Rainforest Reunion

I am now in Lismore studying for the phenomenally boring Cert IV in Workplace Training and Assessment - but most of the last week was spent camping out on Mt Nardi with old campaigners for the rainforest (and a few young), celebrating the victory for rainforest we won 25 years ago.

Lots of photos, from the old Benny 25 years ago, to Winiata who never seems to age...





















Jingles as the coffee wallah...

The grannies telling stories of the old days to the kids from Tuntable school (just like the creekbed at Town Bore, only greener)

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Gummy, Doug and PJ...


people reminiscing and making plans round the fire ...

me and Luna up in the magnificent strangler fig...

Endings and Beginnings

Here is a photo of the graduation day at Papunya, when four of the Aged Care workers received their hard-won Certificate II in Community Dervices.

It was also my last day and I had to work hard not to cry, people were being so lovely. I am already missing them, despite being glad to see my family and friends back here in Nimbin and Lismore.

"Prayer for Deliverance from Extinguishment"

"Prayer for Deliverance from Extinguishment"

Our Colonial Overlords… Whom art in Government
Shallow be thy name…
Thy kingdoms done
Thy will shall not be done on earth…
As it is not done… in heaven
What you give us this day is our daily Dread
You treat us like trespassers…
But it is you who trespass against us
Lead us not into extinguishment…
But deliver us from this evil…
For thine is the Government…
The Power Without Glory…
Though never forever... … Amen.

© Alec Donald Wilson 2000
Free to circulate for non-profit, please do, Alec
Image: "Yarrabah community's Anglican members perform at Heathmont…"
Pic by? Source: web

Freefall

This is what I did last weekend - abseiling at Emily Gap. Fred provided all the gear and some excellent training and I slid down the rockface with the greatest of ease. A long way from the days when heights made me sick with anxiety. In fact, it was a bit too tame for me, not a drop of adrenalin. The company was excellent, and only one person over 5'4" - all vietnamese, filipino and other short people! Fred's son Elliott was a real rocker, scrambling up and sliding down like a pro (and he was the shortest of us all).

This weekend I am recovering from a big week, another big week - training up my replacement, Kate and giving away stuff and packing away stuff and cleaning up stuff - stuff it, I've had it. Been digging the plants out of the garden to go to good homes where they might survive better.

There have been massive willy-willys charging through town regularly, competing with the dust sent up by the bulldozer that's clearing a house site next door to me. Some day I hope to catch a photo of the rubbish spiralling upwards in a kupi-kupi (pitjantjatjara for willy-willy) or walpa (luritja for wind). The dogs all go crazy barking and jumping up at it! It has been very hot but the sky has had rainclouds and a luminous promise for several days. Some rain passed through today. The glorious smell sent me running outside but it was only a few drops - the first for six months. Not enough to make the minkulpa grow, but everyone will be hopeful. Drugs rule the world - though the women were shocked and disbelieving when I said that minkulpa (native tobacco) is a drug. This is bush tomatoes here in the photo...

I am sad to be leaving - everyone knows me now and the kids all shout and wave to me. These days there are kids dunking themselves in makeshift swimming pools all over town. This morning we passed someone sitting on a chair in a half-tank half-full of water under the blazing sun, just keeping their feet cool. Further down the road there's a bunch of people playing cards (gotta get money somehow) under a tree. I feel at home here in so many ways. And there is so much work to be done. I just have to come back some day. I am planning to spend over $2000 to study and get the Cert IV in workplace training and assessment when I get back - it will be very useful out here. First, though, I have to go to the Nightcap action group reunion - 25 years since we had all that fun saving the forest! I have also booked a ticket to Tassie for a week in mid-feb to see my bro Tim and some of the Austin family and go to the Forest Festival at Jackey's Marsh - and remember bushwalking up there on the Tiers and camping overnight (and freezing!) in an idyllic (and freezing!) north-facing cave all those years ago. Then the Franklin was saved and now Gunn's are about to pulp the forests. It goes on and on and the price of freedom stays the same - or is it getting higher? ... perhaps the best thing about the intervention is the politicising of the people that it will encourage. Women for Wik seem about the most spot-on for the news and views for walypalas, I recommend their website (link at left).

