Abstract
This paper analyses Kath Walker’s (later known as Oodgeroo Nosnuccal) eponymous poem “We are Going” from her collection published in 1964 — the first book to be published by an Aboriginal woman. The paper throws light on the subaltern elements in the poem, reading it through the lens of Gayathri Chakravorthy Spivak’s seminal essay “Can the Subaltern Speak?” The analysis demonstrates how Walker’s poem records the displacement and dispossession of the Aboriginal people under British colonialism, their enforced silence, and the irreparable destruction of their natural and cultural world. The poem is ultimately read as an act of resistance, in which subaltern silence becomes a form of voice.
Keywords: Kath Walker, Oodgeroo Nosnuccal, “We are Going”, Aboriginal poetry, Australian literature, subaltern, colonialism, terra nullius, Spivak
Introduction
Kath Walker (1920-1993), later known as Oodgeroo Nosnuccal opened a new, hitherto undefined area in Australian literature — aboriginal poetry. Her collection of poems “We are Going” (1964) was the first book to be published by an Aboriginal woman. She was not only a poet, but a political activist too. She fought hard for the aboriginal rights. She was a forerunner in that field too. This paper is an attempt to analyse Walker’s eponymous poem “We are Going”. The paper throws light on the subaltern elements in the poem.
A brief account of colonization of Australia is essential to appreciate this poem. The ill fate of the aborigines started when Captain James Cook ‘discovered’ Australia in late eighteenth century. He found that the aborigines of Australia were leading a simple, peaceful life and he records in his diaries that they were not aggressive like the other tribes. In 1787, the British Parliament decided to turn Australia into a penal colony. It ruled Australia as terra nullius, i.e. land belonging to no one’s, brushing away the legal and sentimental claims of the aborigines. It took more than two hundred years to nullify this draconian law.
Analysis of “We are Going”
Kath Walker’s poem “We are Going” reflects the pains of the sons of the soil who are unjustly thrown out of their native land. The poem is written as a collective voice of a few members of a surviving tribe. The poem is a painful farewell to their native land.
“We are Going” opens with a dedication to “Grannie Coolwell”. The first two lines of the poems say: “They came into little town / a semi-naked band subdued and silent”. The first two lines bring two painful facts to light. They are: 1) the aboriginals are displaced from their native land and 2) They were ‘subdued’ and silent. They word ‘subdued’ clearly indicates the colonial oppression over the natives. Silence of the natives is a recurrent image in the poem.
Further their living condition is suggested by the word ‘semi-naked band’. People who were once the sole inhabitants of the continent were now more or less impoverished band of nomads. The natives had come to have a last look of their ‘Bora ground’. Bora grounds are sacred places for the aborigines. Most of the initiation rites take place in the Bora ground. To their shock the natives found that the entire place was turned into a residential area where “white people moved like ants”.
The next few lines summarize the fate of not only aborigines, but that of all the colonised people:
“They sit and are confused, they cannot say their thoughts We are as strangers here now, but the white tribe are the strangers We belong here, we are old ways”
In the following lines the aborigines are equated with the elements of nature. The poem says: “We are nature and past, all the old ways / gone now and scattered”. Further it is written:
The scrubs are gone, the hunting and the laughter, The eagle is gone, the emu and the kangaroo are gone from this place. The bora ring is gone, The corroboree is gone And we are going
The poem thus ends with a sad note of resignation. The Whites have not only destroyed the livelihood of natives but they have also caused irreparable damage to the nature. Due to this reason the poem records the fact that the scrubs are gone and symbols of Australia such as emu and kangaroo are also almost extinct now.
The Subaltern Silence
The poem “We are Going” can be better understood if it is read in the light of Gayathri Chakravorthy Spivak’s seminal essay, “Can the Subaltern Speak?”. The essay was written by Spivak in retaliation to the claims of subaltern studies group headed by Ranajith Guha. “We are Going” is not only about the displacement and extermination of the natives but also about the politics in recording subaltern voices. The word subaltern was originally used in military to denote a low ranking, subordinate officer. In post-colonial theory the word ‘subaltern’ is used to refer to member of any group who face oppression due to caste or gender or race. Spivak clearly points out that a subaltern cannot speak and even if a subaltern speaks it cannot be or will not be heard by others.
This subaltern silence is portrayed in “We are Going”. They words such as “subdued and silent” and lines such as “They sit and are confused, they cannot say their thoughts” reinforce this idea. In fact the central idea of the poem is to highlight the silence of the aborigines. This silence is often taken for granted. The aborigines are refused of their share not only in lands but also in literature. However the silence of aborigines will turn into a strong resistance as silence is often louder than millions of words which are articulated with authority.
Works Cited
- Walker, Kath. “We are Going”. 30 May 2010. Web.
- Gunew, Sneja. “Denaturalizing Cultural Nationalisms: Multicultural Readings of ‘Australia’.” Nation and Narration. Ed. Homi.K.Bhabha. Routledge: New York, 2006. Print. (99-120).
- Spivak, Gayathri Chakravorthy. “Can the Subaltern Speak?” The Post-Colonial Studies Reader. Ed. Bill Ashcroft, Gareth Griffiths and Helen Tiffin. Routledge: New York, 2009. Print. (28-37).
- Brittan, Alice. “Australiasia.” The Routledge Companion to Postcolonial Studies. Ed. John McLeod. Routledge: New York, 2008. Print. (72-83).