This is absolutely the last straw for me. I've tried to understand and accept the significance of sacred sites, but it's now become intolerably ridiculous.
SouWester Spirits under fire for use of moojar tree, sacred to Noongar people, in gin:
A distillery at Margaret River in Western Australia has been accused of being culturally insensitive for using the "essence" of a tree sacred to Noongar people to make gin.
SouWester Spirits has been criticised by members of the Indigenous community after a batch of its gin was infused with Nuytsia floribunda, commonly known as the Australian Christmas tree or moojar tree.
The tree has cultural significance for Noongar people, who believe their ancestors' spirits live within its branches.
The distillery acknowledged it was a sacred tree to the Noongar people and insisted it had treated the tree with respect.
A spokeswoman for SouWester Spirits said no living tree was touched during the creation of the gin.
"We acknowledge and respect the land upon which our ingredients come from," she said.
The spokeswoman said the essence had been derived from a dying blossom lying on the ground.
"With utmost respect and care we washed the dried blossom and [macerated it] in water to rehydrate the flower and bring it back to life," she said.
Nuytsia Florabunda named after the famous Dutch explorer.
Dutch folk love their gin. Cheers!
dorian said
05:31 AM Feb 1, 2022
I read the ABC article again and had to convince myself that they had not been duped by a spoof.
Mike Harding said
06:58 AM Feb 1, 2022
It's all part of the Aboriginal Industry.
dorian said
07:10 AM Feb 1, 2022
Mike Harding wrote:
It's all part of the Aboriginal Industry.
I have no doubt that indigenous people have a lot of valid "cultural" claims, but they do themselves a disservice by crying wolf all the time. The distillery claims that they rejuvenated a dying blossom. C'mon, this has to stop somewhere.
86GTS said
07:49 AM Feb 1, 2022
The Dutch regard them as a sacred gin making tree.
I believe that they are considering imposing a tax on macadamia nuts, that sacred rainforest tree of the east coast.
-- Edited by 86GTS on Tuesday 1st of February 2022 10:00:01 AM
Corndoggy said
11:01 AM Feb 1, 2022
I'm waiting for them to come out and say the air is sacred in areas of Australia and we have to stop breathing it in those areas. Don't laugh its coming.
bilbo said
11:02 AM Feb 1, 2022
Mike says
"It's all part of the Aboriginal Industry."
So so true......cheers Bilbo
Bobdown said
11:13 AM Feb 1, 2022
The tree is a parasitic one, basically squeezes the roots of a healthy tree an takes it over as a host tree.
We used to find telephone cables crushed by the roots trying to get life out of it, a bit like some traditional owners trying to milk everything for what they can get.
Craig1 said
11:31 AM Feb 1, 2022
" believe that they are considering imposing a tax on macadamia nuts, that sacred rainforest tree of the east coast."
Good luck getting that out of the Hawaains
Ivan 01 said
01:38 PM Feb 1, 2022
I thought I had seen most things in Aus.
I have seen boot trees with boots in them. I have seen bra trees with bras in them. I have seen bike trees with many bikes hanging from the branches. I have even seen hat tress with hats in them
But I have never ever seen a gin tree with a gin in it.
Edit: should have read
*I have never seen a gin tree with a bottle of gin in it.*
Possum3 said
01:44 PM Feb 1, 2022
Macadamia is a genus of four species of trees indigenous to Australia, and constituting part of the plant family Proteaceae.[1][2] They are native to northeastern New South Wales and central and southeastern Queensland specifically. Three species of the genus are commercially important for their fruit, the macadamia nut /mękdemi/ (or simply macadamia). Global production in 2015 was 160,000 tonnes (180,000 short tons).[3] Other names include Queensland nut, bush nut, maroochi nut, bauple nut and Hawaii nut.[4] In Australian Aboriginal languages, the fruit is known by names such as bauple, gyndl or jindilli[4] (north of Great Dividing Range) and boombera (south of the Great Range).[citation needed] It was an important source of bushfood for the Aboriginal peoples who are the original inhabitants of the area.
The nut was first commercially produced on a wide scale in Hawaii, where Australian seeds were introduced in the 1880s, and for some time they were the world's largest producer. South Africa has been the world's largest producer of the macadamia since the 2010s.
-- Edited by Possum3 on Tuesday 1st of February 2022 01:47:27 PM
peter67 said
10:01 PM Feb 1, 2022
Bobdown wrote:
The tree is a parasitic one, basically squeezes the roots of a healthy tree an takes it over as a host tree.
We used to find telephone cables crushed by the roots trying to get life out of it, a bit like some traditional owners trying to milk everything for what they can get.
Right on it Bob.
Derek Barnes said
03:49 PM Feb 2, 2022
I think we are going to see more strange things happen in the future in the name of aboriginal reconciliation.
For example the word "civilization" has always meant a high level of technological and social development in the past. A "civilization" had to live in permanent towns or cities, have agriculture and domesticated animals for food, create monuments, have a system for recording data such as writing or numbering systems, have different classes of people and different jobs such as farmer, artisan, trader, government officials, judiciary, etc., and had to use metal tools and weapons.
Lately I have seen lists of the oldest "civilizations" as including the Australian aboriginal culture which includes none of the above features. Yet these lists still do not include all the other stone age cultures of the world such as the tribes who lived in the Orkney Islands many thousands of years ago. These people had permanent villages, raised crops and animals, created monuments to the dead, and even had flushing toilets! Yet they are not considered a "civilization".
