‘A connection between us and the spirit world’ — Menang Noongar elder shares sacred story of WA Christmas tree

As the spectacular orange flowers of the Moojar emerge each December, so too do the spirits of Lynette Knapp’s ancestors. When the Moojar, or WA Christmas tree, blooms each summer, the dry landscapes of the South West are splashed with golden hues. For Noongar people, the trees are sacred. The Moojar’s flowers signal the start of the warmest of the six Menang Noongar seasons. “Summer to people in my family is heralded in by the flowers appearing out of the Moojar,” Ms Knapp, pictured, said. “Our bush calendars are ruled by plants and animals. “We are totemic people ... we belong to them and they belong to us.” Ms Knapp — who says her Menang lineage dates back more than 70,000 years — would trace the roots of the Moojar tree in search of its sugary sap as a child. Where the roots entwined to other plants, it would ooze a sweet gum, earning its name as the “lolly tree”.’ Belonging to the mistletoe family, the WA natives are understood to be the world’s biggest parasitic species. Its roots creep and twist through earth, wrapping around other plants with a ring of pale tissue. Inside, tiny blades slice into the plant to steal its sap. But for Ms Knapp, the Moojar’s presence is one of beauty. The trees evoke a feeling she cannot put into words, a reminder of family. “It’s a connection between us and the spirit world,” she said. “When we see the orange flowers, we are happy to see that our people are coming back to look over country. “It gives you a feeling that I can’t explain.” When her relatives die, their spirits return to the branches of the Moojar, ready to make the journey to the place between the sea and the sky, Koorannup. “We are not allowed to pick them; there is a traditional law against that,” she said. “That is cutting someone’s wonderful journey back home short and it brings bad luck. “All the people that have passed and all the spirits and souls that are sat in that tree, we recognise them at this time of year, when the bright orange flowers come out. “We believe that they are our spirit people, or loved ones who have passed beyond, coming back to say hello.”