big screen IS someone’s life, someone’s true story, and the horrors of the show, are the horrors of someone’s daily existence.

These stories are hidden in plain sight, glossed over with a smile like a lick of paint or a band aid; placed across the wounds for yet another generation to come, and then another before someone is brave enough, courageous enough to rip off that band aid and stand tall and say, This is my story, and this generational pattern of thinking, behaving and existing stops with me. Just like Leila did.

She is a warrior, a powerful woman, an artist like no other, and whilst I have gifted her a new ethnicity, her own ethnicity and home nation present many of the same issues faced by the Torres Strait Islanders.

Many people around the world will never have heard of the 274 and counting islands of the Torres Straits, let alone the 48,500 Torres Strait Islanders who have inhabited many of these beautiful islands situated between Papa New Guinea and north-eastern Australia over the last 2,500 years, and various parts of mainland Australia for the last few hundred years. Torres Strait, named after Luiz vas de Torres, a sea pilot and second-in-command to navigator Pedro Fernandes de Quieros during the Spanish Expedition from Peru to the South Pacific in 1605.

With many languages and dialects spoken across the islands, the main one being Kala Yagaw Ya and the second one being Brokan, aka the Torres Strait Creole, which gives the Islanders a rhythm and identity all of their own. The Creole dialects across the islands is not too dissimilar to those spoken in many islands of the Caribbean, which – given the history of the area – is not surprising with the colonisation of both the Torres Strait and Caribbean islands by the French, Portuguese, British and Spanish. With influences from around the Pacific Islands, South East Asia, Papa New Guinea and Australia, it is not surprising the beautifully distinct culture became an instant attraction to those who came across them on their travels, and were written with fondness in Captain’s Logs, before being written into storybooks around the world.

For those of you familiar with the wonderful works of Jules Verne, especially Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, you will remember the dangerous straits which the submarine Nautilus gets stranded. These life-threatening straits mentioned in this wonderful book of adventure are indeed the Torres Straits, and are also the straits that explorers such as Captain James Cook tried, and succeeded, in claiming on behalf of the British Crown; Australia after all was a British Colony.

Was nothing safe from the grip of the British Crown?

These islands play a significant part in nautical history and have provided sailors, including myself, with some breath-taking skies and ocean adventures as we pass through the Coral and Arafura Seas. Many lives of noble seamen have been claimed, and many artefacts from the ships trying to get through the reefs and sand banks have been found. The charting of the passages through the various islands gave topographers plenty of variety as well as challenges due to the rivers, sedimentary flows and tidal patterns from both the mainland of Papa New Guinea and northern Queensland.

Marine and bird life have a lot of room to play, feed and breed due to the various ecosystems across the islands, low lying sandy banks, volcanic rock and weather systems provide the perfect mix of storm and sunny days. The lushness of the tropics provides a wealth of plant life and shelter, which has now been protected under the Torres Strait Treaty, a treaty between Papa new Guinea and Australia to protect habitats, resources and heritage.

The heritage of the islands can clearly be seen through the artwork, songs and dance, all inspired by the magnificence and power of the ocean, not only the greatest life source of the planet but also the life source of the Islanders. Without the ocean, none of us would survive, and for Islanders whose main food ingredients come from the ocean, it is imperative they honour in all aspects of their lives.

The turtle is not only honoured and revered in the artwork of the Torres Strait Islanders, but the shell is used in the making of ritual masks, as well as plates to serve the various meals eaten. Nothing is wasted, because to waste anything would be a dishonour to the life given to preserve life. It is also not surprising that the turtle, dugong, sea birds, plant life and sea crocodile feature heavily in both the artwork and dance rituals, both in looks and movements.

The Dhari, the ceremonial headdress is a nod to the lofty trees and palms and worn by all Islanders taking part in the various celebrations and ceremonies honouring the Gods and life itself. It can also be seen in white on the Torres Strait Islanders flag, a flag which signifies the lush green islands with the blue of the ocean running through the middle. The flag was only commissioned in 1992 and is one of the national flags of Australia.

The artwork from the Islanders has been included with that of the mainland Aborigines from Australia, both coming under the category of Indigenous Art and having their very own council. The council was set up to provide much needed understanding, preservation and teaching of the various different techniques, including what is known as Melanesian wood carving, a technique unique to the Melanesian’s also known as the Torres Strait Islanders.

Stories of the Tagai, the combination of the sea, stars, plants and animals, everything natural and mystical, lines drawn connecting the present to the legends of the past and the honouring of ancestors passed, are all used within the artwork provide a closeness to self, family, tribe and nature. Through the patience, care and attention, the reflection and respect for all of life, the Torres Strait Islanders have always had a tranquillity about them.

That said, with the arrival of the Europeans for the pearl farming in the 1860s life became disrupted, resources were stripped, women raped and men drowning in an intoxication like no other as the elixir also known as alcohol took hold.

Prostitution on the islands was borne and the oldest profession in the world had arrived in these beautiful, tranquil lands. Life would never be the same again.

Those who maintain their dignity, stayed true to tribal practices, were seen as savages and the narrative over the next few hundred years would bring us to the present-day racism, prejudice and oppression of those from Indigenous origins, including the Aborigines on the mainland.

Seen as lower-class citizens, misunderstood and misrepresented due to their small numbers, the Torres Strait Islanders and Aborigines were seeing their way of life threatened with more and more settlers from Europe arriving, new housing and business premises being built on their land and their homes being destroyed.

With a nature of not needing the materialism, something their European counterparts clung to as if these possessions were life itself, this new world that had sprung up underneath their noses was confusing, destructive and unsettling in the worst ways possible. Christianity was introduced, with many of the Islanders embracing the faith, new practices were imposed, and communities were developed, as well as destroyed.

Although the traditional beliefs of the Tagai were replaced by the Christian God, many people kept – and still do to this day – their own traditional belief systems. One of my favourite stories is of course the one where the Tagai represents Torres Strait Islanders as sea people, connecting them to the stars, as well as a system of order in which everything has its place in the world. It was no coincidence as I was sailing the Arafura Sea I was studying Celestial Navigation with a beautiful antique sexton.

In another story, the Tagai is depicted as a man standing in a canoe. In his left hand, he holds his fishing spear, which represents the Southern Cross. In his right hand, he holds the red Sorbi fruit. With a great adventure on the horizon, the Tagai and his crew of 12 had provisioned for the trip ahead, but consumed by desire and hunger, the crew consumed all the food and drink they planned to take. It is believed that the Tagai strung the crew together in two groups of six and cast them into the sea, their souls ascending up into the heavens above. As sailors navigating the oceans, we look up at the night sky, seeing their images in the patterns of the star constellations of Pleiades and Orion. Learning stories such as this as I sail around the world is one way to remember the constellations, that’s for sure!

With the arrival of Rev Samuel MacFarlane, who was one of many sons of a Glaswegian family and lived from 1837–1911, ‘The Coming of The Light’ ceremony was borne. (The irony of my name is not lost here either!) Rev MacFarlane, accompanied by evangelists and teachers – all from the London Missionary Society – anchored at Erub (Darnley Island) in the Torres Strait in July 1871. They were welcomed by Dabad, a Warrior Clan Elder on Erub who defied tribal law to welcome them. To the many Islanders this was not a good thing, and so the split in communities began slowly but surely. Those who chose to follow Rev MacFarlane, began celebrating each year on the 1 st July,