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Scabies
The Nyoongah word for white people, along with gudeeah.
Wetjalas Quotes in No Sugar
The No Sugar quotes below are all either spoken by Wetjalas or refer to Wetjalas. 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 1, Scene 10
Quotes
CONSTABLE: You’re being transferred to the Moore River Native Settlement.
GRAN: I ain’t goin’.
CONSTABLE: You’re all goin’. You’re under arrest.
GRAN: What for? We done nothin’ wrong.
SERGEANT: It’s for health reasons. Epidemic of skin disease.
JIMMY: Bullshit, I’ll tell you why we’re goin’.
CONSTABLE: You wouldn’t know.
JIMMY: You reckon blackfellas are bloody mugs. Whole town knows why we’re goin’. ‘Coz wetjalas in this town don’t want us ’ere, don’t want our kids at the school, with their kids, and old Jimmy Mitchell’s tight ’coz they reckon Bert ’Awke’s gonna give him a hidin’ in the election.
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Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire No Sugar LitChart as a printable PDF.
Wetjalas Term Timeline in No Sugar
The timeline below shows where the term Wetjalas appears in No Sugar. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Act 1, Scene 1
Jimmy argues that the wetjalas (white people) are only marching because “them bastards took our country and them blackfellas dancing...
(full context)
Act 1, Scene 2
...The Sergeant says she still could if she wanted, but Gran points out that the “wetjala cut all the trees down.”
(full context)
Act 4, Scene 8
...given him a Nyoongah name, Koolbari, which means magpie, but waited to give him a wetjala name. Joe wants to name the baby Jimmy.
(full context)