Karen and Katie who work with me are coming over to Brisbane at xmas to see Katie's daughter so I will see them then. I hope they don't get too homesick. At least Brisbane will be sweltering hot for them.

Dreaming

It’s now less than three weeks till I leave and I am surrounded by a chaos of clutter which is all the bits I have accumulated here …sorting through it all. Lots of fun! But maybe not as much as having as little as these old folk do - this tree holds the belongings of three people.

I have had an exhausting but rewarding week. I took the ulkuman (old ladies) camping (intarrki) for four days and nights. The first few we spent at Town Bore outstation, where Ada wants to set up a women’s area – the Town Bore girls and some young girls from Papunya came along for an afternoon to learn the dances which are their heritage. It was a reluctant start for all of them but when they got into it, they really got into it and it was heartening for all of us. Later we recorded some of the songs as we sat by the fire in the creekbed which was our bed too. Magic under a waxing moon. Then we set off for Karrinyarra, another outstation about 65 k north on a road that traverses endless small sandhills (takes a long time to get there!). Karrinyarra people were really friendly and generous, unusual out here – but they are well-situated, with plenty of un-buffel-grassed land around and almost no feral animals. They had beautiful healthy fruit trees growing (I ate some mulberries – heaven!) and didn’t even need to fence them. Even the dogs were healthy and well-behaved and didn’t eat the pet baby kangaroo. The outstation is powered by an impressive array of solar panels set up by Bushlight, where Steve works. They have won awards for their user-friendly and practical systems for remote communities.

Karrinyarra is Bush Onion Dreaming and Emily Napaltjarri there painted and gave me a big picture which I will bring back to hang in Tuntable Hall. At night they sang the songs for that yalka (bush onion) and while the wind stuffed up the recording it was more magic and when I closed my eyes I could hear the pattern of the dreaming painting. I am making CD’s so the young girls can practise the dancing even when the old ladies are not present. We went hunting for the branches to make clapsticks (turrurru)...

Have just returned from a yininti bean hunt and picnic (wilinyi) under the rising full moon – we are making the most of the troopy before I have to take it back on Friday. Lots of kangaroo tails get eaten at these picnics, they are a popular item. It’s been blowing a gale here yesterday, several times my house has been in the path of a willy-willy, or kupi-kupi and I’ve wondered how Dorothy felt …but besser blocks stand firm. These winds could easily blow a tin humpy to the land of Oz. But tonight there is blessed stillness and coolness.

War and Peace

http://www.clc.org.au/media/publications/fact_sheets/factsheets.asp

This link to the Central Land Council site will show you the broadsheets that are now on display in the Council office here. Please read it. There was a big meeting here yesterday called by the CLC so now everyone knows the reality that is about to get much worse. The most positive thing about the intervention is the degree of politicising and unity that is beginning. There is now a National Aboriginal Association which will go some way to filling the gap caused by the abolition of ATSIC.

We went for another picnic yesterday evening, have been every day since Tuesday and plan to camp tonight. It's lovely, we take food as well as digging sticks and if we don't find any maku (witchetty grubs) or rumiya (goanna), we fill our bellies and sit by the fire and come home pleasantly tired and relaxed at sunset. Natasha who is staying with me wanted to go to her mum's outstation afterwards so we piled a few young people into the troopy and found her family sitting outside and her dad with a guitar in the balmy warm night. We talked for a while about how truly awful these new laws are. I slept badly all night because I feel so bad to be leaving and so powerless to do anything much while I am away - not that I would do much here except keep the women centre going. I just have to hope that the woman who will take my place is competent and humane. And that I can do some activist work from a distance and keep in touch with people here - and return some day.

