LIVES: OCEAN GROVE/WADAWURRUNG COUNTRY
AGE STARTED SURFING: 5
DREAM SURFBREAK: CRESCENT HEAD
HEADBOARD: 9’4” PALE HORSE SINGLE FIN
WAVE SIZE: HEAD HIGH
Over the past ten years Jessi has been exploring her family’s history. After discovering her Wiradjuri ancestry she was overcome with a grounded feeling. ‘There was a generation of my family that were able to pass as white so they were able to leave the mission and move to Sydney to find work. So basically if they could deny being Aboriginal, they could get a job. My family didn’t identify as being Aboriginal, but my nan knew so she passed it on to my aunty and my mum. My Aunty Lisa has picked it back up, and is trying to put all the pieces back together from what was lost through that period of time. It’s been a slow journey, but one thing that I’ve learned is that it is already part of who I am, it’s part of my spirit.
Part of Jessi’s journey as a Wiradjuri woman will be returning to Country at some stage, when the timing feels right. She has travelled across her ancestral land while heading north on many surf road trips but has yet to stop and connect. She’s slowly preparing to take a trip out to Country and spend time there. Probably even take canvases and paint. Jessi’s Aunty Lisa is an artist and when she was young Jessi would ask her to paint something for her. Aunty Lisa’s response was to push Jessi gently to take up painting herself. It took a few years but Jessi eventually started to paint. The motivation to pick up the paint brushes came when she was working in residential care with high risk youth. When Jessi started working there, she was exposed to a lot of violence and trauma. So art became an outlet for her. She tries to paint based on what she’s feeling in her life at the time and to use Wiradjuri language to speak about it. Jessi has been learning to speak Wiradjuri and the immersion in her painting style and connection to Country has led her to title her paintings in that language. She paints most days, creating commissions or works for herself. ‘I think there was a part of me that was scared to do it, because I think I knew that it would almost unravel parts of me I wasn’t ready to unravel.’
Since birth Jessi has always been deeply connected to the Birpai Country where she grew up on a farm in Bonny Hills on the mid-North Coast, New South Wales. Her father was a keen surfer so she and her sister were either in the ocean or at home making jumps to fly their bikes into the dam. Her love of where she grew up prompted her to find out more about the Indigenous history of the area. ‘There’s a headland you can walk up that looks over one of the beaches called Sharky’s Beach. From there you can see Dooragan Mountain, which is also called Big Brother Mountain, which is part of the Dreaming of Birpai. I love walking out there. But when it was colonised, they massacred all the Birpai people from that area, off the cliff there. It’s called Grants Headland and the beach below is called Grants Beach, but we call it Sharky’s because at the bottom there’s grey nurse shark breeding grounds. When they massacred the Aboriginal people off the headland, there was a food source for the sharks. But no one knows the story. We don’t get taught that stuff growing up because no one wants to talk about it. Whenever I walk up there, I can feel the spirits in those black cockatoos that live up there; I got this tattoo because it reminds me of the area I feel connected to.’
Jessi’s warm nature and her love of connection and community feeds into her observations of surfing. She believes there needs to be a lot more compassion for people who are learning because everyone was learning at one point. ‘We’ve all had really kooky moments where we’ve done something stupid. I surf with a bunch of women of all levels and when we’re out in the line-up, it’s fun. There’s a heap of fun energy, even if it’s the shittiest waves, everyone’s having a good time.’ Jessi feels sorry for a lot of the guys who are learning to surf because she doesn’t think they have the same opportunity to just enjoy themselves. How refreshing would it be to see a group of male beginners in the line-up laughing and goofing around? Jessi’s advice to any beginner surfer is not to challenge yourself too early and to stay in your comfort zone. ‘You don’t have to prove yourself to anyone. Don’t feel you have to go big, or go home. I think the two most important things about surfing are having fun and being safe. Enjoy being in nature. You’re connected to something way bigger than yourself that you will never probably fully understand. But that’s the beauty of it.’
This is an extract from Surf Life: Women who Live to Surf and Create.
Surf Life by Gill Hutchison and Willem-Dirk du Toit is available now.
AU $49.99
Posted on October 6, 2022