Journal articles on the topic 'Confucian Memorial rites and ceremonies'

Ancient Chinese wedding ceremonies served as the solemn rituals for witnessing and establishing marriage, primarily aimed at forging kinship ties between two families and fulfilling the obligations of ancestral worship and lineage continuation. Within the Confucian tradition, the family and the state have always been interconnected, and ancient Chinese weddings, dating back to the Zhou dynasty, have maintained the fundamental order of both the family and society. This article primarily explores the influence of Confucianism on ancient Chinese wedding rituals and customs, as well as the historical evolution of wedding ceremonies throughout different dynasties. According to Confucian principles, the main procedures of the wedding ceremony included six rituals: “Nacai” (proposal ceremony), “Wenming” (name inquiry), “Naji” (betrothal gift ceremony), “Nazheng” (gifts for the selection of the auspicious day), “Qingqi” (asking for a wedding date), and “Qinying” (wedding procession). These six rituals were collectively known as the “Six Rites”. This study found that, during the Qin and Han dynasties and the Tang and Song dynasties, there were two important stages of reform of wedding ceremonies under the influence of Confucianism. The “Six Rites” were streamlined and merged into the “Three Rites”, gradually becoming more secular. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the interaction between Confucianism and the wedding ceremony weakened until the Republic of China period, when traditional constraints were broken. It is evident that the “Six Rites” have continued to serve as the template of traditional Chinese weddings and have been the important basis for subsequent wedding customs.

Abstract Colonial Korean society was a crucible of ritual conflict and innovation. The confluence of Protestant expansion, Japanese colonization, and cultural nationalism during the early twentieth century brought sweeping changes to Korean ritual life, especially to the all-important Confucian rites of passage. This article examines print media discussions of Protestant rites from the late 1910s to the early 1930s to trace how religious difference emerged as a political problem for Korean cultural nationalists. Early on, Protestant missionaries had banned ancestral veneration and other folk customs while spreading liturgical (marriage and funerary) ceremonies, in an effort to inculcate orthodox doctrines among new believers. Converts’ rejection of indigenous Confucian rites in favor of their own practices, however, soon became the focal point of heated public debates. When Protestants condemned ancestral rites as idolatry, they maligned fellow Koreans as primitive. Meanwhile, the rapid proliferation of Western-style church weddings excessively disseminated religious practices. Above all, cultural nationalists grew alarmed at how faith communities threatened to splinter society, diverting Koreans away from national concerns toward sectarian interests. I argue that Protestant rites prompted nationalist intellectuals to grapple with the sacred and secular, ultimately producing a narrow vision of religion subsumed under the aegis of the nation.

This study focuses on white porcelain incense burners used for royal ancestral rites in Chosŏn. Starting from early examples of Confucian incense burners, I have examined their production process and characteristics. As incense burning was an essential part of Confucian rites, incense burners also became important vessels. The earliest examples are found at Pŏnch’ŏn-ri site No. 21, dated to 1420-40, and they likely resemble the prototypes of ceremonial incense burners made of metal. Incense burners were influenced by the changes in the Chosŏn society and incense burning methods, and they took the shape of ding with cover. This testifies to the effort made to prepare suitable burners for Confucian rituals. Surviving records state that incense burners were to convey the simple and rustic beauty of the earth, and to work as simple <i>so-gi</i>, which were likely the reasons for making incense burners in white porcelain. It is also noteworthy that early Chosŏn style and uses continued to influence those of the mid-and late Chosŏn. In conclusion, the material of white porcelain and the shape of incense burners were chosen according to their uses, and they developed independently of metalware, not as mere substitutes.

This study explores the ways in which a ban on ancestral rites influenced Korean Christianity. Ancestral rites are religious ceremonies that form the most critical social basis of Joseon, a Confucian society. First, the Korean Catholic Church was the first to oppose ancestral rites. Catholics created a new social and ethical resonance in Joseon society but had to endure tremendous persecution. Second, Protestantism was introduced when Joseon society was the most confused. Protestant missionaries banned ancestral rites, and Korean Protestants accepted them. Gradually, they interpreted it and embodied it in their faith. The ban on ancestral rites contributed to the formation of Korean Christianity. This laid the foundation for Christian social ethics and Hyo (孝, Xiao (Chinese pronunciation), filiality) theology. It has expanded into various fields, such as systematic theology, biblical studies, practical theology, and liturgical practice. Thus, this study examines how the ban on ancestral rites in Korea had a profound impact on the contextualization of Korean Christianity.

This article revisits the nonverbal rhetorical tradition in Confucianism and examines how Confucianism actualized the tradition through its careful consideration of supernatural forces. In Confucianism, genuine persuasion produces actual change and transformation of one’s course of action, not merely verbal conviction. Speech only is not enough to genuinely persuade others. A speaker must transform others by his exemplary acts in the rites and holy ceremonies where supernatural forces and the notion of the afterlife hold a significant place. While Confucius was not interested in discussing the existence of demons and ghosts or their actual function in society, he recognized that their supposed and assumed existence in holy rites would provide society with an opportunity for genuine persuasion, which leads people to actual changes and reforms in their political and moral life. Discussing the nonverbal mode of persuasion in Confucianism may enhance contemporary democracy in two aspects. First, nonverbal persuasion recognizes those who may have difficulty in actively participating in verbal communication, such as the disabled, immigrants, foreigners, and politically and socially marginalized people, in political discourses. Second, the positive role of civic religion in contemporary societies may be discovered.

In each and every culture death is regarded as the most important event during the course of a person’s lifetime. The living were obliged to strictly follow the rules, governing the funeral and mourning rites in order to safeguard the passage of the deceased into the “other” world. On top of that, abiding regulations helped to neutralize the danger that appeared during the transit period and was a result of an interaction between life and death, it also helped society to restore its balance and to make sure it can peacefully continue its existence.Confucian culture too placed a big emphasis on the matters regarding the burial of the deceased and the following mourning after them. The “Li ji” canonical treatise, composed in the I century BC, contains a lot of various instructions regarding the mourning rites. These regulations, analyzed in the paradigm of concept of the rite of passage by A. van Gennep, allow to conclude that the mourning rite of ancient China does in general breaks down into the same stages as the other ceremonies of passage.

Introduction. The article studies the role of the furnace in funeral-memorial rite and folk medicine of the Karelians. The study examines the functions of the furnace at all stages of the funeral-memorial rite, starting with the death of a person. The authors address the issue of the function of the furnace in folk medicine, focusing on healing and protective magic, which also traces the furnace with one of its functions: an intermediary between the earthly and the afterlife. The relevance of this study is determined by the absence of special works based on Karelian material, as well as in comparison with the Finno-Ugric and Slavic peoples. Materials and Methods. The material for the study was the funeral-memorial rites of Karelians and Karelian folk medicine studied using comparative-historical and comparative-comparative methods. Results and Discussion. This article analyzes the functioning of the furnace in funeral-memorial rites and folk medicine of the Karelians. The analysis considered the data of the Baltic-Finnish peoples (Karelians, Finns, Vepsians) and, more generally Finno-Ugric peoples. In addition, it reviewed the information about the traditions of Russians who originally lived at the same territory with the Karelians. In the course of the study, it established the common features in the rites at all stages of burial of the studied peoples, and in folk medicine at the moment of a person passing away when a dying person departs to another world and. Conclusion. Household items, funeral ceremonies and folk medicine appearing in funeral rites, as well as some representatives of the fauna were endowed with the ability to be an intermediary between the earthly and the underworld. Among the household items, a furnace and its utensils associated with the cult of ancestors, which were endowed with cathartic and apotropic functions and played a crucial role in the final rite of a person’s life cycle. According to data on Karelian folk medicine, it was believed that a dog, a snake and a crow have a connection with the “other” world, where diseases come from. For example, a dog was used in medical rites to remove the disease from the world of people to the «other» world. In some cases, both a dog and a furnace appear in the process of treatment.

