We walk together

I write to you from a land now colonially referred to as Australia. I do so to express my support for all you in the struggle to protect and maintain the environment of your beloved Shetland and way of life. The two, as we know, are not mutually exclusive.

Having an old friend himself from the Shetland Isles I have over the years come to hear a little of his people’s love, affection and deep connection to land and sea.

I have heard too a little of your mother language, your ancient stories and ceremonies still celebrated, all of which continue to remind and connect us deeply with land and sea, each other, our ancestors and the coming generations.

My people know only too well how gut wrenching it is witnessing the continued desecration of one’s country.

Knowing that with it our stories and cherished memories slowly seep away as our disconnection and displacement from that which truly sustains us becomes more and more pronounced more and more confused until our sense of who we are becomes buried and often severed beneath the destructive rubble and shiny monuments to naught but profiteers.

John Hartley
Ku Ku Yalanji,
Aboriginal Nation.