Blak to my Roots

This book dedicated to Ramindjeri Elder, Law Man and Clever-fella Karno Walker, came about through a request agreed to by the Ramindjeri. It was Nick who first raised this idea, and his proposal was immediately accepted by many others. Because of the stature, standing and status of Karno, it was agreed by all this was a task beyond the capacity of any individual. In total there are eleven people who have contributed, for some a few pages were sufficient while others made a more substantial contribution. Regardless of volume, in the tradition of Wirritjin and Old Way Lore sensibilities, just as it was in the past when the results of a successful hunt were shared out evenly, all testimonies are of equal importance.

There is one inherent obstacle in this task we all had to negotiate. Karno is a Lawman, a Clever-fella, a magician par-excellence, an unmatched keeper of culture and is utterly unique by every standard. Putting such qualities and miraculous deeds into words is a brief none of us could satisfactorily grapple with. All we could cobble together is our best, but we do so with a caveat, Karno’s Ramindjeri title means “lucky warrior: who walks between two worlds,” and the only truth that comes out of this statement of fact and vocation is that none of the eleven have travelled as far down that mystical destination as Karno has.

So, limitations and restrictions aside, and in what only reflects the spirit and intentions of Wirritjin Karno spoke of constantly, there is an even spread of Original and non-Original witnesses who will offer their experiences and observations when in the presence of Karno. In closing our introduction, in the very simplest of terms we will, in one extended sentence, try and sum up what made Karno so important and so different from any other human we have met. He gave ceremonies to a variety of Heads of the Army, was introduced to the Governor Generals of South Australia and Australia, he was one the supervisors for the security in the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, was called in to assist in the grading of black belts in various martial arts, a speaker of the First Language, a custodian of Sacred Original business, the companion of a pet dingo, he was the genuine Original version of Dr. Doolittle and a practitioner of Old Way magic.