Belonging Essay Daniel Mansutti It is essential for people to belong as it is one of the basic human needs in which we thrive for but some want to “belong to” and others want to “belong with”. The two texts I have chosen to explore the differences are ‘We Are Going” by Oodgeroo Noonuccal and a scene called ‘This Land is Mine’ from ‘One Night The Moon’ by Carmody and Kelly.
They both emphasise the way white people tend to belong to and the indigenous tend to belong with. In ‘We Are Going’ the difference is shown as the white people use the land for their own needs while the indigenous people connect with the land and is seen as a way forming together. The white people are silenced in this poem showing that the author thinks very little of the white people.
Personification is used to show that the white people are just people that belong to the land and not with it as the poem states “but the white tribe are strangers “giving them the identity of just using the land for the own personal good and do not belong there. But the author emphasises the indigenous in the poem as it shows that even though they lost the land they can still find a way of connecting through each other.
In the poem the last sentence says ‘We Are Going’ to reiterate that sense of belonging with each other instead of belonging to stating that yes they have lost their land but they have gained something better, each other. The other text I have chosen, This Land Is Mine challenges the clashing ideas of two cultures in which one belongs to and the other belongs with. The white settler sees the aboriginal tracker as a threat to taking his land back but the white settler seeks ownership of the land through the European system.
The repetition of ‘they won’t take it away’ gives us a sense of ownership and status for the white making him feel like he owns the land giving him a sense of belonging. While the indigenous tracker sees the white man as a monster and a man who abuses his rights of the land as the indigenous culture is to cherish and nurture the land as its own spiritual self. The indigenous tracker sings about the symbolism of the animals and the water and talking about how the lands own him challenges the white settler’s culture and sense of belonging.
The indigenous see belonging with the land a symbol of culture and the way their identity is portrayed while the white settler sees the land as a belonging not a place of belonging. The difference between to belong to and belonging with are showed in both texts of “We Are Going” and “This Land Is Mine” as a cultural aspect such as the white people see the land as a thing that is there and can be yours while the indigenous see it as a spiritual being that can be connected with and enriched with.
