Lane Cove Celebrates the Festival by the River with Animals of the Dreamings

The Gai-mariagal Festival (formerly the Guringai Festival) raises awareness of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living in the Northern Sydney region. The Festival involves numerous community groups and Councils, including Lane Cove Council. One of the events during the festival is Animals of the Dreaming: Taronga Zoomobile Visit in the Lane Cove Plaza and is usually held during NAIDOC Week and is a free event.

This year it was postponed and will now be part of the Festival by the River on Saturday 6 November, 10:00 am – 11:00 am at the Waterview Community Centre, 314 Burns Bay Road, Lane Cove.   Bookings are essential and you can book here.  Don’t miss it – this is one of the most popular Lane Cove events.

One guest blogger Gemma Quartuccio told us about a previous Animal and the Dreamings event.  Take it away, Gemma…

Animals of the Dreamings

Each year Lane Cove Council works with Taronga Zoo to bring to the local community a presentation called Animals of the Dreamings by Indigenous elder Col Hardy of the Kamilaroi tribe. Col, or Uncle Col, will talk about the different Indigenous nations that are throughout Australia, which total over 200. He speaks about the importance of all people needing to look after both each other and the animals. Col takes the crowd on a journey through the Dreamings stating that “everything is put on this planet for a reason, even the bad things”. He speaks about how the Dreamings go back to when time was created and began with the story of the rainbow serpent, which is often linked to stories about land and water.

There is also a display of different boomerangs, one of which dates back 190 years, and other Indigenous tools and the blade of a Saw Fish who was missing a tooth! The story that Col’s ancestors have passed down is that the Saw Fish had had a toothache before it had died, and that is why it is missing its tooth – because it had broken off.

Col also songs about different animals that feature in Dreaming stories and are significant to Indigenous culture. There are songs about termites and how they are vital to eat the wood and bark to help make didgeridoos, Dreaming stories about the Rainbow Serpent and Tiddalick the Frog, and interactive discussions about the animals that feature in them.

Ryan brought from Taronga Zoo came with Yarra, a Diamond Python, and spoke about snake safety.

He also brought with him a Shingle Back Lizard named Kimba, a white lip tree frog named Zinky (because his lips make him look like he has zinc on them!), as well as an echidna. 

Thank you to Gemma, our Guest Blogger – she highly recommends you see the Zoomobile event.  Gemma was accompanied by her own roving reporter Lex!!  See below.