A STUDY GUIDE BY MARGUERITE O’HARA

http://www.metromagazine.com.au

http://www.theeducationshop.com.au

spiritstones

It is a story

about a mystery; about

respect – respect of Noongar

culture. Something amazing

happened. It’s not just about the

stones; it’s a story to celebrate

people and culture.

spiritstones

SCREEN EDUCATION 2

IntroductionSpirit Stones (Allan Collins, 2008) is a film about how people of different cultural and spiritual backgrounds respond to and understand events which may not be subject to a single explanation. It offers a different perspective on the history, culture and spiritual life of a group of Indigenous Australians – the Noongar people of South-Western Australia. Their story is told within the context of a mysterious phenomenon about falling stones documented in newspaper reports from 1946 to 1962. The film tells the story of these events from the perspectives of a number of Noongar elders who witnessed these strange events at the time. Through intimate storytelling, witnesses reignite their memories of this mysterious event. The beauty of the area where the events took place is an integral part of their accounts.

Spirit Stones was produced by Jennifer Gheradi of Jag Films for ABC television.

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SynopsisSpirit Stones examines mysterious events, witnessed by small communities in the Southwest of Western Australia more than fifty years ago. People experienced different types of phenomena; the majority involved reports of stones falling from the sky. As the incidents became more frequent the Australian press, caught up in the mystery, began giving the stories significant coverage. Today it is a forgotten story and a mystery that remains unsolved. No sufficient proof, evidence, reason or explanation was ever given to the cause of the falling stones.

First hand accounts are related in Spirit Stones including descriptions of the occurrences when stones landed on several farming properties in different locations. Stones were not the only items falling. Many objects differing in size and types were listed in the press reports. The events caused confusion and fear for the people involved and for some of the people investigating. Theories developed as to the cause of the ‘falling stones’, some being more scientifically based than others, but as with anything that lacks explanation, paranormal causes were put forward. Most scientific explanations at the time were in the areas of geology and meteorology. There were also some extravagant ‘scientific’ ideas, which came from the general public.

Curriculum relevanceSpirit Stones would be a valuable resource for senior secondary and tertiary students studying;

The activities in this guide ask students to look at the film and the contemporary reporting of the phenomenon of the falling stones. This is one of many fascinating

history mystery stories and illustrates the different ways in which events from the past can be understood and reflected on by different groups of people.

BackgroundA brief account of the effects of colonization on the Noongar people

For at least 50,000 years Aboriginal people have lived in Western Australia. In the southwest, the Noongar peoples carefully managed and lived off the land. They used fire as a tool to clear dense undergrowth and promote new growth of the plants and to assist in the capture of animals. They used traps to capture fish. They dealt with their environment kindly, respecting what it could provide for them and never taking more than it could withstand.

The land of the Noongar nation stretches from approximately Geraldton/Moora on the west coast to Esperance on the south coast. Of all the Aboriginal peoples in Western Australia, the Noongar people are probably the group most affected by early settlement.

The first recorded European contact began in the early 1600s. The Dutch, the French, the Portuguese and the British all visited the coastline. Most found Western Australia a harsh and forbidding place and were content to leave it to the Indigenous people.

visited the coast in December 1696 and remained until January 1697. He had travelled down the coast from the north and commented: ‘In the north the land is barren and miserable; in the south, the land is fat’. However, he sailed on believing the land to be unsuitable as a Dutch settlement.

These early encounters were fleeting, with little effect on Aboriginal society. However, as a result of shipwrecks, contact did take place and the evidence is seen in the rock art. For the Aboriginal people, rock art represents their history and mythology as well as a direct tie to their ancestors. At intervals they reengraved and repainted the art. Even the earliest foreign contacts are part of

Courtesy WA Maritime Museum

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the rock art subject matter. The rock painting on page 3 is believed to be either the Dutch East India Ship Zuytdorp (1711) or the SS Xantho (1872).

The wetlands and fertile riverbanks of the Swan estuary were resource-rich, with freshwater springs and a diversity of plant and animal foods. They supported relatively large populations living a more settled way of life than in other areas of the South West, with the exception of King George Sound.

The Swan Coastal Plain is Noongar land. Colonists recognized Yellagonga as the owner of this area and Yellagonga could hunt on wetlands north of Perth because of his connections to that land. Yellagonga’s people moved within their territory according to established cultural and seasonal patterns. Tracks and paths linked people to each other and to resources in Noongar country. Seasonal abundance of staple foods allowed for gatherings of up to 400 people for social, ceremonial and economic activities such as hunting and trading of goods like ochre.