The article is devoted to one of the spheres of the spiritual culture of the inhabitants of Badakhshan – funeral and mourning rites, which reflected many of the traditional ideas of the local population. The purpose of the article is to reveal the distinctive cultural features in the funeral and mourning rites of the inhabitants of Badakhshan. The content of the article is based on the material accumulated by the author from folk stories, beliefs and customs of funerals and mourning ceremonies, the results of surveys of local residents, experts on local rituals and active participants in the relevant rites, as well as the views of previous researchers. On the basis of the method of participant observation, interviews, comparative methods, various aspects of the features of funeral and memorial rites were analyzed, such as reading a prayer for the dead (janoz), funeral lighting of the lamp “Charogravshan” (Lighting the lamp), which form the basis of the religious rites of the mourning Shiite families. Ismailis of Badakhshan. At the end of the article, conclusions are given about the main elements of the rite “Charogravshan”: reading the verses of the Koran associated with light; reading “Kandilname (Charogname)”; prayers for lighting a lamp; reading laudatory verses from the poetry of Nasir Khosrov; praise in the name of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him); prayers and special verses related to grief; checking the lamp by the caliph and those present; prayers and blessings for the repose of the soul of the deceased.

В фокусе исследования — похоронно‑поминальные обряды татарского населения Мордовии конца XIX — начала XXI вв. Необходимо отметить, что с середины XX в. по настоящее время их изучение не велось. В связи с этим анализ материала, собранного автором в ходе полевых изысканий в 2002–2005, 2008 и 2021 гг. на территории проживания представителей названного народа в Республике Мордовия, несомненно, будет востребован не только этнографами, но и всеми, кто интересуется традиционной культурой татар‑мишарей. Исследование осуществлялось общепринятыми методами этнографической науки: полевого наблюдения, опроса информантов и фотофиксации. Особое внимание уделено работам ученых Казанского университета (Р. Г. Мухамедова, Р. К. Уразманова), посвященным рассматриваемой проблеме. Охарактеризованы главные элементы похоронной обрядности: основные этапы (допогребальные, погребальные и поминальные обряды), участники, некоторые трансформации ритуала, а также следствия культурного взаимодействия татар‑мишарей с иноэтничными соседями, в частности с мордвой. Обоснован тезис о том, что похороны, поминки и траур до сих пор занимают важное место в семейной и общественной жизни татар‑мишарей Мордовии. Данный комплекс обычаев и обрядов имеет преимущественно исламский характер и близок обрядам других тюркских народов. Общность черт проявляется в представлениях о душе, смерти и загробном мире, в конструкциях и оформлении могил, наличии савана и погребальных носилок, в ритуалах прощания с покойным и выноса его из дома, в порядке поминовений. The focus of the study is the funeral and memorial rites of the Tatar population of Mordovia of the late 19th — early 21st centuries. It should be noted that they were last studied in the middle of the 20th century. In this regard, the analysis of the material collected by the author during field surveys in 2002–2005, 2008 and 2021 on the territory of residence of this ethnic group in the Republic of Mordovia will undoubtedly be in demand not only among ethnographers, but also among everyone interested in the traditional culture of the Tatars‑Mishars. The study was based on the commonly used methods of ethnographic science: field observation, surveys and photo recording. Particular attention was paid to the work of scientists of Kazan University (R. G. Mukhamedov, R. K. Urazmanov) devoted to the studied problem. The article describes the main elements of the funeral rite: the main stages (pre‑funeral, funeral and memorial rites), the participants, some transformations of the ritual, and the consequences of the cultural interaction of the Tartars‑Mishars with the neighboring ethnic groups, in particular with the Mordovians. The results confirm that the funeral, memorial and mourning still occupy an important place in the family and social life of the Tatars‑Mishars of Mordovia. This complex of customs and rites is mainly Islamic in nature and is close to the rites of other Turkic peoples. The similarity is manifested in ideas about the soul, death and the afterlife, in the design of graves, the presence of a savan and a funeral stretcher, in the rituals of farewell to the deceased and taking them out of the house, in the order of remembrance.

As one of China's most ancient ethnic minorities, Qiang nationality has extremely distinctive production mode and lifestyle, religious belief, customs and habits, etc, from which traditional Qiang ecological culture grows. In this paper, the content of traditional Qiang ecological culture is introduced at first from four aspects: the ecological culture contained in the primitive religion, the ecological culture contained in myths and legends, the ecological culture reflected by lifestyle and production mode, and the ecological culture embodied in rites (etiquette and custom); next, the method of traditional environmental consciousness education is discussed, including education and warning under the Nasa tower, memorial ceremony for the mountains, taboo education and other Qiang ceremonies; finally, the realistic significances of traditional Qiang ecological culture and environmental consciousness in the ecological environment recovery and protection and sustainable development of Qiang area after the 5.12 earthquake are stated.

Introduction. The article reveals funeral and memorial rituals of the Ludian Karelians at the end of the 19th – beginning of the 20th centuries, which have Christian origins and exposes their further transformations. Materials and Methods. This research is based on an integrated approach to the humanities. The most valuable group of sources for the research is unpublished expeditionary materials, stored in the archives of the Republic of Karelia and Finland. Results and Discussion. The funeral and memorial tradition depends on Orthodox funeral complex of rites. Almost every aspect of the funeral, which has Orthodox semantics, find its own interpretation in mind of the Karelians, such as candles at a casket necessary to light a way for a deceased in the next world; the sacrament of penance obligatory for the living not to carry any sins of the dead; the requiem mass to grant peace to the departed soul and etc. A priest participated in all steps of funeral ceremony: from a confession to common wakes. In the Soviet era a priest’s role in burial practices of Karelian countryside begun to subside by elderly women who could read in Church Slavonic. Ludian burial practices contain some echoes of burial orgies (also known as “funny funerals”) and ancestor worship. Conclusion. Despite of atheistic propaganda and intense fighting of the Soviet State against religion, Christian funeral ceremonies continued to be observed by Ludian Karelians and preserved the features of the Pagan-Christian syncretism.

