Moonda Gurrah the Brown Snake in Flood 2022
Last month, we celebrated the launch of Duane Doyle’s riverside mural Moonda Gurrah the Brown Snake in Flood 2022 down on the corner of Hockings Street and Riverside Drive, West End. The mural shows the cycle of the flooded Brisbane River flowing into Moreton Bay to keep it healthy. It represents the community rallying together to help with recovery after the flood. Read about Duane’s story of the 2022 flood, and his creative tribute to the community that supported each other during those times.
Duane’s flood story
“I was placed with a lovely family over in Kangaroo Point and every day my sister would pick me up and take me to the [West End Community] House. And the House was a hub of services. Red Cross, Salvation Army, we even had services from the New South Wales area come up. West End Community House was full for six weeks. And the workers were just working, and working, and working.
Kylie Deen asked me to go for a drive with her one day to deliver meals to the old people’s place where the Elders were living. As I jumped out of the car I saw a PVC pipe and thought ‘hey there’s a didgeridoo’.
The Brisbane River had washed up a didgeridoo for me.
I knew it was for me to pick up and pant up as a didge. This didgeridoo came about through a story that Koshi was telling on Channel 7 on Sunrise in the morning. He talked about a brown snake. Knowing true story from home about Moonda Gurrah (no snake)… he was just making me angry. So I said ‘right, how do I share with the public the truth about this snake?’
It’s not a snake, its a healthy river in flood.
I painted Koshie’s snake river in flood on the didge. It’s about the Brisbane flood and it’s about all the people in the community coming together without the Brisbane City Council or anyone else coming to help. I saw in Ryan Street that they cleaned it up themselves. I was so amazed that the community came and worked together.
I understand that we’re still surviving some of that flood, some of us.
Moonda Gurrah is no snake. It looked like a snake and moved like a snake, but it wasn’t a snake. It was the water flow. That took me years to learn because that story came from the land, when Elders passed on to me.
Why has the water flow taken our homes and our lives away?
I’m sorry for the devastation that our traditional water flow has on human being’s lives and human being’s property. However Mother Earth has to cleanse her water.
If our water is stagnated it will become polluted and poisonous. Our trees, plants and vegetation will die away. Then, smaller animals to larger animals to us human beings. If we can keep our water flowing, we will exist in another 200 years time.
Listen to Duane play the didge with Jenny Pineapple.
About Duane Doyle
Duane Doyle is a proud Jiman (yimen) artist based in Kurilpa. His parents are both Jiman people from Taroom and Carnarvon Gorge Country. He identifies with his month’s animal totem, the googoobing (scrub turkey).
Duane honours the googoobing today by sharing the stories of the Gumoo Wongara (one water) and reconciling with non-Indigenous people. He aims to build co-existence and break down fears. Googoobing waters flow through the Browns and Comet Rivers in the Highlands of Central Queensland. These waters connect with the waters that flow through Brisbane and guide Duane to feel a sense of belonging in Brisbane.
Duane believes ‘the word of the Elders’ are healing stories and are very unique to Australia. He uses the ancient process of Dadirri, a deep meditative connection to the environment to stay connected.
Duane is a proud member of the West End Community House’s Art Gang which supports beginner and experienced artists living with disability, social isolation or are experiencing homelessness.
Check out more of Duane’s work on his website and on Instagram.
This content was originally spoken by Duane Doyle or published by Community Plus’ West End Community House during the mural launch on the 4 October 2024. Moonda Gurrah the Brown Snake 2022 was supported with the help of Councillor Trina Massey and Sue Loveday.