Tagai
Tagai depicts the constellation of stars that custodians and visitors to Zenadth Kes consult to guide them safely across the seas when travelling from one island to another. The movement of the stars also signals the changing seasons that inform planting, harvesting and hunting cycles. Named after the Creator Being Tagai, the constellation takes the form of a man standing on a canoe whose left hand is formed by the stars of the Southern Cross and holds a spear.
Tagai is crucial to navigating not only Country, but also selfhood and purpose in life for Gail and her people: ‘When you follow your Tagai, it means you follow your star, it means you follow the path that leads you where you need to be.’
In 2015, a star in the Southern Cross was named Koiki after Gail’s late father, Eddie Koiki Mabo, to mark the 23rd anniversary of the historic Mabo decision. In 2018, her late mother Bonita Mabo joined the constellation with a star named in her honour to acknowledge her staunch work as an educator and activist championing the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