The article is devoted to identifying the features of a farewell meeting — funeral. They represent the ritual design of the wires of the deceased into the space of death, guaranteeing a safe crossing of the border between them for the living. Despite the historical, cultural and ethno-confessional differences, a common algorithm and similar features can be found in the farewells to the deceased. A retrospective analysis of the rites showed that at all times there was a “stratification” of funeral ceremonies. In the 20th century, the secularization process abroad led to a significant reduction in funerals performed in accordance with religious rituals. Since ancient times, mourning music has set the tempo of funerals. Although the transition from a traditional to a modernized society had modified the farewell to a certain extent, their fundamental features remained unchanged — the demonstration of love and respect for the deceased, the rites of carrying out the body and the funeral procession to the place of his last resting place. Classification of funerals is carried out on a variety of grounds (the number of deceased, the social status of the deceased, technology, duration, etc.). According to customs, at certain stages or in certain funeral rituals, the participation of children, women (especially pregnant women), seriously ill, elderly people, etc. is restricted or prohibited. Along with strictly regulated ceremonies, emergency funerals occur in people’s lives when the duration of rituals is shortened, or they are not observed at all — in conditions of hostilities, natural or man-made disasters, pandemics. By their “nature” funerals are multifunctional — they perform sanitaryhygienic, ritual, psychotherapeutic, consolidating, identification, memorial and other functions. In general, funerals can be considered as a “chain” of oppositions: completion — beginning, break — connection, farewell — meeting, etc.

The reign of Tai-zu (Jurchen name: Aguda) and Tai-zong (Jurchen name: Wuqimai) started the Jin State’s formation. At that time, Jurchens actively recruited Liao and Song officials. These Confucian-educated officials contributed to the adaptation of the Jin State to the new political and cultural realities. They worked in the sphere of external relations of the Jurchen State, as well as in public administration and education. These officials became the transmitters of Confucian ideas on the state, power, emperor, rituals and rules. All these aspects were new to the Jurchen culture. It is known that Yang Pu, Aguda’s advisor, actively introduced Chinese ceremonies in the field of foreign relations of the Jurchen state, as well as court etiquette. It is likely that at the same time the issues of religious worship in Jin were discussed, then Aguda heeded Yang Pu’s advice about the need for joint sacrifice to Heaven and Earth, worship of ancestral spirits in temples. However, in the summer of 1123 Aguda was ill and died in the 9th month of that year. Historical sources indicate that the implementation of ceremonial transformations took place immediately after Tai-zong’s ascension to the throne, under whom Yang Pu presumably continued his service. Under Tai-zong, a new government system was introduced, new court rites and religious cults were discussed and approved. Later, ancestral temples appeared in Jin, places of worship of Heaven and Earth were identified. These and other ritual innovations were gradually integrated into the culture of the Jurchen state.

Introduction. The article discusses the religious rites and holidays of the Mordovian-Erzya associated with housing and outbuildings. The venue for a large number of them was the house (kudo). Currently, many of these traditions have been lost or transformed under the influence of Christianity. The authors pay attention to the relics of the ordinary culture of the Mordva-Erzya surviving at the present stage. Materials and Methods. The research is based on traditional methods of ethnographic science, such as field observation, questioning and interviews, and an integrated approach. Of the methods of historical science, comparative-historical, historical-genetic, problem-chronological, structural-system were used. Among the general scientific research methods, logical, descriptive-narrative, generalization, classification and systematization were involved. To achieve the results of the study, we mainly used materials collected by the authors during field surveys conducted in Erzya-Mordovian villages. Results and Discussion. In the traditional rituals of the Mordovian-Erzya, housing and outbuildings play an important role. They are not only the venue for many ceremonies and festivals, but also have their divine patrons, so people have endowed many buildings with sacred and magical properties. Structural and architectural details of the home have always tried to decorate. At the same time, the traditional decor bore a sacred and protective meaning. Since ancient times, Mordovian has been in contact with many peoples, which has affected its material and spiritual culture. Currently, many Mordovian-Erzya traditions have transformed, but have not completely disappeared. Co-stored, for example, are some wedding and, especially, funeral and memorial rites. The desire to bury and commemorate relatives according to the rules established in the popular milieu became the reason for the existence and passing on of this ritual to subsequent generations. Conclusion. Basically, the dwelling was the venue for maternity, wedding and funeral ceremonies. Therefore, the Mordovian-Erzya especially appreciated and protected her house (kudo) from evil spirits. On holidays, they sought to decorate the house, and ozks prayers were dedicated to the housekeepers, which often ended in offering them sacrificial food. Currently, many rituals and traditions are forgotten, others exist in a transformed form. However, housing and farm buildings play an important role in the life and culture of the Mordovian people.

Any form of life ends in death. Human death is a difficult moment for an individual’s family. Various cultures observe diverse rituals and traditions connected with the end of life and perform different burial rites. Memorial services assume a range of forms depending on the culture and religious tradition an individual was brought up in and followed throughout their life. However, memorial ceremonies are also diversified within a given culture. The funeral of a monarch is much more complex as compared to this of any of his/her subject’s. The death of the British Monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, in September 2022 was followed by a period of mourning and state funeral. The analysis in the present paper focuses on the semantic frame of the royal funeral. The methodological framework adopted for the discussion is the cognitive linguistic one, focusing on cognitive-linguistic models such as frames and scripts, exemplified here by the frame of the ROYAL FUNERAL and the [ROYAL FUNERAL] script. Both of the presented models contain unique elements that are not to be found in other contexts. The components of frame and script which are specific to this event are highlighted. The data for the detailed description of the frame are gathered from the online news reports provided by the British Broadcasting Corporation. The study shows how different the discussed model is from the standard description of the frame of FUNERAL and the [FUNERAL] script respectively. Also, many of its elements are culture-specific.

В качестве предмета изучения в данной статье избраны формы ритуальных мероприятий у ряда народов Кавказа, связанные с приемом пищи: жертвоприношением, кормлением умершего, поминальной тризной, благотворительной раздачей угощения. Для достижения цели исследования следует ответить на ряд вопросов. Что считать ритуальным жертвоприношением Какие виды жертвенной пищи известны в традиционной культуре кавказских народов В какие сроки после смерти и в какой форме проводится поминальная тризна Каково место взаимопомощи в поминании умерших Каковы традиционные черты современных поминок В исследовании использованы методы структурной антропологии, гендерный и этнометодологический подходы. В основу статьи положен доклад, прочитанный на конференции по актуальным проблемам истории, теории и методологии социальной работы, дополненный многолетними полевыми наблюдениями авторов, собранными в различных областях Северного Кавказа и республике Абхазия. Работа представляет собой новую попытку систематизации и обобщения северокавказского материала для выявления общей культурной базы народов региона. В результате проведенного анализа определена исключительная роль жертвенной пищи в поминальных мероприятиях у народов Северного Кавказа. Получили подтверждение общекультурные положения о характере жертвоприношения. Кровавая жертва осуществлялась исключительно мужчинами, женское жертвоприношение готовилось исключительно из продуктов растительного происхождения. Для всего региона характерны сходные сроки и формы проведения традиционных поминок, имеющие небольшие этнотерриториальные различия. Отличительные черты кавказских поминок их многолюдность, пищевое изобилие и благотворительный характер. Современные поминальные благотворительные мероприятия принимают новые формы в виде общественнополезных деяний или осуществления разовой помощи государственным учреждениям социальной опеки. The research is focused on various forms of Caucasian memorial ceremonies, such as funeral feasts, sacrificial offerings, nourishment for the sake of the deceased, and compassionate food sharing. Fulfilling the aim of the investigation requires addressing a number of questions: what is a sacrificial offering what sacrificial meals are served within what time frame and in which manner the funeral feasts are conducted what role does mutual assistance play in the rites what traditional features can be observed in modern funeral feasts The research is conducted within the frames of structural anthropology, gender studies, and ethnomethodology. The article is based on the conference paper on relevant issues of history, theory, and methodology of social work with the use of field materials from the North Caucasus and Abkhazia. The research is the cutting edge in systematization and generalization of the Caucasian culture. It underlines the exclusive role of funeral ceremonies among North Caucasians and reinforces cultural attitudes concerning the role of sacrificial offerings. Blood sacrifice is usually made by men whereas females were dealing with plant food only. The peoples in the regions have common attitudes towards time frames and forms of ritualistic memories which differ only slightly along ethnic and areal lines. Caucasian funerals are distinguished by common features:by the great number of people attending, by food superfluity, and by charity. Modern memorial ceremonies often manifest themselves in concrete events, such as public charities or providing onetime assistance by the state social services.