Noongars used fire to manage and farm the land. Cool fires cleared away regrowth and forest litter making movement through the bush easier and safer. Germination of fire-sensitive food plants was assured and the flavour of certain root foods improved. Grassy pastures created by regular firing attracted kangaroos and other game. Fire was also used to drive these mammals into open areas where they could be easily hunted.

With curiosity overcoming fear, first interactions between the settlers and the Noongar people were amiable. However, frustration developed as the colony developed and expanded, driving the Noongar people from their traditional lands by force and exclusion.

The settlers fenced the land and denied them access to their traditional living areas, traditional food sources and traditional access routes. The settlers killed the native wildlife but would not share their livestock with the Noongars. Tensions between the new settlers and Noongar people developed and conflict soon followed.1

MapThe map below shows the land of the Noongar people of Western Australia where the stones fell. Some of the places, such as Pumphrey’s Bridge and Boyup Brook, were named by white settlers and as this map is a Noongar country map, many names are different.

Pre-viewing activitiesMany of us like to believe we have a degree of control over the natural environment, at a time when many of our actions are changing the climate and air and water quality, perhaps for ever. We like to know whether that strange noise at night is possums or rats in the roof or the wind in the trees; we like to think there is a scientific explanation for any natural phenomenon such as black rain, sudden hailstorms and fierce bushfires. And often there is. However, not everything is able to be explained and understood without a semblance of doubt remaining about its origin. For some people there is a spiritual dimension to some natural occurrences.

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Select one or more of the following situations and fill in the chart below with your ideas.

Event Possible explanations Investigative activities Conclusion

Numbers of gum trees are dying all over Australia at an unprecedented rate in both drought and rainforest areas and not regenerating.

A large panther-like creature has been spotted by farmers in bushland on the edge of a New South Wales country town; many lambs and even calves have been mauled and dragged away.

Children born in an industrialized town in the Ukraine have an unusually high number of serious birth defects.

Marble-sized irregularly shaped metal balls fall on two streets in a country town at irregular intervals, but disappear as they hit the ground; they do not show up on film and photos designed to capture images of them.

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1. Do people today believe in what some may see as apparently irrational and unprovable paranormal phenomenon? How do television shows, films and newspaper columns reflect these interests? Do you believe in the possibility that many aspects of human life and the world are ultimately mysterious and without rational explanation or are you a skeptic?

2. Share an experience you have had when there seemed to be no rational explanation for some natural occurrence.

Student activityAfter watching the film

There are different ways of understanding and making some sense of the falling stones the people in this film describe, The two sets of information, Set A and Set B that follow, illustrate different ways of explaining, understanding and accepting the phenomenon observed, documented and described. Read the summary of the contemporary press reports before reading the two sets of ‘evidence’. Consider each set and identify the main explanations and/or understandings offered.

Press report

Newspaper reports from seventy regional, state and national newspapers from 1955 to 1957 reported the falling stones phenomenon in this way.

in Western Australia experienced

the phenomenon of ‘falling stones’, all within 300 kms of each other: Boddington, Mayanup, near Boyup Brook, Pumphrey’s Bridge and Borden where sandalwood nuts were involved.

descriptions of stones ranging in size from a pebble to a stone of about thirty-five pounds (about sixteen kilograms)

were reported as ‘falling out of nowhere’, landing in paddocks and even inside buildings.

Sometimes stones would fall several times in one night. In one location the stones fell intermittently for weeks and in another for two years. Greatest intensity was during winter months.

objects were reported as behaving mysteriously, such as brass taps, kitchen utensils, cakes of soap and even vegetables. It was reported that they elevated of their own volition and projected around rooms and paddocks. Glowing lights were also reported in the vicinity of falling

stones and some stones were reported as coming through roofs without leaving holes.

frequently affected, began to feel that the events were directly related to their connection with the spirit world. Amidst fear and superstition a member of the aboriginal community, Cyril Penny, was singled out as the carrier or spirit causing the problems. The press referred to him as ‘the jinx’ and reported that he left the area for some time.

falling stones felt that human intervention was responsible: kids throwing stones or bored farmers playing a prank, but these accusations were never proven.

Set A

In the film several Aboriginal elders who all experienced the ‘falling stones’ phenomenon in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s tell their accounts of what they recall. At the same time they tell us about their lives and the land. Most were young boys or young men when the events took place.