On Sunday I went mountain-climbing in a frivolous display of insanity - it was 35 degrees, hot even for out here at this time of year. But the company was great, people who work with CSIRO at Desert Knowledge. We talked about the prospects of working to create a camel-meat mustering business out here to harvest some income from all the feral animals (like this beautiful stallion protecting a herd of hundreds). It was heartening to be reminded that there are still good people working to make good things happen. And while there is nothing in the new laws about job creation, the work for the dole schemes may help to inspire and train people to get to work. Linda was talking last night about how when she was young there were huge gardens and orchards at Papunya - and they weren't run by the govt.

I leave you with this image of a daisy growing on the mountain despite no rain for months.

Call the Federal Government's 'Northern Territory National Emergency Hotline' on 1800 333 995 to express your objections to the Federal action in the NT. You can leave your views with or without providing personal information.

Worldwide Women's Protest Against Federal Action In The Northern Territory

An international women's day of action is planned for Friday, October 19 to protest against the Australian Government's action in Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory.

Women for Wik, a grassroots organisation of Indigenous and non-Indigenous women, has attracted more than 1500 signatures on its website and at least one international sister group since going public on this issue two weeks ago.

A group of women from Australia, Scotland and France, organised a protest at the Australian Consulate in Edinburgh on September 13.

Organiser Kate Worland, said, 'It is vital to raise awareness all over the world about what is going on right now in Australia. We need to stop the implementation of this draconian legislation any way we can.'

Women for Wik, originally formed in 1997 to combat the Howard Government's attempts to extinguish native title, is calling on Australian women around the world will organise similar events on October 19. Action kits are available through the Women for Wik website, www.womenforwik.org.

UN Declaration of Rights for Indigenous Peoples Passed!

Cultural Survival, New York | September 13, 2007

At long last, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples is a reality. It was adopted today by the United Nations General Assembly by a vote of 143 to 4 with 11 abstentions.

The declaration spells out the fundamental rights of indigenous peoples including their right to their traditional lands and resources; their right to give their free, prior, and informed consent before governments take actions that negatively affect them; their right to be free from genocide and forced relocation; and their rights to their languages, cultures and spiritual beliefs. At long last the world's native peoples have a valuable tool for regaining some of the cultural and physical ground they have lost over the past 500 years.

"Today, by adopting the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples we are making further progress to improve the situation of indigenous peoples around the world," stated General Assembly President Haya Al Khalifa. "We are also taking another major step forward towards the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms for all."

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warmly welcomed the adoption, calling it "a triumph for indigenous peoples around the world." He further noted that "this marks a historic moment when UN Member States and indigenous peoples reconciled with their painful histories and resolved to move forward together on the path of human rights, justice and development for all."

Today's happy moment did not come easily. The declaration underwent a longer period of debate and negotiation--25 years all told--than any other international agreement in United Nations history. During those years, hundreds of thousands of indigenous peoples were routed from their homes, massacred in their villages, had their sacred sites defiled, and their lands and resources appropriated. Even with the declaration now adopted, many of these problems will continue unless nations live up to the principals in the document.

Unfortunately, the United States stands to be one of these problem states. It was one of the four countries (along with Canada, New Zealand, and Australia) that voted against the declaration. Its vote sends a message to Native Americans and to the world that once again the United States is not prepared to take action to support human rights, even when those rights benefit American citizens.

The four "no" votes did not dampen the enthusiasm of Indigenous Peoples for today's outcome. As Indigenous Peoples Caucus president and Cultural Survival Program Council member Les Malezer stated in his statement following the vote, "The Declaration gives [Indigenous Peoples] the platform for addressing the continuing abuses of human rights against Indigenous Peoples and for shaping a future where it can be realized that all peoples are truly equal."

About Cultural Survival

Founded in 1972, Cultural Survival promotes the rights, voices, and visions of indigenous peoples worldwide. We work to increase global understanding of indigenous peoples' rights, cultures, and concerns and we partner with indigenous groups to advocate for their rights.