Introduction Special occasion cookery has been a staple of the cookbook writing in the English speaking Western world for decades. This includes providing catering for personal milestones as well as religious and secular festivals. Yet, in an era when the culinary publishing sector is undergoing considerable expansion and market segmentation, narratives of foods marking of one of life’s central and inescapable rites—death—are extremely rare. This discussion investigates examples of food writing related to death and funeral rites in contemporary cookbooks. Funeral feasts held in honour of the dead date back beyond recorded history (Luby and Gruber), and religious, ceremonial and community group meals as a component of funeral rites are now ubiquitous around the world. In earlier times, the dead were believed to derive both pleasure and advantage from these offerings (LeClercq), and contemporary practice still reflects this to some extent, with foods favoured by the deceased sometimes included in such meals (see, for instance, Varidel). In the past, offering some sustenance as a component of a funeral was often necessary, as mourners might have travelled considerable distances to attend the ceremony, and eateries outside the home were not as commonplace or convenient to access as they are today. The abundance and/or lavishness of the foods provided may also have reflected the high esteem in which the dead was held, and offered as a mark of community respect (Smith and Bird). Following longstanding tradition, it is still common for Western funeral attendees to gather after the formal parts of the event—the funeral service and burial or cremation —in a more informal atmosphere to share memories of the deceased and refreshments (Simplicity Funerals 31). Thursby notes that these events, which are ostensibly about the dead, often develop into a celebration of the ties between living family members and friends, “times of reunions and renewed relationships” (94). Sharing food is central to this celebration as “foods affirm identity, strengthen kinship bonds, provide comfortable and familiar emotional support during periods of stress” (79), while familiar dishes evoke both memories and promising signals of the continued celebration of life” (94). While in the southern states and some other parts of the USA, it is customary to gather at the church premises after the funeral for a meal made up of items contributed by members of the congregation, and with leftovers sent home with the bereaved family (Siegfried), it is more common in Australasia and the UK to gather either in the home of the principal mourners, someone else’s home or a local hotel, club or restaurant (Jalland). Church halls are a less common option in Australasia, and an increasing trend is the utilisation of facilities attached to the funeral home and supplied as a component of a funeral package (Australian Heritage Funerals). The provision of this catering largely depends on the venue chosen, with the cookery either done by family and/or friends, the hotel, club, restaurant or professional catering companies, although this does not usually affect the style of the food, which in Australia and New Zealand is often based on a morning or afternoon tea style meal (Jalland). Despite widespread culinary innovation in other contexts, funeral catering bears little evidence of experimentation. Ash likens this to as being “fed by grandmothers”, and describes “scones, pastries, sandwiches, biscuits, lamingtons—food from a fifties afternoon party with the taste of Country Women’s Association about it”, noting that funerals “require humble food. A sandwich is not an affront to the dead” (online). Numerous other memoirists note this reliance on familiar foods. In “S is for Sad” in her An Alphabet for Gourmets (1949), food writer M.F.K. Fisher writes of mourners’s deep need for sustenance at this time as a “mysterious appetite that often surges in us when our hearts seem breaking and our lives too bleakly empty” (135). In line with Probyn’s argument that food foregrounds the viscerality of life (7), Fisher notes that “most bereaved souls crave nourishment more tangible than prayers: they want a steak. […] It is as if our bodies, wiser than we who wear them, call out for encouragement and strength and […] compel us […] to eat” (135, 136). Yet, while funerals are a recurring theme in food memoirs (see, for example, West, Consuming), only a small number of Western cookbooks address this form of special occasion food provision. Feast by Nigella Lawson Nigella Lawson’s Feast: Food that Celebrates Life (2004) is one of the very few popular contemporary cookbooks in English that includes an entire named section on cookery for funerals. Following twenty-one chapters that range from the expected (Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, and wedding) to more original (children’s and midnight) feasts, Lawson frames her discussion with an anthropological understanding of the meaning of special occasion eating. She notes that we use food “to mark occasions that are important to us in life” (vii) and how eating together “is the vital way we celebrate anything that matters […] how we mark the connections between us, how we celebrate life” (vii). Such meals embody both personal and group identities because both how and what is eaten “lies at the heart of who we are-as individuals, families, communities” (vii). This is consistent with her overall aims as a food writer—to explore foods’ meanings—as she states in the book’s introduction “the recipes matter […] but it is what the food says that really counts” (vii). She reiterates this near the end of the book, adding, almost as an afterthought, “and, of course, what it tastes like” (318). Lawson’s food writing also reveals considerable detail about herself. In common with many other celebrity chefs and food writers, Lawson continuously draws on, elaborates upon, and ultimately constructs her own life as a major theme of her works (Brien, Rutherford, and Williamson). In doing so, she, like these other chefs and food writers, draws upon revelations of her private life to lend authenticity to her cooking, to the point where her cookbooks could be described as “memoir-illustrated-with-recipes” (Brien and Williamson). The privileging of autobiographical information in Lawson’s work extends beyond the use of her own home and children in her television programs and books, to the revelation of personal details about her life, with the result that these have become well known. Her readers thus know that her mother, sister and first and much-loved husband all died of cancer in a relatively brief space of time, and how these tragedies affected her life. Her first book, How to Eat: The Pleasures