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Eyewitness Life story and events remembered Explanation

Ira Jetta – aged 72 I was employed to clear the bush land and tree stumps in 1950 and saw stones falling day and night. We did trapping, shearing and tree clearing on Donaldson’s Farm. I saw stones falling day and night on several occasions. People fired shots into the bushes. I don’t believe in evil spirits.

Taking part in changing land use.

The spirits of the old people are still here in the Stirling Ranges.

Ken Kickett – aged 67 I was one of thirteen children and worked with my father on Hillcroft Farm in return for food.

Angus Wallam – aged 80 This land was thick bush and is now a paddock. The Dryandra Woodlands are now a conservation area but there are few trees left under which we would find water.

Disrupting the water supplies offered by very old trees.

Aden Eades – aged 67 and his son Eugene

I am a Noongar elder. I was born on an Aboriginal mission. At ten, I experienced falling stones on a tent and in the bush. We thought we could be responsible or a spirit man called the mummery man.

Removal from family, land and community.

There are spirits in the trees we destroyed.

We (my people) interfered with the balance of nature. The damage we took part in might be one reason why the stones fell. – Eugene

The Abrahams – Matty and Jack.

I left school at thirteen and witnessed stones falling on blankets, but there were no holes in the tent. Some stones were warm to touch. They came into the house and frightened us. We didn’t know where they came from. At the Carrolup mission the kids cried and couldn’t run away. As young boys we were subject to curfews. Our treatment affected my life, my parents and grandparents. I volunteered for war service but when I came back I still had no rights to land or proper pay and treatment. We were treated as sub-human. I can’t speak my language fluently.

One night when I was about fifteen I went to visit another family but when I went into their tent it was empty. I ran away and was chased by a bluish light. I felt cold all over and the light seemed to be following me.

We’d destroyed our land. We were used to destroy something that meant so much to us. We cleared too much of the Dryandra bushland. Some trees should be left in some places. We lost our culture.

The blue light could have been a warning about the falling stones from the spirits.

Our ancestors are still there in the rocks. The spirits of the old people roam through these mountains.

We interfered with the balance of nature and lost and damaged species. Spirits may have been angry which might be why the stones fell.

Jock, Russell and Clive Abraham (Matty and Gwen’s sons), born 1950 and later.

At school they only taught white man version of history, not Noongar stories. (Jock) I was born in a morgue in 1950 as Aboriginal children couldn’t be delivered in the local hospital with whites. (Russell)

Alienation from family and land, disrespected by white settlers.

Alma Ugle Witnessed falling stones ‘If it was our own people throwing stones at us we’d know. We wouldn’t lose a night’s sleep over it.’

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Set B

Explanations used in press reports at the time these events occurred can be broadly divided into five categories.

General hypothesis Evidence and anecdotes offered

1 Human Intervention That local people must have thrown the stones from nearby. In 1955, Dorrie Brooks wrote in a letter:

Quite a number of men didn’t believe a word of it and he and some friends went out there one night with their shot guns. They were going to bring in whoever it was, so they blazed away at the close trees and shrubs. Nobody came out and nobody was killed or wounded. The police soon put a stop to that.

On several occasions, people hid out at night to catch possible intruders throwing stones but no one was found.

2 Meteorites Theory that falling stones were caused by meteorites proven to lack scientific evidence after geological studies taken of stones. They were composed of materials common in the areas where they were found.

3 Geothermal activity Some people thought the stones may refer to activity under the earth’s surface, that they came up from underground. Again, no scientific evidence supported such a theory.

4 Paranormal – an event or perception is said to be paranormal if it involves forces or agencies beyond scientific explanation.

Both the newspaper reports and some members of the Indigenous communities believed paranormal forces were at work. In 1955 the Sunday Times reported that ‘Poltergeists have been blamed for the mysterious fallings at Pumphrey’s and Boyup Brook this week’. Helen Hack, who witnessed the events at the time, later wrote several colourful accounts including this one:

The drama began on the night of May 17th, 1955, when stones rained down on the Smith’s humble shack. A low, mournful whistle could be heard piercing the night air, and the Hacks’ dogs were driven half mad by the commotion, breaking their chains and running off into the night. What happened next defied all laws of science. Stones materialized out of nowhere to plonk on the rooftop, clatter on the dining room table and appear on the inside of hurricane lamps. The stones were strangely warm to the touch, but they weren’t the only objects to be used by the strange force. Old bottles, potatoes, soap, knives, bones and even a child’s doll were tossed around inside and outside the home.

Mystery of the Mayanup Poltergeist, Helen Hack, Hesperian Press, 2000.