It seems to me the truth is being brushed aside in the name of appeasing people for reconciliation.
Mike Harding said
04:25 PM Feb 2, 2022
I'm still trying to discover what "reconciliation" means?
Cassie63 said
06:14 PM Feb 2, 2022
I'd like to see the indigenous take responsibility for the Billions the tax payer has thrown their way. If it was any other Australian they would be on fraud charges. Current media is saying there is to many deaths in custody, in my simple mind if you do the crime you do the time, pretty simple.
To many bleeding hearts out there.
This is absolutely the last straw for me. I've tried to understand and accept the significance of sacred sites, but it's now become intolerably ridiculous.
SouWester Spirits under fire for use of moojar tree, sacred to Noongar people, in gin:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-01-31/gin-company-slammed-for-using-sacred-indigenous-plant/100793060
A distillery at Margaret River in Western Australia has been accused of being culturally insensitive for using the "essence" of a tree sacred to Noongar people to make gin.
SouWester Spirits has been criticised by members of the Indigenous community after a batch of its gin was infused with Nuytsia floribunda, commonly known as the Australian Christmas tree or moojar tree.
The tree has cultural significance for Noongar people, who believe their ancestors' spirits live within its branches.
The distillery acknowledged it was a sacred tree to the Noongar people and insisted it had treated the tree with respect.
A spokeswoman for SouWester Spirits said no living tree was touched during the creation of the gin.
"We acknowledge and respect the land upon which our ingredients come from," she said.
The spokeswoman said the essence had been derived from a dying blossom lying on the ground.
"With utmost respect and care we washed the dried blossom and [macerated it] in water to rehydrate the flower and bring it back to life," she said.
Merry Christmas, hick! hick!
Holy flora, they're everywhere:
https://ipv4.google.com/search?q=australia+"sacred+tree"+indigenous+OR+aboriginal
Nuytsia Florabunda named after the famous Dutch explorer.
Dutch folk love their gin. Cheers!
It's all part of the Aboriginal Industry.
I have no doubt that indigenous people have a lot of valid "cultural" claims, but they do themselves a disservice by crying wolf all the time. The distillery claims that they rejuvenated a dying blossom. C'mon, this has to stop somewhere.
The Dutch regard them as a sacred gin making tree.
I believe that they are considering imposing a tax on macadamia nuts, that sacred rainforest tree of the east coast.
-- Edited by 86GTS on Tuesday 1st of February 2022 10:00:01 AM
Mike says
"It's all part of the Aboriginal Industry."
So so true......cheers Bilbo
The tree is a parasitic one, basically squeezes the roots of a healthy tree an takes it over as a host tree.
We used to find telephone cables crushed by the roots trying to get life out of it, a bit like some traditional owners trying to milk everything for what they can get.
Good luck getting that out of the Hawaains
I thought I had seen most things in Aus.
I have seen boot trees with boots in them.
I have seen bra trees with bras in them.
I have seen bike trees with many bikes hanging from the branches.
I have even seen hat tress with hats in them
But I have never ever seen a gin tree with a gin in it.
Edit: should have read
*I have never seen a gin tree with a bottle of gin in it.*
Macadamia is a genus of four species of trees indigenous to Australia, and constituting part of the plant family Proteaceae.[1][2] They are native to northeastern New South Wales and central and southeastern Queensland specifically. Three species of the genus are commercially important for their fruit, the macadamia nut /mękdemi/ (or simply macadamia). Global production in 2015 was 160,000 tonnes (180,000 short tons).[3] Other names include Queensland nut, bush nut, maroochi nut, bauple nut and Hawaii nut.[4] In Australian Aboriginal languages, the fruit is known by names such as bauple, gyndl or jindilli[4] (north of Great Dividing Range) and boombera (south of the Great Range).[citation needed] It was an important source of bushfood for the Aboriginal peoples who are the original inhabitants of the area.
The nut was first commercially produced on a wide scale in Hawaii, where Australian seeds were introduced in the 1880s, and for some time they were the world's largest producer. South Africa has been the world's largest producer of the macadamia since the 2010s.
Macadamia - Wikipedia
-- Edited by Possum3 on Tuesday 1st of February 2022 01:47:27 PM
Right on it Bob.
I think we are going to see more strange things happen in the future in the name of aboriginal reconciliation.
For example the word "civilization" has always meant a high level of technological and social development in the past. A "civilization" had to live in permanent towns or cities, have agriculture and domesticated animals for food, create monuments, have a system for recording data such as writing or numbering systems, have different classes of people and different jobs such as farmer, artisan, trader, government officials, judiciary, etc., and had to use metal tools and weapons.
Lately I have seen lists of the oldest "civilizations" as including the Australian aboriginal culture which includes none of the above features. Yet these lists still do not include all the other stone age cultures of the world such as the tribes who lived in the Orkney Islands many thousands of years ago. These people had permanent villages, raised crops and animals, created monuments to the dead, and even had flushing toilets! Yet they are not considered a "civilization".
It seems to me the truth is being brushed aside in the name of appeasing people for reconciliation.
I'm still trying to discover what "reconciliation" means?
To many bleeding hearts out there.