Characters and speaker

The poem “The Past” by Oodgeroo Noonuccal is narrated by a first-person speaker, a lyrical alter-ego of Oodgeroo Noonuccal. The only other characters mentioned in the poem are her ancestors, which can be seen as a collective character.

The speaker's relationship with this collective character is a close one, almost mystical. She feels connected with the ancestors of her tribe and she also feels that, in some ways, they are a part of her:

“My own people, sitting on the ground,
No walls about me,” (ll. 12-13)

The speaker identifies with her people and feels like her dream has transported her amidst them, in a distant past: “Soft cries of the night coming to us, there Where we are one with all old Nature's lives” (ll. 17-18)

Observe that “Nature” is spelled with a capital ‘N’, suggesting that it is also a kind of char...