A Catholic priest claimed it was the spirit of unbaptized children, while a psychic thought the stones were the work of playful spirits using young girls as mediums.

5 Spiritual It was accepted knowledge among Aboriginal communities that spirits can leave the body of a person close to death. When local Mayanup man Alf Eades became ill in 1955, it was thought that the stones were related to this. Sammy Miller, ‘a native witchdoctor’ was brought to the farm where Eades had collapsed while digging a posthole and identified the spot as the place where his spirit had left his body. A ‘ghost laying ceremony’ was conducted to capture Alf Eades’ sprit and return it to his body. Sammy commented that ‘the spirit had a definite form, but to you white fellas it only looks like a puff of smoke’. The spirit was successfully captured but four stones fell that night.

1. When you have read through these sets of material, make an assessment based on the evidence offered, whether anecdotal or verifiable, of which explanations (if any) of the stone falling incidents you found most believable. Strong beliefs are not necessarily always about scientific truth.

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Similar events in other parts of the worldFalling stones are phenomena that have been reported as occurring in other countries over extended periods. Here are several examples, most from the internet site About.com.

Sumatra, 1903

W.G. Grottendieck wrote about how small black stones, hot to touch, came raining down in his bedroom at 1am. The most bizarre aspect of this case is that the stones seemed to come through the roof without making holes in it, and they fell, he said, in a motion that was slower than would be normal.

– ‘Hail of Stones from Nowhere’, About.com

Harrisonville, Ohio 1901

The stone attack on this small village began on the Sunday afternoon … a small boulder came crashing through the window … and it was just the beginning. The next day, dozens of stones rained down in the heart of the village, breaking windows and striking citizens. None of the villagers could detect where the stones were coming from.

– ‘Hail of Stones from Nowhere’, About.com

South Africa

plagued by a hail of stones that follows her wherever she stays. Miyi Shongi,

by her terrified family and neighbours three weeks ago and moved in with

relatives in Nhombelani village, 30km away near Malamulele, but the rain of stones followed her there too. We were there for nearly the whole night and saw stones falling from the sky like rain, said

Mushavhanamadi. We went around the area to make sure someone wasn’t throwing stones on the roof on purpose, but we didn’t find anyone.

– News 24.com, Riot Hlatshwayo, 2 August 2004

Marcinelle, Belgium, 1913

For four days in January one house was besieged by an invisible stone thrower with remarkable accuracy. Police officers began to watch the house in an

attempt to catch the vandal, but one wrote in his report:

I have seen a stone arriving in the middle of a large window-pane and then came others in spiral around the first point of impact … I even saw, in another window a projectile caught in the fragments of the glass of the first hole it made, and subsequently ejected by another passing through the same point.

No stone thrower was ever seen, although an estimated 300 stones struck the house.

– ‘Hail of Stones from Nowhere’, About.com

Ardeche, France 1921

Most of these events are short-lived, lasting only a few days at most. But beginning in September, a farmhouse in France was victimized for four months. The stones dropped at all hours of the day, sometimes striking the family’s children and clergyman who was called to investigate. In this case, apples were also thrown and again, with inhuman accuracy: apples came speeding in through small holes in the shutters made by previous apples.

– ‘Hail of Stones from Nowhere’, About.com

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Student activityEvaluating reports

both similar to and different from the events reported in Western Australia?

attributed to primitive superstitions or even mass hysteria where people want to witness strange phenomena, or is there likely to be a simpler scientific explanation for such events?

in Western Australia in the 1950s be likely to have had access to reports of similar events in other parts of the world or to internet accounts on About.com?

a subject for press reporting and speculation today, what kind of unexplained phenomena do people report and want investigated? Consider the frequent reported sightings of UFOs and bloody tears on religious statues, as well as the pilgrimages to religious shrines such

hope for miracles to occur.

explanations and are inclined to doubt the veracity of claims about

religion and unexplained phenomena – may see the ongoing reports about falling stones as evidence of copycat responses where people confirm local reports through linked knowledge. Skeptics usually expect any extraordinary claim demands real evidence, other than anecdotal evidence. Non-skeptics may be more inclined to accept the reports, particularly if they are from disinterested observers. In 1957, a journalist for the Daily News wrote this about witnessing the events first-hand:

Mysterious stones fell round me on the Donaldson farm at Pumphrey at 1.10pm today. They came from different angles, with little velocity, and landed with a soft thud. I counted four gravel stones as they hit, then made a quick search with others of everywhere within throwing distance. There was nobody who could have thrown them.