and Principles of Good Food (1998), opened with the following dedication: “In memory of my mother, Vanessa (1936–1985) and my sister Thomasina (1961–1993)” (dedication page). Her husband, BBC broadcaster and The Times (London) journalist John Diamond, who died of throat cancer in 2001, furthered this public knowledge, writing about both his illness and at length about Lawson in his column and his book C: Because Cowards Get Cancer Too (1999). In Feast, Lawson discusses her personal tragedies in the introduction of the ‘Funeral Foods’ chapter, writing about a friend's kind act of leaving bags of shopping from the supermarket for her when she was grieving (451). Her first recipe in this section, for a potato topped fish pie, is highly personalised in that it is described as “what I made on the evening following my mother’s funeral” (451). Following this, she again uses her own personal experience when she notes that “I don’t think anyone wants to cook in the immediate shock of bereavement […] but a few days on cooking can be a calming act, and since the mind knows no rest and has no focus, the body may as well be busy” (451). Similarly, her recipe for the slowly hard-boiled, dark-stained Hamine Eggs are described as “sans bouche”, which she explains means “without mouths to express sorrow and anguish.” She adds, drawing on her own memories of feelings at such times, “I find that appropriate: there is nothing to be said, or nothing that helps” (455). Despite these examples of raw emotion, Lawson’s chapter is not all about grief. She also comments on both the aesthetics of dishes suitable for such times and their meanings, as well as the assistance that can be offered to others through the preparation and sharing of food. In her recipe for a lamb tagine that includes prunes, she notes, for example, that the dried plums are “traditionally part of the funeral fare of many cultures […] since their black colour is thought to be appropriate to the solemnity of the occasion” (452). Lawson then suggests this as a suitable dish to offer to someone in mourning, someone who needs to “be taken care of by you” (452). This is followed by a lentil soup, the lentils again “because of their dark colour … considered fitting food for funerals” (453), but also practical, as the dish is “both comforting and sustaining and, importantly, easy to transport and reheat” (453). Her next recipe for a meatloaf containing a line of hard-boiled eggs continues this rhetorical framing—as it is “always comfort food […] perfect for having sliced on a plate at a funeral tea or for sending round to someone’s house” (453). She adds the observation that there is “something hopeful and cheering about the golden yolk showing through in each slice” (453), noting that the egg “is a recurring feature in funeral food, symbolising as it does, the cycle of life, the end and the beginning in one” (453). The next recipe, Heavenly Potatoes, is Lawson’s version of the dish known as Mormon or Utah Funeral potatoes (Jensen), which are so iconic in Utah that they were featured on one of the Salt Lake City Olympic Games souvenir pins (Spackman). This tray of potatoes baked in milk and sour cream and then topped with crushed cornflakes are, she notes, although they sound exotic, quite familiar, and “perfect alongside the British traditional baked ham” (454), and reference given to an earlier ham recipe. These savoury recipes are followed by those for three substantial cakes: an orange cake marbled with chocolate-coffee swirls, a fruit tea loaf, and a rosemary flavoured butter cake, each to be served sliced to mourners. She suggests making the marble cake (which Lawson advises she includes in memory of the deceased mother of one of her friends) in a ring mould, “as the circle is always significant. There is a cycle that continues but—after all, the cake is sliced and the circle broken—another that has ended” (456). Of the fruitcake, she writes “I think you need a fruit cake for a funeral: there’s something both comforting and bolstering (and traditional) about it” (457). This tripartite concern—with comfort, sustenance and tradition—is common to much writing about funeral foods. Cookbooks from the American South Despite this English example, a large proportion of cookbook writing about funeral foods is in American publications, and especially those by southern American authors, reflecting the bountiful spreads regularly offered to mourners in these states. This is chronicled in novels, short stories, folk songs and food memoirs as well as some cookery books (Purvis). West’s memoir Consuming Passions: A Food Obsessed Life (2000) has a chapter devoted to funeral food, complete with recipes (132–44). West notes that it is traditional in southern small towns to bring covered dishes of food to the bereaved, and that these foods have a powerful, and singular, expressive mode: “Sometimes we say all the wrong things, but food […] says, ‘I know you are inconsolable. I know you are fragile right now. And I am so sorry for your loss’” (139). Suggesting that these foods are “concern and sympathy in a Pyrex bowl” (139), West includes recipes for Chess pie (a lemon tart), with the information that this is known in the South as “funeral pie” (135) and a lemon-flavoured slice that, with a cup of tea, will “revive the spirit” (136). Like Lawson, West finds significance in the colours of funeral foods, continuing that the sunny lemon in this slice “reminds us that life continues, that we must sustain and nourish it” (139). Gaydon Metcalf and Charlotte Hays’s Being Dead is No Excuse: The Official Southern Ladies Guide to Hosting the Perfect Funeral (2005), is one of the few volumes available dedicated to funeral planning and also offers a significant cookery-focused section on food to offer at, and take to, funeral events. Jessica Bemis Ward’s To Die For: A Book of Funeral Food, Tips, and Tales from the Old City Cemetery, Lynchburg, Virginia (2004) not only contains more than 100 recipes, but also information about funeral customs, practical advice in writing obituaries and condolence notes, and a series of very atmospheric photographs of this historic cemetery. The recipes in the book are explicitly noted to be traditional comfort foods from Central Virginia, as Ward agrees with the other writers identified that “simplicity is the by-word when talking about funeral food” (20). Unlike the other examples cited here, however, Ward also promotes purchasing commercially-prepared local specialties to supplement home-cooked items. There is certainly significantly more general recognition of the specialist nature of catering for funerals in the USA than in Australasia. American food is notable in stressing how different ethnic groups and regions have