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The contribution of homelands to traditional owners

By Jimmy Pascoe - posted Friday, 19 June 2009


It took Marion Scrymgour’s resignation from the Northern Territory Labor Government to force Chief Minister Paul Henderson to agree to do more research about, and economic modeling of, the Territory's ancestral lands with a view, we hope, to changing the homelands policy.

The NT Government hasn't clearly set out the implications of the plan to create 20 regional economic and education hubs from selected existing towns (15 of which will also be funded by the Commonwealth).

Which existing homelands will be abandoned? Which homeland bilingual schools will be closed? And why? Traditional owners and their families are concerned we run the risk of losing our languages.

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The policy as so-far described may force many of us in West Arnhem to move to larger centres to get access to services, upending our traditional links and potentially exposing us and our children to more of the alcohol, violence and drug abuse that are more common in large centres.

We are very concerned. But it need not have come to this, had the government genuinely consulted us. When Mr Henderson visited Maningrida this year he appeared to listen but then seemed to twist our stories to make them fit his own.

Sometimes we feel like we are part of a game we can’t play.

And it keeps changing, Maybe next month there will be another new policy, then next year another, all the time without actually talking with us about what works best for us.

Indigenous Policy Minister Alison Anderson is wrong when she says that “money spent on rarely-inhabited communities is wasted”.

Some residents of the 32 outstations around Maningrida live in their homelands all year; others nearly all year. "This is my home. This is where I feel safe," they say again and again.

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Travelling to the homelands is not easy, even with latest Toyota Land Cruiser. The roads are heavily corrugated and turn what could be short trips into unsafe long journeys.

The NT Government says it will continue to fund outstations within a certain radius of the hubs, but only if the homeland residents agree to stay on them 80 per cent of year. Many would like to, but won't if the services and roads are unreliable, especially during the wet season. It’s a Catch 22.

If Chief Minister Henderson is now serious about examining the contribution of homelands, he won’t tar all homelands or outstations with the same brush. Indigenous communities are as diverse as Indigenous languages.

The Aboriginal Land Rights Act (Northern Territory) ensures that anything that is built on lands trust land, including in the homelands, becomes owned by the traditional owners. As we put it, "what’s built on the ground, stays on the ground". This gives the government an understandable financial incentive to avoid spending money on homelands and to instead spend in the bigger centres where it can own what it builds.

But the Chief Minister might find there are important, broader economic and social reasons for continuing to supporting homelands living.

My good friend David, a 78-year-old at Djebenna outstation says, "Bush is better! Peace and quiet. In the bigger centres all you hear is boom, boom, boom, dong, dong, dong music. You go crazy."

Ahead of barge weekends (when grog travels into Maningrida once a fortnight by barge) young women flee the centres and travel to their homelands with their grandparents to escape problems.

The lifestyle is healthier in all sorts of ways.

George, who is 75 and lives on his homeland most of the year, makes large fish traps from wild rope found in the bush. He sells them to the Maningrida Arts and Culture Centre which has a thriving national and international trade. He uses the same traps to catch fish and in local creeks and billabongs.

Artists appreciate the tranquility and spiritual connection they get being on their homeland. Their stay helps them keep alive their cultural practices and knowledge. It gives them a purpose, an income and encourages them to pass on their skills to future generations.

David and George and I share our harvesting skills with our kids and grandkids "on country". We enjoy fishing together, collecting yams. It’s strengthens our relationships. And it's healthier than town take-away tucker. We hunt introduced species - buffalo and pig, improving the country. We manage the lands and we make use of bush medicine. It helps wash our insides.

As the older men tell me repeatedly: "In the big towns you can buy everything; cigarettes, 'white man' food, too much take-away. That’s why people die".

The Menzies School of Health Research recently published a paper in the Medical Journal of Australia confirming that Aboriginal people’s health is much improved by their living and working on homelands. It found lower rates of heart disease, diabetes and renal failure. People exercise more and are less stressed.

It represents a cost saving to government.

Homelands are like banks. Not for money but for security, knowledge and culture. Traditional owners and their families benefit and so does the rest of Australia.

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About the Author

Jimmy Pascoe is a traditional owner and Chairman of Bawinanga Aboriginal Corporation based at Maningrida in West Arnhem Land.

Creative Commons LicenseThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

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