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Act 4, Scene 9
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in No Sugar, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Racism, Discrimination, and Colonial Violence
Government, Civilization, and Religion
White Australians vs. the Aboriginal Family Unit
Language and Culture
Summary
Analysis
Early in the morning, the Millimurra-Munday family gathers at Long Pool Camp. Milly gives Mary a sugar bag full of flour, a frying pan, mugs, onions, potatoes, and fat. Joe says he is going back to Northam, and Gran warns him to be careful. David offers Joe his pocketknife, but Joe turns him down. Sam gives Joe a homemade knife, and insists his son take it with him.
Gran sings as Joe and Mary pack up and leave the camp with their baby. Her song is in Nyoongah, and goes “Weert miny, jinna koorling, weert miny. / Jinna koorling / Wayanna, wayanna, wayanna…”
Gran’s song translates to “Woe, woe, woe. / My boy and girl and baby / Going a long way walking…pity, pity, pity, / hungry, walking, hungry.” Although not particularly uplifting, it warns of the dangers ahead and also serves as a point of connection between the past and the present; many generations of Aboriginal Australians, carrying their history and culture with them into the future.
Themes
