Judy Edgar & Maya Shioji Sorry Business

Judy is a traditional Karajarri Yawuru woman from Broome and Maya is her daughter. Judy was promised to a man from birth but describes how her father cleared ‘in the Aboriginal way’ for her to be with Shioji, a Japanese pearl diver, after meeting him in her teens. When Judy’s mother died, it was Maya’s responsibility to organise a traditional funeral. Judy waited at the Sorry Camp set up at her sister’s place where her role was ‘to grieve and be seen grieving’, while Maya informed those in other language groups and towns and arranged their transport to Broome, among other tasks.

At the funeral, Maya describes the turns taken to cry over the coffin, the white sand on which people sat in their skin groups, the smoking ceremony before sunset. She explains that such moments throughout the day exist to let out grief and clear the liyan (spirit). Judy talks about the importance of not having photos or saying the name of those who have passed away. Maya also talks about the calm of her father’s Buddhist funeral.

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