In accordance with tribal custom, a number of houses - closed and vacated after a death in this Indigenous community on Cape York Peninsula- were opened in an impressive ceremony.
There was a strong Torres Strait influence in the ceremony , evident in some of the dress , basketry and weaving on display .
The house opening ceremonies of Aurukun are drawn from ancient tradition, from when people camped in the bush on their traditional lands in temporary shelters. Traditionally, access to the camp area in which someone had died could be “closed” for up to two years. Eventually a ceremony would be held near that place shortly before the wet season to send the deceased person’s spirit back to his or her traditional lands and to set the place right for people to live in again. The immediate family and the in-laws of the deceased would hunt and gather food for a large feast and groups from other clans would be invited to participate. Those who came, all well dressed and decorated, would demonstrate their condolences to the close family in moving expressions of grief.
