Local songman Magpie Yerrubilgin will present a two day cultural gathering in November. Photo Eve Jeffery
THIS ARTICLE ORIGINALLY APPEARED IN THE BYRON ECHO
An historic convergence of local and global Indigenous leaders will be joined by a lineup of musicians, artists, healers and sustainability experts for Fields of Healing, a two-day cultural gathering at North Byron Parklands on November 24 and 25.
Presented by Unity Earth and co-hosted by Minyungbal Yugambeh songman Magpie Yerrubilgin, the event will commemorate the first anniversary of the Return to Country of Mungo Man. Representatives from the Lake Mungo region in southwestern NSW will join local elders to offer ceremony and songs for healing.
Mungo Man
According to www.visitmungo.com.au, three prominent sets of Aboriginal Australian human remains were discovered at Lake Mungo.
‘About 42,000 years ago, Mungo Man lived around the shores of Lake Mungo with his family.
‘A time of abundance in the Willandra Lakes system was drawing to a close, but he could still hunt many species of game, including some of the soon-to-be-extinct megafauna.’
Carefully buried in a lunette and sprinkled with red ochre, ‘Mungo Man is the oldest known example in the world of such a ritual.’
International guest lineup
International guests for Fields of Healing include Eskimo shaman Uncle Angaangaq from Greenland, reggae star Rocky Dawuni, hereditary Dakota chief and global unity activist Chief Phil Lane Jr, as well as Dr Mindahi Bastida, director for the Original Caretakers Program at the Centre for Earth Ethics.
Featured musicians include vocalist Kristin Hoffmann and multi-instrumentalist Premik Russell Tubbs, plus local songwriters Áine Tyrell, Dane Kennedy and many more. Sam Cook, an Indigenous Australian woman with a global track record, is event director for Fields of Healing.
Organisers say the festival is an opportunity for deep intercultural, ecological and personal healing.
As such, the event is a drug- and alcohol-free community gathering for all ages.
Earlybird tickets are available now – for more information visit www.fieldsofhealing.com.au.
