ACCESS Seminar: Unforgetting - The Yarri and Jacky Jacky Memorial at Gundagai

Abstract:

There is a sculpture in the main street of Gundagai (NSW, Australia) that honours two Wiradjuri men, Yarri and Jacky Jacky, local heroes in the Great Flood of 1852. Unveiled in 2017, the bronze sculpture depicts the two men, and a scribbly bark canoe used to save settler townspeople from the floodwaters. The sculpture, unmissable in the towns centre, reminds even the most forgetful onlooker of colonialism. Unlike many Australian monuments, this statue does not memorialise and legitimise colonialism or celebrate nationalism and white male ‘heroes’. Rather it is testament to the Wiradjuri men’s bravery, skill, and compassion. Standing before the monument I was dumbstruck. Why? Despite the colonial violence, land theft, oppression and settlers ignoring Wiradjuri warnings, the men risked their lives. The statue slowed me down; interrupted my trajectory. The Yarri and Jacky Jacky memorial invites passers-by into a space of encounter, feelings and thoughtfulness. In response, I follow a plurality of stories, and the tributaries of the imagination, with the aim of weaving a tale of the complexity of Aboriginal-settler shared history and present. 

Biography:

Lisa Slater is a settler colonial scholar and Associate Professor at the University of Wollongong, Australia. Her work examines Indigenous-settler relations, in all its messy, complex materiality. Her current project is a collaboration with the Wolgalu/Wiradjuri community (Brungle-Tumut, NSW), Brungle-Tumut Local Land Council and scientist from Department of Environment. It aims to better understand what enables Traditional Owners to care for their Country, and how Natural Resource Management agencies can support caring for Country.