Mutant Message

I read a book a few years back called Mutant Message Down Under by Marlo Morgan in which she told of her journey with the Australian Aborigines. An Aboriginal is an indigenous inhabitant or original inhabitant of Australia and the surrounding islands. There are many different Aboriginal groups which they classify as communities, who each have a different language, as many as 250 prior to the European's arrival. Many Aboriginal communities are still living in the desert. This is the type of community Marlo was welcomed into. When Marlo first arrived to Australia, she thought she was there to accept an award, but she later found out that she was joining the Aborigines on their journey through the Australian desert. She was told to"cleanse herself" meaning she had to remove all of her clothing, jewelry, and leave her purse and all belongings behind. As she traveled with them for three months she learned about their culture. The Aborigines are so well connected to the earth, they travel in 100-130 degree weather for months on end, with no food and water, they are able to find these so called necessities on the way. I say so-called necessities, because to them it is not necessary to eat and drink water on a daily basis, it is something they do when it is available to them. They explain the American's need of food and water an addiction, which I found to be a very interesting way to phrase it. We have lived our entire lives by the belief that we must drink water daily because it has been scientifically proven that we will die without it. The Aborigines have proved this to be absolutely false. When they need water they are able to find water in the smallest plants, that we would never expect to find abundant amounts of water in. When one of the community members is not up to par with the rest of the group they leave them behind. They are not obsessed with the idea that we have of burial and letting the people in the last chapter of their lives leave with love surrounding them. This is related to Kathleen Jamie's Pathologies in which she asks when "nature will be allowed to take its course" and how death has turned into strictly ritual, giving a funeral, and showing our deepest feelings for the person, and then figuring out how they died through autopsy. For the Aborigines, death is natural and when it is coming they let the people to die in peace, after all if they keep stragglers following behind them they will be slowed down and the strength of the group will diminish. The differences in culture are amazing, and though Morgan was reluctant to join on this trip, she learned so much that she needed to learn about the world and the Earth without the interruption of cars and buildings and toxic fumes.