Oodgeroo Noonuccal

Oodgeroo Noonuccal, an Australian poet, uses her work to convey the aspects of Australianexperience. Noonuccals poems mainly focus on her own perspective of the culture and beliefs of the both the Indigenous people and white Australians, the racial discrimination that the Aboriginessuffered and the Indigenous peoples spirituality. Oodgeroo uses language and poetic techniquessuch as colloquial language, metaphor and repetition, to portray these aspects.No more Boomerang compares the differences between the two unlikely cultures of the Aboriginesand the white Australians. The composer uses colloquial language along with many Aboriginal termsand slang, for example, No more corroboree, Gay dance and din, to create a closer relationship tothe reader, allowing them to relate to the text as the language is familiar to them. Readers candifferentiate between the two cultures with the repetition of the two juxtaposing phrases, Nomore and Now which emphasises the Aborigines culture vanishing while the whiteAustralians culture rising. And work like a nigger / For a white man meal,uses enjambment tohighlight the juxtaposing ideas, and work for a nigger, conveys the low standards of living of anAborigine using colloquial language while For a white man meal, portrays the high standards of living of a white Australian using formal language. Noonuccal uses a variety of language and poetictechniques in this piece to convey the culture of the Australian experience.Racism is conveyed in Son of mine, it implies of the ungrateful deeds which the white Australianshave committed. The alliteration of the h sound in this context, I could tell of heartbreak, hatredblind, creates a mood of sadness as the h sound creates a soft and silent sound, which symboliseshow the Aborigines felt when they were victims of racial discrimination. Oodgeroo uses juxtapositionin the phrase, When lives of black and white entwine, to contrast between the Indigenous and thewhite Australians, in terms of their race and colour. The idea of black and white which refers to theAborigines and white Australians juxtaposes with the idea of these two cultures being able toentwine, meaning creating peace with each other, this emphasises the poems underlyingmessage, which is for a world of equality. In this poem, Noonuccal uses poetic techniques to portraythe racial discrimination of the Australian experience.We are going, conveys the spirituality of the Aborigines. It lists the many belongings of theAboriginal culture that make up their identity. We are the old sacred ceremonies, the law of theelders. / We are the wonder tales of Dream Time, the tribal legends told, the metaphors used,compares the Aborigines to the sacred objects that define them, this conveys the strong connectionbetween the Indigenous people and their spirituality. The repetition of We are emphasises thatall the objects listed, create the identity of the Aborigines. The phrase also uses inclusive language,making the reader feel connected and able to relate to the text. A repetition of the word gone juxtaposes with the repetition of metaphors, it highlights the Aborigines identity being taken away,as all the metaphors listed are said to be gone, it symbolises the Aborigines becoming insignificant.The Aborigines spirituality is portrayed in this poem, We are going using poetic and languagetechniques.Oodgeroo Noonuccal uses a variety of both language and poetic techniques, such as, slang andsymbolism to portray the aspects of Australia. The aspects conveyed, are the culture of both theIndigenous and white Australians, the racial discrimination of which the Indigenous peopleundergoes and the spirituality of the Indigenous people.