specific dishes that are associated with post-funeral meals. From this, readers learn that the Amish commonly prepare a funeral pie with raisins, and Chinese-American funerals include symbolic foods taken to the graveside as an offering—including piles of oranges for good luck and entire roast pigs. Jewish, Italian and Greek culinary customs in America also receive attention in both scholarly studies and popular American food writing (see, for example, Rogak, Purvis). This is beginning to be acknowledged in Australia with some recent investigation into the cultural importance of food in contemporary Chinese, Jewish, Greek, and Anglo-Australian funerals (Keys), but is yet to be translated into local mainstream cookery publication. Possible Publishing Futures As home funerals are a growing trend in the USA (Wilson 2009), green funerals increase in popularity in the UK (West, Natural Burial), and the multi-million dollar funeral industry is beginning to be questioned in Australia (FCDC), a more family or community-centered “response to death and after-death care” (NHFA) is beginning to re-emerge. This is a process whereby family and community members play a key role in various parts of the funeral, including in planning and carrying out after-death rituals or ceremonies, preparing the body, transporting it to the place of burial or cremation, and facilitating its final disposition in such activities as digging the grave (Gonzalez and Hereira, NHFA). Westrate, director of the documentary A Family Undertaking (2004), believes this challenges us to “re-examine our attitudes toward death […] it’s one of life’s most defining moments, yet it’s the one we typically prepare for least […] [and an indication of our] culture of denial” (PBS). With an emphasis on holding meaningful re-personalised after-disposal events as well as minimal, non-invasive and environmentally friendly treatment of the body (Harris), such developments would also seem to indicate that the catering involved in funeral occasions, and the cookbooks that focus on the provision of such food, may well become more prominent in the future. References [AHF] Australian Heritage Funerals. “After the Funeral.” Australian Heritage Funerals, 2013. 10 Mar. 2013 ‹http://www.ahfunerals.com.au/services.php?arid=31›. Ash, Romy. “The Taste of Sad: Funeral Feasts, Loss and Mourning.” Voracious: Best New Australian Food Writing. Ed. Paul McNally. Richmond, Vic.: Hardie Grant, 2011. 3 Apr. 2013 ‹http://www.romyash.com/non-fiction/the-taste-of-sad-funeral-feasts-loss-and-mourning›. Brien, Donna Lee, Leonie Rutherford, and Rosemary Williamson. "Hearth and Hotmail: The Domestic Sphere as Commodity and Community in Cyberspace." M/C Journal 10.4 (2007). 28 Apr. 2013 ‹http://journal.media-culture.org.au/0708/10-brien.php›. Brien, Donna Lee, and Rosemary Williamson. “‘Angels of the Home’ in Cyberspace: New Technologies and Biographies of Domestic Production”. Biography and New Technologies. Australian National University. Humanities Research Centre, Canberra, ACT. 12-14 Sep. 2006. Conference Presentation. Diamond, John. C: Because Cowards Get Cancer Too… . London: Vermilion, 1998. Fisher, M.F.K. “S is for Sad.” An Alphabet for Gourmets. New York, North Point P, 1989. 1st. pub. New York, Viking: 1949. Gonzalez, Faustino, and Mildreys Hereira. “Home-Based Viewing (El Velorio) After Death: A Cost-Effective Alternative for Some Families.” American Journal of Hospice & Pallative Medicine 25.5 (2008): 419–20. Harris, Mark. Grave Matters: A Journey Through the Modern Funeral Industry to a Natural Way of Burial. New York: Scribner, 2007. Jalland, Patricia. Australian Ways of Death: A Social and Cultural History 1840-1918. Melbourne: Oxford UP, 2002. Jensen, Julie Badger. The Essential Mormon Cookbook: Green Jell-O, Funeral Potatoes, and Other Secret Combinations. Salt Lake City: Deseret, 2004. Keys, Laura. “Undertaking a Jelly Feast in Williamstown.” Hobsons Bay Leader 28 Mar. 2011. 2 Apr. 2013 ‹http://hobsons-bay-leader.whereilive.com.au/news/story/undertaking-a-jelly-feast-in-williamstown›. Lawson, Nigella. How to Eat: The Pleasures and Principles of Good Food. London: Chatto & Windus, 1998. ---. Feast: Food that Celebrates Life. London: Chatto & Windus, 2004. LeClercq, H. “The Agape Feast.” The Catholic Encyclopedia I, New York: Robert Appleton, 1907. 3 Apr. 2013. ‹http://www.piney.com/AgapeCE.html›. Luby, Edward M., and Mark F. Gruber. “The Dead Must Be Fed: Symbolic Meanings of the Shellmounds of the San Francisco Bay Area.” Cambridge Archaeological Journal 9.1 (1999): 95–108. Metcalf, Gaydon, and Charlotte Hays. Being Dead Is No Excuse: The Official Southern Ladies Guide to Hosting the Perfect Funeral. New York: Miramax, 2005. [NHFA] National Home Funeral Alliance. “What is a Home Funeral?” National Home Funeral Alliance, 2012. 3 Apr. 2013. ‹http://homefuneralalliance.org›. PBS. “A Family Undertaking.” POV: Documentaries with a Point of View. PBS, 2004. 3 Apr. 2013 ‹http://www.pbs.org/pov/afamilyundertaking/film_description.php#.UYHI2PFquRY›. Probyn, Elspeth. Carnal Appetites: Food/Sex/Identities. London: Routledge, 2000. Purvis, Kathleen. “Funeral Food.” The Oxford Companion to American Food and Drink. Ed. Andrew F. Smith. New York: Oxford UP, 2007. 247–48. Rogak, Lisa. Death Warmed Over: Funeral Food, Rituals, and Customs from Around the World. Berkeley: Ten Speed P, 2004. Siegfried, Susie. Church Potluck Carry-Ins and Casseroles: Homestyle Recipes for Church Suppers, Gatherings, and Community Celebrations. Avon, MA.: Adams Media, 2006. Simplicity Funerals. Things You Need To Know About Funerals. Sydney: Simplicity Funerals, 1990. Smith, Eric Alden, and Rebecca L. Bliege Bird. “Turtle Hunting and Tombstone Opening: Public Generosity as Costly Signaling.” Evolution and Human Behavior 21.4 (2000): 245–61.Spackman, Christy. “Mormonism’s Jell-O Mold: Why Do We Associate the Religion With the Gelatin Dessert?” Slate Magazine 17 Aug. (2012). 3 Apr. 2013.Thursby, Jacqueline S. Funeral Festivals in America: Rituals for the Living. Lexington: UP of Kentucky, 2006. Varidel, Rebecca. “Bompas and Parr: Funerals and Food at Nelson Bros.” Inside Cuisine 12 Mar. (2011). 3 Apr. 2013 ‹http://insidecuisine.com/2011/03/12/bompas-and-parr-funerals-and-food-at-nelson-bros›. Ward, Jessica Bemis. Food To Die for: A Book of Funeral Food, Tips, and Tales from the Old City Cemetery, Lynchburg, Virginia. Lynchburg: Southern Memorial Association, 2004. West, Ken. A Guide to Natural Burial. Andover UK: Sweet & Maxwell, 2010. West, Michael Lee. Consuming Passions: A Food Obsessed Life. New York: Perennial, 2000. Wilson, M.T. “The Home Funeral as the Final Act of Caring: A Qualitative Study.” Master in Nursing thesis. Livonia, Michigan: Madonna University, 2009.