– Daily News, 1957

Student activityPropositions to consider and discuss in relation to the film and the background information.

In small groups allocate each of the following premises and discuss the possible position that can be taken in relation to the proposition.

1. No stones fell. Human beings imagined this and became affected by it.

2. No stones fell; it was a hoax.

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3. Stones fell but it was human intervention, or a prank.

4. Stones or objects fell but there were also exaggerations and human intervention, which increased the scale of the events.

5. Stones fell but there is no scientific explanation that has been assigned.

6. Stones fell but there is no scientific knowledge currently available to explain the phenomena and we do not have the knowledge to create a scientific premise.

7. Stones fell and the people who experienced it are not required to convince others that what they experienced is true or explainable.

Student activityThe look, style, mood and tone of this film

contribute to the tone that is set in this film right from the opening shots.

the area has been damaged through over-use of the land and widespread clearing of the natural environment, there are many shots of great natural beauty. How is the timeless nature of this landscape depicted?

move between black and white, sepia and colour images as the stories are recounted?

of the people appearing in this film?

encouraging viewers to develop an understanding and respect for Noongar culture?

Apart from the long open images of light-filled landscapes, there are many carefully constructed images of light and space in the close-ups of the interiors of the Carrolup Mission buildings. Why do you think the filmmakers chose to tell these stories in such a way?

the falling stones an integral part of the peoples’ stories?

Student activitySorry business

depicted in this documentary relate to the Australian Government’s recent apology to the Indigenous Stolen Generations and their families?

people who speak in the film caught up in the dislocation that resulted from previous Government policies to remove indigenous children from their families? What other kinds of unfair and discriminatory practices are recounted?

and place as custodians is clear from many of the observations made by the elders in this story. Apart from the well-documented cases of removal of children to be brought up on mission stations and in government welfare homes, what other kinds of destructive activities in relation to culture and land use are described in this story?

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what happened to them? Are they angry, sad, bitter or proud of their resilience in the face of years of attempted dispossession and disrespect?

and widespread clearing interfere with ‘the balance of nature’, both in the past and today?

neighbouring South Australia and offshore Western Australia, nuclear tests were carried out by the British Government at Maralinga and other remote areas of South Australia which were home to Indigenous people. For many generations after the testing, the land was restricted and contaminated. It was only in 1996, after many years of legal dispute that the Maralinga Tjarutja people were compensated for the damage done to their land, their health and their lives by the testing and its toxic aftermath. Do you think it is possible that this massively disruptive activity had far-reaching consequences on other Indigenous people and their relationship to the land?

Student activityThe heart of the matter

Choose one of the following statements as the basis for a class discussion or a piece of writing:

1. Spirit Stones evokes a strong sense of the natural environment and the strength of spirit of the Noongar people and awakens the senses through visually powerful storytelling.

2. The point of this documentary is not to become a playing field for the never-ending debate about the falling stones but to demonstrate aspects of Noongar culture and sense of place.

3. The beauty of the country is more than a backdrop to these stories; it is an integral part of the stories and the peoples’ lives. Time stands still as these figures become part of the landscape.

4. In several of Shakespeare’s plays there are references to disturbances of nature provoked by unnatural and violent behaviour. In Macbeth, Macbeth says, ‘stones have been known to move and trees to speak’, and ‘the very stones prate of my whereabouts’. This notion of disrupting the earth’s natural rhythms is not uncommon in literature. How is our more complex scientific understanding of the consequences of man-made global warming related to our own connections and disconnections with the natural world?

5. Representing the past is complex. No single account really presents the truth. Written evidence is as limited in its reliability as is anecdotal evidence from participants in the events. It depends on who is telling the story.

Resources and referencesBill Arthur and Frances Morphy (eds),

The Macquarie Atlas of Indigenous Australia, 2005.

This offers an Indigenous Atlas of place, language and different identities and names of places.

There are many films and documentaries about Indigenous issues offering perspectives about connections to land and spirituality. They include:

(Melanie Hogan, 2006) (ATOM study guide available)

(Alex Morgan and Gerald Bostock, 1983)

(Don Featherstone, 1986)

(Rolf de Heer, 2006) (ATOM study guide available)

(Kim Mavromatis, 2007) (ATOM study guide available)

(Frances

guide available)

Marguerite O’Hara is a freelance writer

Endnote1 http://www.175anniversary.wa.gov.

au/index.cfm?fuseaction= background.aboriginal_people

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This study guide was produced by ATOM. © ATOM 2008 editor@atom.org.au

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