Families and their significance

One of the great pleasures of working with the wonderful black&write! Indigenous OnScreen Trainee Editors is getting their deadly blog posts! This one is from Sylvia Nakachi and reminds us of the importance of family.

Families are the essence of life that makes up our traits and character on our life’s journey.  Regardless of the sibling rivalries, family quarrels or family blues, a good strong and wholesome family will always stick together in times of great need, loss or tragedies. The true character of the family unfolds and we see the love, support and care that surpasses and breaks down all barriers and misunderstandings.

I am utterly blessed to have such great and wonderful family, who traveled from Thursday Island, Bamaga and Port Headland to join me and my little family in sharing the 2012 Christmas season in Logan City.  Even though my family was here for a very brief  time, I enjoyed their company in a festivity of huge cook ups, where my sister Margaret Cowley cooked and spoilt us with her varied delicious dishes and some childhood memories food.  There was plenty of yarning up that consisted of jokes, mocks and stories of events of the past.  And a good old Torres Strait Island card game of  ‘zaro’ with a glass of wine.

Sharing all those funny stories, I can tell you *Ilan people have a great sense of humor for mocking and tell the joke with gestures and movements to really give that island sense of humor.  Many of our stories are passed on through the generations and it is in moments like our family gatherings they are revived and told.  Our family gatherings are not only about good times, they become a meeting place where family history, bloodlines, genealogy and ancestry are shared and the family builds upon its identity.  From these family roots discussions, I myself can get an understanding of why certain members in our families have distinct features that resemble those of another culture.  These family talks also bring intimate family discussions about how and when bonds were formed between family members, even when they are not blood related.  Such relationships will carry on throughout the generations, because of the covenant that binds those families together.

*Ilan –Island