Old Tim tells the author a story about a man who shot dogs and later died. As the author comes to understand, the story carries deep meaning for the Yarralin audience, relating to their spiritual connections to dingos and the land. Old Tim is a "dog man" who sees dingos as integral to his spirituality. He tells this story after poison baits were dropped by plane across the area, including over Yarralin, to warn that disrespecting the land and dingos can bring retaliation. Through stories, Old Tim and others in Yarralin bring past and present together and assert continuities between specific events and broader meanings.

1. YEAR 11 SOR Indigenous Spirituality Revision Task
quot;Verbal learning, although it may seem straightforward, is often opaque to
the newcomer. On my third day in Yarralin, Old Tim Yilngayarri told me a
story: ‘There was a man who shot dogs and he’s dead now.’ As I
subsequently came to understand, for a Yarralin audience at that time this
story spoke volumes. To me, however, it said nothing. Realising that I
was incapable of making sense of it, Old Time went on to give me a fuller
account of how a European stockman had been mustering in an area that
is important to dingo life, how he had been warned not to shoot dingos,
and had ignored the advice Aboriginal people gave him. His shots were
followed by a loud booming noise which signalled something out of the
ordinary, and he later died.
Old Tim told me this story just three days after the manager of VRD had
arranged for dingo bait to be dropped by plane throughout the area. The
plane flew low over Yarralin, dropping poison there as well. Old Tim is an
owner of country rich with Dingo Dreamings; he is a ‘dog man’ par
excellence, with an intimate concern for, and understanding of, dingos
and dogs. His life is connected to dingo life and he has assumed a special
responsibility for canines. European use of poison was specifically
intended to be detrimental to dingos, and Old Tim took it upon himself to
show a continuity between past and present. His story demonstrated that
arrogant European actions are not confined to the past, and hinted at
retribution. For people whose lived experience is marked by so many
injustices, including having had their dogs shot by police and by station
personnel, the briefest story, told in the right context, resonates with
memory and understanding.
.....I went to Yarralin with questions. Frequently I was told stories.
Although I was initially unable to perceive many of the subtleties, it
became clear that Yarralin people’s stories bring past and present, specific
and general, individual and collective into a shared matrix. Stories are
told by people who have particular interests with respect to the issues
involved; they draw on shared memories and construct continuities
between past, present, and future, and between the specific and general.
There is no collective Yarralin position articulated by a single
spokesperson. There are stories: many voices joining together. Often the
voices are in agreement, but consensus is by no means a necessary
condition to a story . (Deborah Rose Bird)

2. READ the passage carefully.
Underline the words/ phrases that refer to Old Tim’s spirituality.
Using the knowledge and skills gained in your study, write 200 words
explaining to a non-Aboriginal person why Dingo baits should not be
used on this land: