The poem describes the dispossession experienced by Aboriginal people in Australia. It shows a group of Aboriginal people returning to their ancestral lands to find their sacred bora grounds covered in rubbish and signs of their past way of life disappearing. The Aboriginal people express sadness at being disconnected from their culture and home, and seeing their traditions being erased as white settlers transform the land.

1. Presented by:
Freddy Baiwal
Josman Ghani
Nigel Lawai Willie
Norhilman Bin Hussin
Rachel Chin Mui Yin 1SKBS2213 Selected Literary Works

2. They came in to the little town
A semi-naked band subdued and silent
All that remained of their tribe.
They came here to the place of their old bora
ground
Where now the many white men hurry about like
ants.
Notice of the estate agent reads: 'Rubbish May
Be Tipped Here'.
Now it half covers the traces of the old bora ring.
'We are as strangers here now, but the white 2SKBS2213 Selected Literary Works

3. We are the old ceremonies, the laws of the elders.
We are the wonder tales of Dream Time, the tribal
legends told.
We are the past, the hunts and the laughing
games, the wandering camp fires.
We are the lightening bolt over Gaphembah Hill
Quick and terrible,
And the Thunderer after him, that loud fellow.
We are the quiet daybreak paling the dark lagoon.
We are the shadow-ghosts creeping back as the
camp fires burn low.
We are nature and the past, all the old ways
Gone now and scattered.
The scrubs are gone, the hunting and the laughter.
The eagle is gone, the emu and the kangaroo are
gone from this place. 3SKBS2213 Selected Literary Works

4. Pain of dispossession
Cry for help from the aborigine's people
White people are considered as ant since
they are busy at work and hurrying like ant
Bora grounds
The aboriginals felt neglected and left out
by the white people
They are considered as strangers even
though they are the real owner of the sacred
island
Treated like they don't belong in Australia
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5. 5SKBS2213 Selected Literary Works

6. 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.’
• Portrays how the life of aboriginal would
be
• Destroyed culture
6SKBS2213 Selected Literary Works

7. Colonization Dispossession
Oppression
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8. 1. P e r s o n i f i c a t i o n
- "Thunderer after him, that loud fellow"
(S4, L2)
2. S i mi l e
- "White men hurry about like ants" (S1, L5)
3. H y p e r b o l e
- "...town a semi-naked band subdued and
silent" (S1, L1-2)
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9. 4. A l l i t e r a t i o n
- "...subdued and silent" (S1, L2)
5. S y mb o l i s m
- "We are the past, the hunts..." (S3, L3)
6. R e p e t i t i o n
- "The bora ring is gone, the corroboree is
gone" (S5, L4-5)
7. Me t a p h o r
- "We are the lightning bolt over Gaphembah
Hill" (S3, L4)
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10. • Suffer from the dispossession and cultural
disinheritance which results into lost of
identity, spirituality, way of life, happiness
and freedom
• Loss of hope
• Confused and worried
DESPAIR, DEPRESSED, ANXIOUS
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11. Results from:
• The pain of dispossession of the aboriginals’
right to cultural acceptance.
• Ownership of their homeland
• The whittling away of the traditional aboriginal
ways
MELANCHOLY (A Deep And Long-
lasting Sadness) & GLOOMY
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12. We must have enough courage and self-
confidence to voice out our opinions and
thoughts when someone is trying to overtake
our roles, power and rights.
We must uphold and maintain our traditions
and culture and build a strong unity among
each member of the community
We must be patient no matter how hard the
obstacles are
We must love our country
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13. 1. Explain the meanings of "we are going" and
state the differences of each meaning.
2. Why do the whites have different perceptions
on the bora ring?
3. For the poem we are going, Oodgeroo
Noonuccal was criticised for not being poetic.
Why was she criticised for this poem?
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14. 14SKBS2213 Selected Literary Works