BUYIMA YUURAAYUURAA Reflections

I am a proud saltwater woman from Warrimay Country. I am lucky to live nestled between the escarpment and the sea in beautiful Dharawal Country, however I am often thinking of when I can return to my own.

Our language, Gathang, had been sleeping in my family for some time. Before Gathang started to reawaken within my extended family, my great-grandmother was, to my knowledge, one of the last people in our family to speak it. My immediate family started reconnecting with language in 2022. It has been a process of unpacking intergenerational trauma and shame, but learning language has brought a deep sense of pride. I'm incredibly grateful to be on this language journey with my family and want to ensure we continue speaking the words my grandmother never got to hear or know - to ensure that Gathang never skips a generation again. To commemorate my learnings I filmed, recorded and produced Guparr burrugiliyn barraga walangga (dolphin swimming in my head) which was my first visual poem in language.

I feel honoured to be commissioned to write my poem Buyima Yuuraayuuraa (breathe slow) in Gathang for the Baraya Barray program. Buyima Yuuraayuuraa follows the story of mother whale on her journey from cold waters to warm, as she listens to her body, listens with Country, and moves slowly as she prepares to give birth.

Humpback whales undergo the longest migration of any mammal in the world, yet they move with a calm, unhurried grace, never seeming rushed despite the big journey ahead. When I see them release a big exhale at the surface, I am reminded of how the whale connects us up and down the coast. Knowing that they travel with their song across Countries makes me feel more connected to Warrimay Country even when I’m elsewhere.

I hope this visual poem can be a meditative piece which is a gentle reminder to go slow, whale way.