In 2013, the Capricornia Arts Mob (CAM), an Indigenous collective of artists situated in Rockhampton, central Queensland, Australia, successfully tendered for one of three public art projects that were grouped under the title Flood Markers (Roberts; Roberts and Mackay; Robinson and Mackay). Commissioned as part of the Queensland Government's Community Development and Engagement Initiative, Flood Markers aims to increase awareness of Rockhampton’s history, with particular focus on the Fitzroy River and the phenomena of flooding. Honouring Land Connections is CAM’s contribution to the project and consists of several “memory poles” that stand alongside the Fitzroy River in Toonooba Park. Rockhampton lies on Dharumbal Country with Toonooba being the Dharumbal name for the Fitzroy River and the inspiration for the work due to its cultural significance to the Aboriginal people of that region. The name Toonooba, as well as other images and icons including boomerangs, spears, nets, water lily, and frogs, amongst others, are carved, burnt, painted and embedded into the large ironbark poles. These stand with the river on one side and the colonial infrastructure of Rockhampton on the other (see fig. 1, 2 and 3).Figure 1 Figure 2Figure 3Within this article, we discuss Honouring Land Connections as having two main functions which contribute to its significance as Indigenous cultural expression and identity affirmation. Firstly, the memory poles (as well as the process of sourcing materials and producing the final product) are a manifestation of Country and a representation of its stories and lived memories. Honouring Land Connections provides a means for Aboriginal people to revel in Country and maintain connections to a vital component of their being as Indigenous. Secondly, by revealing Indigenous stories, experiences, and memories, Honouring Land Connections emphasises Indigenous voices and perspectives within a place dominated by Eurocentric outlooks and knowledges. Toonooba provides the backdrop on which the complexities of cultural and identity formation within settler-colonial spaces are highlighted whilst revelling in continuous Indigenous presence.Flood Markers as ArtArtists throughout the world have used flood markers as a means of visual expression through which to explore and reveal local histories, events, environments, and socio-cultural understandings of the relationships between persons, places, and the phenomena of flooding. Geertz describes art as a social text embedded within wider socio-cultural systems; providing insight into cultural, social, political, economic, gendered, religious, ethnic, environmental, and biographical contexts. Flood markers are not merely metric tools used for measuring the height of a river, but rather serve as culture artefacts or indexes (Gell Art and Agency; Gell "Technology of Enchantment") that are products and producers of socio-culture contexts and the memories and experiences embedded within them. Through different methods, mediums, and images, artists have created experiential and intellectual spaces where those who encounter their work are encouraged to engage their surroundings in thought provoking and often-new ways.In some cases, flood markers have brought attention to the “character and natural history” of a particular place, where artists such as Louise Lavarack have sought to provoke consciousness of the movement of water across flood plains (Lavarack). In other works, flood markers have served as memorials to individuals such as Gilbert White whose daughter honoured his life and research through installing a glass spire at Boulder Creek, Colorado in 2011 (White). Tragedies such as Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans in 2005 have also been commemorated through flood markers. Artist Christopher Saucedo carved 1,836 waves into a freestanding granite block; each wave representing a life lost (University of New Orleans). The weight of the granite symbolises the endurance and resilience of those who faced, and will continue to face, similar forces of nature. The Pillar of Courage erected in 2011 in Ipswich, Queensland, similarly contains the words “resilience, community, strength, heroes, caring and unity” with each word printed on six separate sections of the pillar, representing the six major floods that have hit the region (Chudleigh).Whilst these flood markers provide valuable insights into local histories, specific to each environmental and socio-cultural context, works such as the Pillar of Courage fail to address Indigenous relationships to Country. By framing flooding as a “natural disaster” to be overcome, rather than an expression of Country to be listened to and understood, Euro and human-centric perspectives are prioritised over Indigenous ways of knowing and being. Indigenous knowledges however encourages a reorientation of Eurocentric responses and relationships to Country, and in doing so challenge compartmentalised views of “nature” where flooding is separated from land and Country (Ingold Perception; Seton and Bradley; Singer). Honouring Land Connections symbolises the voice and eternal presence of Toonooba and counters presentations of flooding that depict it as historian Heather Goodall (36) once saw “as unusual events of disorder in which the river leaves its proper place with catastrophic results.”Country To understand flooding from Indigenous perspectives it is first necessary to discuss Country and apprehend what it means for Indigenous peoples. Country refers to the physical, cosmological, geographical, relational, and emotional setting upon which Indigenous identities and connections to place and kin are embedded. Far from a passive geographic location upon which interactions take place, Country is an active and responsive agent that shapes and contextualises social interactions between and amongst all living beings. Bob Morgan writes of how “Country is more than issues of land and geography; it is about spirituality and identity, knowing who we are and who we are connected to; and it helps us understand how all living things are connected.” Country is also an epistemological frame that is filled with knowledge that may be known and familiarised whilst being knowledge itself (Langton "Sacred"; Rose Dingo; Yunupingu).Central to understanding Country is the fact that it refers to a living being’s spiritual homeland which is the ontological place where relationships are formed and maintained (Yunupingu). As Country nurtures and provides the necessities for survival and prosperity, Indigenous people (but also non-Indigenous populations) have moral obligations to care for Country as kin (Rose Nourishing Terrains). Country is epistemic, relational, and ontological and refers to both physical locations as well as modes of “being” (Heidegger), meaning it is carried from place to place as an embodiment within a person’s consciousness. Sally Morgan (263) describes how “our country is alive, and no matter where we go, our country never leaves us.” Country therefore is fluid and mobile for it is ontologically inseparable to one’s personhood, reflected through phrases such as “I am country” (B. Morgan 204).Country is in continuous dialogue with its surroundings and provides the setting upon which human and non-human beings; topographical features such as mountains and rivers; ancestral beings and spirits such as the Rainbow Snake; and ecological phenomena such as winds, tides, and floods, interact and mutually inform each other’s existence (Rose Nourishing Terrains). For Aboriginal people, understanding Country requires “deep listening” (Atkinson; Ungunmerr), a responsive awareness that moves beyond monological and human-centric understandings of the world and calls for deeper understandings of the mutual and co-dependant relationships that exist within it. The awareness of such mutuality has been discussed through terms such as “kincentrism” (Salmón), “meshworks” (Ingold Lines), “webs of connection” (Hokari), “nesting” (Malpas), and “native science” (Cajete). Such concepts are ways of theorising “place” as relational, physical, and mental locations made up of numerous smaller interactions, each of which contribute to the identity and meaning of place. Whilst each individual agent or object retains its own autonomy, such autonomy is dependent on its wider relation to others, meaning that place is a location where “objectivity, subjectivity and inter-subjectivity converge” (Malpas 35) and where the very essence of place is revealed.Flooding as DialogueWhen positioned within Indigenous frameworks, flooding is both an agent and expression of Toonooba and Country. For the phenomenon to occur however, numerous elements come into play such as the fall of rain; the layout of the surrounding terrain; human interference through built weirs and dams; and the actions and intervention of ancestral beings and spirits. Furthermore, flooding has a direct impact on Country and all life within it. This is highlighted by Dharumbal Elder Uncle Billy Mann (Fitzroy Basin Association "Billy Mann") who speaks of the importance of flooding in bringing water to inland lagoons which provide food sources for Dharumbal people, especially at times when the water in Toonooba is low. Such lagoons remain important places for fishing, hunting, recreational activities, and cultural practices but are reliant on the flow of water caused by the flowing, and at times flooding river, which Uncle Mann describes as the “lifeblood” of Dharumbal people and Country (Fitzroy Basin Association "Billy Mann"). Through her research in the Murray-Darling region of New South Wales, Weir writes of how flooding sustains life though cycles that contribute to ecological balance, providing nourishment and food sources for all beings (see also Cullen and Cullen 98). Water’s movement across land