Burning Mountain

As told and illustrated by Charlotte Craven-Miller

Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the Wonnarua people of the Hunter Valley, New South Wales.

We pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging.

Burning Mountain
Story and Illustrations by Charlotte Craven-Miller

This digital book was commissioned by

Wonnarua Nation Aboriginal Corporation (WNAC)

and

Australian Catholic University

Australian Catholic University acknowledges that

this digital storybook embodies cultural knowledge of

the Wonnarua community.

Charlotte Craven-Miller

Charlotte Craven-Miller is a proud Wonnarua full-time artist. The Wonnarua Nation belongs to the Hunter River Valley region of New South Wales. Her artistic skills and works encompass realism, portraiture, images, and abstract art. Her artistic works are inspired by her rich Wonnarua cultural heritage drawing upon The Dreamings and the Wonnarua peoples’ connection and belonging to Country. She is the artist of the seminal Wonnarua portraiture entitled: Wonnarua Elders commissioned by the Wonnarua Nation Aboriginal Corporation. She is the illustrator of the e-book The Frog that Grew commissioned by the University of Technology and Science, New South Wales. She was commissioned by the Australian Catholic University Limited and the Wonnarua Nation Aboriginal Corporation Australia to write and illustrate the children’s e-book Burning Mountain and illustrate Creation of the Hunter Valley, Deadly Firestick Farming, Deadly Community, Deadly Voice, Jimmy and the Water Cart and Baiame Cave and St Clair Mission. She is the recipient of two Mil-Pra Aboriginal Education Consultative Group Indigenous Art Prizes, the Riverwood Youth Art Prize, and her works have been purchased and commissioned by governments, universities, organisations and individuals.

Email: [email protected]

Photo of Charlotte Craven-Miller

Burning Mountain

In the dreamings,

a time long,

long ago,

there was once a beautiful, young

Wonnarua woman.

One day

she was walking on Wingen

Mountain

overlooking her country

when

she met a young fierce warrior.

They were immediately interested in each other.

The pair met

every night

and lit a campfire

on Wingen mountain -

lighting a fire they

wished would never end.

Days grew into months,

and the months

grew into years…

They were inseparably in love.

A love that

could only be described

as an eternal

flame.

Just like the flame,

their spark could

never

go out.

One day

a Wiradjuri man came to the

Wonnarua people

and warned them that

the Gomeroi people were about to attack them.

Though the battle was long,

the fierce

Wonnarua warriors returned home one by one.

They had got rid of the enemy,

and all

the warriors returned...

all except one -

the young Wonnarua woman’s love.

She kept waiting and waiting,

sitting on the

mountain range

overlooking her country,

to hopefully see her love return to her.

After a long time had passed,

she began to

realise

her love wasn’t coming home.

Devastated that her love didn’t make it back to her,

Frustration

and pure rage ignited inside

her.

She cried to Baiame - the sky god - to let her soul be with her love

where her body

could not.

Baiame listened

and started turning her

body into stone.

As she cried

the rage that burned inside

moved like wildfire throughout her whole body.

Her pain ignited

an eternal flame on the

mountain

to stay lit for all of eternity,

just like the love they shared.

The eternal flame still remains on Burning Mountain today.

In the dreamings, a time long, long ago, there was once a beautiful, young Wonnarua
woman.
One day she was walking on Wingen Mountain overlooking her country when she met
a young fierce warrior.
They were immediately interested in each other.
The pair met every night and lit a campfire on Wingen mountain - lighting a fire they
wished would never end.
Days grew into months, and the months grew into years…
They were inseparably in love. A love that could only be described as an eternal flame.
Just like the flame, their spark could never go out.
One day a Wiradjuri man came to the Wonnarua people and warned them that the
Gomeroi people were about to attack them.
The Gomeroi had sent a large number of men from the south to steal the Wonnarua’s
women.
Immediately the Wonnarua sent their most fierce warriors to stop them.

Burning Mountain Full Text

Though the battle was long, the fierce Wonnarua warriors returned home one by one.
They had got rid of the enemy, and all the warriors returned... all except one - the
young Wonnarua woman’s love.
She kept waiting and waiting, sitting on the mountain range overlooking her country,
to hopefully see her love return to her.
After a long time had passed, she began to realise her love wasn’t coming home.
Devastated that her love didn’t make it back to her, she lay on the mountain in
agonising pain.
Frustration and pure rage ignited inside her.
She cried to Baiame - the sky god - to let her soul be with her love where her body
could not.
Baiame listened and started turning her body into stone.
As she cried the rage that burned inside moved like wildfire throughout her whole
body.
Her pain ignited an eternal flame on the mountain to stay lit for all of eternity, just like
the love they shared.
The eternal flame still remains on Burning Mountain today.

Credits