Location 7: Tyndale northbound
Aneika Kapeen, Gilbert Laurie, Jessica Birk and Frances Belle Parker
Yugaamgan
The artwork Yugaamgan (Emu in Yaygirr) is created in recognition of the endangered and genetically unique coastal emu, now only found on Yaegl Country. The emu is a fast-running bird with defined calf muscles indicating that it is a strong and driven bird. The emu is also unable to walk backwards, showing strength, like that of the Yaegl people, to always move forward.
The artwork depicts how visitors may often see the emus amongst the grass or cane fields along the roads, or standing in paddocks. The artists – Aneika Kapeen, Gilbert Laurie, Jessica Birk and Frances Belle Parker – have included several emus, showing how the community are trying to bring the emu population back to being plentiful.
Clarence Peak, seen in the distance, is an important location for these emus. It is also a significant landmark of Yaegl Country, a place that identifies home for the Yaegl people. The pattern in the background shows this connection to Country and culture.
Location 7: Tyndale southbound
Aneika Kapeen, Gilbert Laurie, Jessica Birk and Frances Belle Parker
Animals on Country
Animals on Country is an artwork depicting a selection of animals that call Yaegl Country home. Waandyi (Dingoes), Buudyi (Kangaroos), Yulunyaman (echidnas) and Wurrun.gil (magpies) are all present in the landscape, and each of these animals plays a significant role within the ecosystem of Yaegl Country.
The animals roam the land searching for food for themselves and their families: they are protectors, they are carers, and they work together in ensuring the longevity of their being. The colours in the background are those of the changing landscape. The layering of the subtle pattern in the background symbolises the underlying stories and connection to Country. It is this connection to Country which also underpins the Yaegl connection to the land on which they call home.
Location 8: Maclean Interchange northbound
Aneika Kapeen, Gilbert Laurie, Jessica Birk and Frances Belle Parker
The Golden Eel and the Creation of the Clarence River
This artwork depicts the Yaegl story of the Giant Eel. The eel lived in a waterhole between Bundjalung and Gumbaynggirr Country in the Clarence River, where Grafton Bridge is now. The eel travelled downstream, carving the river as he went, trying to find more water. But once he reached the water at Yamba, it was too salty. He turned around and made his way back up the river, this time carving a new path and creating the many islands we see in the river today.
This artwork shows the eel creating islands and carving them from the land. Also present are depictions of other creatures that inhabit the waterways: a frog, a turtle and a fish. These are there as a subtle inclusion to encourage the viewer to look deeper within the artwork and within Country.
Location 8: Maclean Interchange southbound
Aneika Kapeen, Gilbert Laurie, Jessica Birk and Frances Belle Parker
The Fig Tree
The Fig tree artwork talks about the significance of the large fig tree which once stood at the Maclean Showground. One of the Yaegl Dreamtime Stories speaks about Dirrangun, a clever woman whose spirit lived within the fig tree. Whilst this story is important to the Yaegl people, it is also very important to the Gumbayngirr as well as the Bundjalung people. This tree stood majestically at the showground and became a symbol for the town of Maclean.
The significance of the fig tree to Yaegl people is important. The roots of the tree are strong, embedding it into the earth. Also featured in the artwork are spirit figures which represent and acknowledge Yaegl Elders and ancestors who have come before us to help pave the way for future generations. Magpies feature as a symbol of reconciliation as well as a representation of their importance to Yaegl people. The magpie is especially significant to the people of the Lower Clarence, with the local football team known as the Lower Clarence Magpies. Black cockatoos also feature as they are an important aspect of the Yaegl landscape.
The colours within the work depict the ever-changing beauty of the landscape. The colours of the sunset change regularly as do the colours of the landscape adapting to the various seasons throughout the year.
Location 9: Illuka northbound
Aneika Kapeen, Gilbert Laurie, Jessica Birk and Frances Belle Parker
Three Brothers and the Sea
This artwork shows elements of the story of The Three Brothers, respecting the Bundjalung story of the three brothers who travelled to the mouth of the Clarence River in a canoe. They then decided to each build their own canoe and try to get back home. Their mother, thinking they had abandoned her, caused the seas to rage, making the three brothers land on the coast north of the Clarence River.
Rather than try and go home again, the three brothers settled and had families. They each moved to a different area, and this is how the Bundjalung dialects were created. The background image signifies bloodlines, which represent the close relationship Yaegl people have with neighbouring nations/Bundjalung and the stories which overlap between nations to tie them together. The sea creatures accompany the figures of the three brothers in the artwork to show the strong connection of coastal Country and stories of the sea.
Location 9: Illuka southbound
Aneika Kapeen, Gilbert Laurie, Jessica Birk and Frances Belle Parker
Coastal Botany and Crossing Country
The artwork Coastal Botany and Food Sources highlights one of the Yaegl landmarks, Clarence Peak. The Clarence Peak is a Yaegl identifier for knowing they are home.
Various fauna elements are featured to depict the native plants of our Yaegl Country. Banksias feature as a symbol of strength and resilience; their ability to go through the harshest of fires and come back and regenerate is a sign of their resilience. It becomes symbolic in the sense that Aboriginal people possess that same characteristic, enduring so much while still finding the strength to come back stronger than ever.
Wildlife, such as the echidna, goanna and platypus, feature in the artwork, showing a way of travelling across Country. The background image depicts a journey of crossing Country, always to return home.