John Wenitong, a 62-year-old Indigenous Australian of Kabi-kabi Aboriginal, South-Sea-Islander, Nepalese and Indian/Sri-Lankan descent takes you on a walk through the ancient dreamtimes with his series of 10 fiction books about 50,000 years of Aboriginal life prior 1770, through today.
“My Clan and its mysteries have been kept out of common knowledge and history in my homeland of Australia: the Island continent you may know as that brown land down-under. This is the Clan way. To succeed in their duty, secrecy is a prerequisite to safeguard mission and warrior. With the coming of the pale-skinned Ghosts – a little over 200 years ago – and their written language, we now have a means to reveal the intriguing history of our covert Clan, to other Australians and to those many new people’s that now call this majestic land home. Our Elders’ also gift them to the modern world at large. If you were born in Australia you may have heard such stories told around campfires and family meals; about the Australian Aboriginal magic man or Kadaicha – the soft-foot clever-man – as our people named our Clan sundry years ago, John says.”
During these chronicles, you will find that our warriors use a form of mystical travel and have no need of Shank’s Pony, as the act of walking is often called in Australia. In times of need for speed, these relentless spectres walk the ancient Dreamtime ‘creation-song-lines’ that cross every sacred feature of our wide red-brown land: out of Space and Time as we know such. Across 50,000 years of reinforced superstition, fear and awe, the Clan became known as The Fethafoot: half-human half-spirit beings that could come and go at will leaving no trace… Kadaicha spirit-warriors… Shape-shifting spies that transform as required into Judge Jury and Executioner. Unknown to the majority and, a great boon to our work, many of these enigmatic warriors arise from that innocuous and delicate gender of the language-creatures.
This pithy glimpse will give you some idea of the enigmatic Clan. You will discover a more intricate use of their unique gifts and talents as you read the chronicles and, as the need for their unique individual skills occur. Please – enjoy my people’s pleasure in the telling of these chronicles. Although they are not in chronological order, they have been recorded as passed down for all to enjoy: to example the many unknown vibrant treasures of our first people and our ancient lands vibrant past. A journey will take you into the mostly unknown, moral and ethical heart of my people, from Dreamtime to today.
Book 1: Nyarla and the Circle of Stones
Australia, 1360: A cunning and foul being has claimed several lives around the Heart-rock peoples’ great namesake – Uluru – the Heart-rock. The locals are scared to leave their camps. Ceremony has stopped. Initiations, weddings, betrothals are on hold. A bold young warrior, Nyarla has been sent by Clan elders to look into the matter and; has been given the authority to act if needed.
Book 2: Guluya and the Lake Mungo Mystery
Australia, around 39987BP (Before the Present): this chronicle comes alive from the legend of a great sweeping saga, which covered of the lives of four Australians who lived and died numerous generations ago. Their meeting and lives together left an archaeological puzzle that stands even today. In those times – the chronicle reveals – Mega-fauna: the giant-sized animal ancestors of our unique modern day fauna yet roamed across our lands. The stage is set; the lights drop, the curtain rises – and when the lights come back up at the scene of a ‘dig’ on the shores of Lake Mungo, two Australian archaeologists have uncovered two sets of ancient bones; both buried with particular ceremony previously unheard of for people from those times.
Book 3: The Contest
Australia, approximately 2020BP: this year’s annual fishing contest heralded the start of the celebrations for the tri-annual Bunya-nut harvest. People came from all over the east coast to meet old friends and extended family and to compete. Walking south from Darumbal lands along the coastline of present day Queensland, Jundabara, his wife Niyola and Wogwun arrive to find that all is not as it seems on the surface. After several outlandish confrontations with shameless, the family must decide what is most important to them: their family, the contest, or resolving several major dangerous issues for the local elders that manage the huge gathering.
A walk through the ancient Dreamtimes