About twenty years ago I started stirring trouble. I went looking for more stories about the hairy man. I wasn’t sure if it was my right or not, to start asking questions about something that had haunted my dreams since my time in this world began. But, I couldn’t help it. I felt it was a great story that somewhere along the way had been pushed down, and for that very reason it needed to be told. Whilst I’d known the hairy man since my time began, others were saying the hairy man was a myth, daring to suggest that the well told story of the hairy man wasn’t true. How could that be so? I started asking around. What did other blackfellas know about the fateful hairy man that lurked in the black shadows?

According to our elders, the hairy man lives in isolated places, often hangs around on the river bed, feeding off mussels and crawfish. The hairy man likes to hang around children and tends to come out at night. The hairy man will grab you in your sleep or get you if are out alone in the bush at night. Even though Aunty Rose Dodd said she wasn’t ever really sure if the hairy man was a just a yarn that the old folk told, she also said with conviction that it was a very unpleasant experience if one of them ever got a hold of you. The hairy man would hold you down by the head, and there was nothing you could do about it, but wait for it to be over. Aunty Rose wasn’t willing to say whether she’d seen one or not, but she also said that she wouldn’t ever want to go looking.  

My cousin, Noel Pope said that if his old man said he’d seen a hairy man, then he’d certainly seen one. Why would anyone make that up? For me, there isn’t any point denying that the hairy man is real. The hairy man is a force to be reckoned with, and the hairy man is real. Whatever you do, you don’t doubt the hairy man.

What I want to know is what’s up with people wanting to deny the hairy man of his place in history in the first place?

The hairy man has been around for thousands of years. He is a part of me. He is in my subconscious. Hairy man is with me when I’m on the road. There with me every film I make, every article I write, and on every visit I make to country - we know each other well. I’ve grown up knowing that the hairy man is there. The hairy man is taking care of things. He is a hero to me. Guardian and protector, hairy man protects me from the things about myself that I am yet to learn. The hairy man is from the land that I inhabit. The hairy man knows what’s best, and in the hairy man I trust.

Speaking of trusting in a man of the land, there is a man named Darryl Black who lives up (location). Darryl Black knows not to mess with the hairy man, and that’s not all that Darryl Black knows. In fact, Darryl Black has so many stories to tell about the land in (location) that I’d *almost* be so bold as to say that he has become a bit of a hairy man himself. But, I know better than that. The hairy man knows all, but for some reason Darryl Black doesn’t exactly have people knocking at his door, offering him well paid consulting contracts, for all he has done, and for all of the knowledge he has to offer. So, what’s with that? What is it about Darryl Black that makes him something to fear, much like the hairy many, instead of a hero to reward?

Sure, Darryl Black doesn’t fit the persona of the expert consultant, and for the stigma that he carries, he may as well be our friend, the contested hairy man. When I set out looking for the hairy man twenty years ago, what little did I know then of what the story of the hairy man would come to mean to me now.

My cousin, Noel Pope spoke about the hairy man, and Noel Pope is a man with the richest of life experience. A survivor of military trauma, who has made a tremendous contribution to community, and delivered several youth community programs. But, like many Aboriginal elders, who have a huge amount of cultural heritage knowledge and an equal amount of willingness to transfer that to younger generations, Noel Pope isn’t exactly getting the status or salary to match. This leads me to ask: how can we get elders like Noel Pope onto the merit list, and also get him the remuneration he deserves?

I count myself as very fortunate that when I go looking for the hairy man these days, I’m not going looking to find something that I already know is there. I don’t look for the hairy man because I don’t believe in him. When I look for the hairy man it’s because I know deep down inside he is always there. I seek the hairy man so I can celebrate a hero, and learn as much as I can about my culture and myself as I can. The story of the hairy man means a lot to me. As elders of a culture that have been the guardians of the Australian land for thousands of generations, what do we need to do to get recognised for what we know? I don’t doubt the hairy man, and I sure as the hairy man don’t want to have to doubt myself. I don’t think I am alone on that one.

What cultural knowledge do you have that you want to share and that you feel you should be remunerated for? And, how can we make this happen?