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| home | news lTribal Warrior returns triumphantBy Debra Jopson 10 June 2003 - Five years ago Craig Timbery was cutting grass and painting houses on a work-for-the-dole scheme. Yesterday he sailed through Sydney heads as part of the first Aboriginal crew to circumnavigate Australia, exactly 200 years after Matthew Flinders also returned triumphant. "There's no looking back now. I'll be on ships for the rest of my life," said Mr Timbery, 28, who will soon join the 34,000-tonne alumina carrier Alltrans as a trainee deckhand. Sir William Deane, patron of Reconciliation Australia, welcomed home the 15.4-metre gaff-rigged ketch Tribal Warrior. "It's such a great thing for us to be gathered here on an Aboriginal occasion which is all good news," he said. "They don't come about that often. We really have to make the most of them." The young men aboard had carried a message of "goodwill, achievement and reconciliation" to coastal communities, he said, while the Redfern-based Tribal Warrior Association had provided disadvantaged young Aborigines with maritime training. It was a good omen and blessing that migrating whales followed Tribal Warrior as it passed Coogee in the final hours of her 22-month journey, said the Aboriginal actor Kevin Smith, who helped found the association that transformed the 104-year-old pearling lugger. The great hope was that "from big things, little things grow", he said. The journey inspired the 120 or so indigenous communities the crew visited, he said.
Rea Stewart of La Perouse, who joined several hundred people to cheer the arrival of the 14 trainees, including her cousin Mr Timbery, said she felt "full of tears" that he had done so well. There was no government funding, said Daniel Ariel, the benefactor who gave Tribal Warrior to Sydney's Aboriginal people. The crew and their communities had made it happen. Mr Timbery, now equipped with a marine engine driver's certificate and a commercial maritime qualification that allows him to skipper a boat up to 24 metres long to 200 nautical miles offshore, flies back to the Australian Maritime College in Launceston today for another week's training. He and a fellow trainee, Peter Jackson, sponsored by Rio Tinto Shipping, will then do 36 weeks' training at sea. Tribal Warrior on historic Voyage Around Australia Tribal Warrior Association Inc. Press Release 2 October 2001 - The Tribal Warrior is perhaps best known for the pivotal roles it has played in ceremonial occasions on Sydney Harbour. The distinctive old Torres Strait built gaff-rigged ketch, once used for pearling, is now a regular feature in all major harbour events in Sydney. With its large Koori Flag hoisted in place of its mainsail, the Tribal Warrior has proudly led parades of vessels on New Year's Eve, and Australia Day celebrations, and played a key role in many reconciliation events such as the Corroboree 2000. Currently circumnavigating Australia with maritime students and teachers on board, the vessel will be visiting every major Aboriginal Community around the coast. Traditional Aboriginal people have as much to do with the water as they do with the land. The Tribal Warrior left Sydney at the end of August 2001. The voyage was initiated to encourage coastal and river communities to re-establish and strengthen their ties with the water, for vocational and recreational pursuits, and to encourage young people to experience its wholesome environment. The Association, a non-profit community organisation initiated and directed by Aboriginal people with Aboriginal Elders, hopes to encourage coastal communities to take leadership roles in the maritime tourist industry in their respective areas. "We are inviting each community we visit to burn or carve an identifying piece of art on the timber of the vessel to signify their assent and involvement. When the Tribal Warrior returns to its place in Sydney Harbour, it will bear the "signature" of all the coastal nations." said a spokesperson for the Tribal Warrior Association. About Tribal Warrior Association Inc. Tribal Warrior Association is a non-profit community organisation dedicated to training disadvantaged Aboriginal youth in maritime qualifications. The Management Committee of the Association includes grassroots Aboriginal people from various areas, and respected Elders. Endorsed as a deductible gift recipient, the Association relies on the community for both financial and practical support. History of The Tribal Warrior The Tribal Warrior is a 15.4 metre gaff-rigged ketch, originally named Mina. She was built in the Torres Strait as a pearling lugger and is more than 100 years old. The history of pearling has not always been a happy one for Aborigina people - abuses were common and the work was hazardous, with divers in the water for up to 10 hours a day. In the 1980s, the Ganabarr Morning Star Clan, traditional people of the Arnhem Land and Gove Peninsula area, adopted the boat. They named her Wutuku, meaning "drifting wood". On Sorry Day, 1999, the Tribal Warrior underwent a traditional smoking ceremony to purify, cleanse and heal past memories. related links :
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