provokes the movement of animals such as mice and lizards, providing food for snakes. Frogs emerge from dry clay plains, finding newly made waterholes. Small aquatic organisms flourish and provide food sources for birds. Golden and silver perch spawn, and receding waters promote germination and growth. Aboriginal artist Ron Hurley depicts a similar cycle in a screen-print titled Waterlily–Darambal Totem. In this work Hurley shows floodwaters washing away old water lily roots that have been cooked in ant bed ovens as part of Dharumbal ceremonies (UQ Anthropology Museum). The cooking of the water lily exposes new seeds, which rains carry to nearby creeks and lagoons. The seeds take root and provide food sources for the following year. Cooking water lily during Dharumbal ceremonies contributes to securing and maintaining a sustainable food source as well as being part of Dharumbal cultural practice. Culture, ecological management, and everyday activity are mutually connected, along with being revealed and revelled in. Aboriginal Elder and ranger Uncle Fred Conway explains how Country teaches Aboriginal people to live in balance with their surroundings (Fitzroy Basin Association "Fred Conway"). As Country is in constant communication, numerous signifiers can be observed on land and waterscapes, indicating the most productive and sustainable time to pursue certain actions, source particular foods, or move to particular locations. The best time for fishing in central Queensland for example is when Wattles are in bloom, indicating a time when fish are “fatter and sweeter” (Fitzroy Basin Association "Fred Conway"). In this case, the Wattle is 1) autonomous, having its own life cycle; 2) mutually dependant, coming into being because of seasonal weather patterns; and 3) an agent of Country that teaches those with awareness how to respond and benefit from its lessons.Dialogue with Country As Country is sentient and responsive, it is vital that a person remains contextually aware of their actions on and towards their surroundings. Indigenous peoples seek familiarity with Country but also ensure that they themselves are known and familiarised by it (Rose Dingo). In a practice likened to “baptism”, Langton ("Earth") describes how Aboriginal Elders in Cape York pour water over the head of newcomers as a way of introducing them to Country, and ensuring that Country knows those who walk upon it. These introductions are done out of respect for Country and are a way of protecting outsiders from the potentially harmful powers of ancestral beings. Toussaint et al. similarly note how during mortuary rites, parents of the deceased take water from rivers and spit it back into the land, symbolising the spirit’s return to Country.Dharumbal man Robin Hatfield demonstrates the importance of not interfering with the dialogue of Country through recalling being told as a child not to disturb Barraru or green frogs. Memmott (78) writes that frogs share a relationship with the rain and flooding caused by Munda-gadda, the Rainbow Snake. Uncle Dougie Hatfield explains the significance of Munda-gadda to his Country stating how “our Aboriginal culture tells us that all the waterways, lagoons, creeks, rivers etc. and many landforms were created by and still are protected by the Moonda-Ngutta, what white people call the Rainbow Snake” (Memmott 79).In the case of Robin Hatfield, to interfere with Barraru’s “business” is to threaten its dialogue with Munda-gadda and in turn the dialogue of Country in form of rain. In addition to disrupting the relational balance between the frog and Munda-gadda, such actions potentially have far-reaching social and cosmological consequences. The rain’s disruption affects the flood plains, which has direct consequences for local flora and transportation and germination of water lily seeds; fauna, affecting the spawning of fish and their movement into lagoons; and ancestral beings such as Munda-gadda who continue to reside within Toonooba.Honouring Land Connections provided artists with a means to enter their own dialogue with Country and explore, discuss, engage, negotiate, and affirm aspects of their indigeneity. The artists wanted the artwork to remain organic to demonstrate honour and respect for Dharumbal connections with Country (Roberts). This meant that materials were sourced from the surrounding Country and the poles placed in a wave-like pattern resembling Munda-gadda. Alongside the designs and symbols painted and carved into the poles, fish skins, birds, nests, and frogs are embalmed within cavities that are cut into the wood, acting as windows that allow viewers to witness components of Country that are often overlooked (see fig. 4). Country therefore is an equal participant within the artwork’s creation and continuing memories and stories. More than a representation of Country, Honouring Land Connections is a literal manifestation of it.Figure 4Opening Dialogue with Non-Indigenous AustraliaHonouring Land Connections is an artistic and cultural expression that revels in Indigenous understandings of place. The installation however remains positioned within a contested “hybrid” setting that is informed by both Indigenous and settler-colonial outlooks (Bhabha). The installation for example is separated from the other two artworks of Flood Markers that explore Rockhampton’s colonial and industrial history. Whilst these are positioned within a landscaped area, Honouring Land Connections is placed where the grass is dying, seating is lacking, and is situated next to a dilapidated coast guard building. It is a location that is as quickly left behind as it is encountered. Its separation from the other two works is further emphasised through its depiction in the project brief as a representation of Rockhampton’s pre-colonial history. Presenting it in such a way has the effect of bookending Aboriginal culture in relation to European settlement, suggesting that its themes belong to a time past rather than an immediate present. Almost as if it is a revelation in and of itself. Within settler-colonial settings, place is heavily politicised and often contested. In what can be seen as an ongoing form of colonialism, Eurocentric epistemologies and understandings of place continue to dominate public thought, rhetoric, and action in ways that legitimise White positionality whilst questioning and/or subjugating other ways of knowing, being, and doing (K. Martin; Moreton-Robinson; Wolfe). This turns places such as Toonooba into agonistic locations of contrasting and competing interests (Bradfield). For many Aboriginal peoples, the memories and emotions attached to a particular place can render it as either comfortable and culturally safe, or as unsafe, unsuitable, unwelcoming, and exclusionary (Fredericks). Honouring Land Connections is one way of publicly asserting and recognising Toonooba as a culturally safe, welcoming, and deeply meaningful place for Indigenous peoples. Whilst the themes explored in Honouring Land Connections are not overtly political, its presence on colonised/invaded land unsettles Eurocentric falsities and colonial amnesia (B. Martin) of an uncontested place and history in which Indigenous voices and knowledges are silenced. The artwork is a physical reminder that encourages awareness—particularly for non-Indigenous populations—of Indigenous voices that are continuously demanding recognition of Aboriginal place within Country. Similar to the boomerangs carved into the poles representing flooding as a natural expression of Country that will return (see fig. 5), Indigenous peoples continue to demand that the wider non-Indigenous population acknowledge, respect, and morally responded to Aboriginal cultures and knowledges.Figure 5Conclusion Far from a historic account of the past, the artists of CAM have created an artwork that promotes awareness of an immediate and emerging Indigenous presence on Country. It creates a space that is welcoming to Indigenous people, allowing them to engage with and affirm aspects of their living histories and cultural identities. Through sharing stories and providing “windows” into Aboriginal culture, Country, and lived experiences (which like the frogs of Toonooba are so often overlooked), the memory poles invite and welcome an open dialogue with non-Indigenous Australians where all may consider their shared presence and mutual dependence on each other and their surroundings.The memory poles are mediatory agents that stand on Country, revealing and bearing witness to the survival, resistance, tenacity, and continuity of Aboriginal peoples within the Rockhampton region and along Toonooba. Honouring Land Connections is not simply a means of reclaiming the river as an Indigenous space, for reclamation signifies something regained after it has been lost. What the memory poles signify is something eternally present, i.e. Toonooba is and forever will be embedded in Aboriginal Country in which we all, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, human and non-human, share. The memory poles serve as lasting reminders of whose Country Rockhampton is on and describes the life ways of that Country, including times of flood. Through celebrating and revelling in the presence of Country, the artists of CAM are revealing the deep connection they have to Country to the wider non-Indigenous community.ReferencesAtkinson, Judy. Trauma Trails, Recreating Song Lines: The Transgenerational Effects of Trauma in Indigenous Australia. Spinifex Press, 2002.Bhabha, Homi, K. The Location of Culture. Taylor and Francis, 2012.Bradfield, Abraham. "Decolonizing the Intercultural: A Call for Decolonizing Consciousness in Settler-Colonial Australia." Religions 10.8 (2019): 469.Cajete, Gregory. Native Science: Natural Laws of Interdependence. 1st ed. 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