Tucki Cemetery, near Lismore, was established in 1891 with the oldest inscription dating from 1898. It follows the traditional Australian method of separate denominational sections, Anglican, Catholic, Methodist, etc, etc (I have always wondered where were the atheists buried in the old days) but amongst the trees in the background is an Aboriginal Bora Ring.
A Bora Ring is a series of raised earth rings, usually pairs sometimes 3, that were used to initiate Aboriginal boys into men/adults. They are found in South Eastern Australia but mostly in Northern NSW and Southern Queensland. To read more about them
click here. Of course most have been destroyed since the coming of Europeans, usually ploughed up for farm land.
The entrance to Tucki Bora Rings faces to the south west but the winding ceremonial path up from the valley floor no longer exists. In the centre is a depression which apparently once held rocks and gravel. I wish my picture could do greater justice to its construction but it is difficult to photograph.
I often call into Tucki, intrigued by the juxtaposition of dead Europeans and sacred Indigenous space. At first I was outraged that a cemetery could be built on such a spot, however, I have come to realise that the cemetery is the reason that the Bora Ring has survived over the last 120 years. I'm not sure if the local Aboriginal Nation, the Bundjalung People, still use it but it's sheer existence suggests hope for the future.
On the eastern side of the Bora Ring there is a solitary grave; Ivy Greber who died in 1900 aged 15 months. I have often wondered why it is not in the main cemetery that is situated on the western side of the Bora Ring?
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