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Long Pool Camp
Both the language spoken by the Millimurra-Munday family, and the Aboriginal cultural group to which they belong.
Nyoongah Quotes in No Sugar
The No Sugar quotes below are all either spoken by Nyoongah or refer to Nyoongah. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Act 1, Scene 1
Quotes
JOE: ‘The—blood—was stirred…as if by a trumpet… by the history-ical…Headed by a tab-leau… […] ‘…Commemorating the pioneers whose lives…’ […] ‘…Were a steadfast performance of duty in the face of difficulty and danger. With them was a reminder of the dangers they faced, in the shape of three lorries…carrying Aborigines.
[They all stop what they are doing and listen.]
[…]
JOE: All right! ‘…Dancing…to a brass-band.’
SAM: Koorawoorung! Nyoongahs corrobereein’ to a wetjala’s brass band!
JIMMY: Ah! That beats everythin’: stupid bloody blackfellas…You fellas, you know why them wetjalas marchin’ down the street, eh? I’ll tell youse why. ‘Cause them bastards took our country and them blackfellas dancin’ for ‘em. Bastards!
[…]
JOE: ‘The pag…page…page-ant pre-sented a picture of Western Australia’s pre-sent condition of hopeful optimum-optimis-tic prosperity, and gave some idea of what men mean when they talk about the soul of the nation.’
SAM: Sounds like bullshit to me.
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Explanation and Analysis:
Act 2, Scene 4
Quotes
Mary: I don’t like the way [Mr. Neal] looks at me.
Joe: Well, you got me now, for what I’m worth.
Mary: He’s always hangin’ around where the girls are workin’; in the cookhouse, in the sewin’ room. And he’s always carryin’ that cat-o’-nine tails and he’ll use it, too.
Joe: Bastard, better not use it on you or any of my lot.
Mary: He reckoned he was gunna belt me once.
Joe: What for?
Mary: ‘Coz I said I wasn’t gunna go and work for guddeah on a farm.
Joe: Why not? Be better than this place.
Mary: No! Some of them guddeahs real bad. My friend went last Christmas and then she came back boodjarri. She reckons the boss’s sons used to belt her up and, you know, force her. Then they kicked her out. And when she had that baby them trackers choked it dead and buried it in the pine plantation.
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Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire No Sugar LitChart as a printable PDF.
Nyoongah Term Timeline in No Sugar
The timeline below shows where the term Nyoongah appears in No Sugar. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Act 2, Scene 6
Jimmy begins hitting clapsticks together and sings a song in Nyoongah. Bluey doesn’t understand the words, and Jimmy explains that it’s his grandfather’s song, calling crabs...
(full context)
Act 4, Scene 3
...same church where his parents wed. He says prison isn’t that bad; there are other Nyoongahs around and the food is better than at the Moore River Settlement. Cissie finishes the...
(full context)
Act 4, Scene 8
Mary brings Joe to meet their Baby. They’ve given him a Nyoongah name, Koolbari, which means magpie, but waited to give him a wetjala name. Joe wants...
(full context)
Act 4, Scene 10
...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…”
(full context)