See: Cultural Survival

Words and Sounds

There's no pictures for this post. It's about sounds. I just want to let you know that the state of emergency has been recognised here for ages - the school bell is an alarm siren that goes off at several prescribed times every school day and can be heard all over Papunya.

Also, talking to Hannah made me aware that not everyone knows that English is a foreign language out here and many people hardly speak it at all. Although most people do, it is with a very strong accent and I am constantly embarrassing myself by asking people to repeat what they say. Lots of the old people speak only a very basic sort of pidgin English. Of course, my command of Luritja is far more elementary and a source of great amusement to everyone. I now usually understand what people are talking about but none of the details and I rarely try to convey anything complex in Luritja as I usually get the same blank look I give people when I don't understand their English...

Hand signs are very much in use here and I have learnt quite a few of them - excellent for communicating from a distance and for generally speeding up communication. Perhaps we could give the government a clear hand signal ...

Dongas and Diversions

This is a picture of Emily Gap, my first sacred place out here in 1983 when we came there to swim in the deep cool gorge after the rigours of protesting in the hot sun at Pine Gap. I swam across and immediately fell asleep on the sandbank. There were kids of all colours jumping in from high on the cliffs and those fellas, like Ian Cohen, who just had to follow the women out to the protest were camped there. Now it is a dry sandy gorge and has been for many years, like many places out here. I have camped there illegally a few times since to find peace and quiet, but two weeks ago went there to climb the cliff and walk along the ridge with the bushwalkers. From high up there we could see the toxic Pine Gap puffballs in the distance. It is heavily involved in the war on Iraq so I hope everyone is signing the latest petition to get the French to mediate an end to the war there.

The war here continues and this is the accommodation for the invading Centrelink and workforthedole crews - a classic NT donga, providing a tin hothouse with no ventilation but lots of noisy and diesel-guzzling airconditioners. It makes me appreciate my funny little box, which I am now sharing with Natasha, my friend Linda's daughter who is 28 and works in the office and needs some privacy and somewhere safe in town to keep her things so she can get to work...accommodation for local workers is non-existent per se, they have to share the overcrowded besser block monstrosities with their extended families (and dogs, the thing that gets me most is avoiding the puppy shit on the floors...).

Footy is of course the greatest diversion from all these other matters and Papunya was almost totally deserted last weekend while we went in to Alice for the Grand Final - Papunya Eagles vs Yuendumu Magpies. All of Yuendumu was there too, three times as many as us - and they won. All the players have been practising in their bare feet every evening for months on red dust grounds littered with dangerous rubbish so they were pretty well matched. I took the troopy in and our three frailest old fellas and their families and they enjoyed it. Now its back to work, although with the Carer Respite troopy I will be going out bush a lot and hope to have an evening picnic tonight.

I will be back home to stay for a while on 14th October and am feeling quite sad to be leaving so plan to have lots of picnics and bush tucker to give me good memories to bring back. I now have my own digging stick, a small metal crowbar with a flattened end, perfect for digging maku and tjupi. I bought ten from the Centre for Alternative Technology where Steve works. They are doing an excellent job and amazing things that Rainbow Power could do well to emulate.

I will be also pretty busy working to ensure that the workers at Aged Care get proper and decently-paid positions, it looks like it is going to happen , just have to make sure that the funding is sufficient. I am also hoping very much that the work for the dole crews will get the fence finished and the floors of the Women Centre sealed before I leave.

here is the about to be eclipsed moon a few weeks ago and here is the sunrise this morning - both delight me by rising over the Honey-Ant dreaming hill...

Kala! Palya!

Brinkley's Bluff and Beyond

Sunset on the MacDonnells...and then sunrise...

Last weekend I finally got to do an overnight walk on the Larapinta - to Brinkley's Bluff from Standley Chasm and return. The company was excellent, Rick and Meg from the Bushwalkers club - and the views were stupendous. We camped the night on the bluff and here is the view from my sleeping bag in the morning. Sleeping bags, actually, too cold for just one. The wind reached gale force but I had my gloves and beanie and everything else on and the stars were my lullaby...



Then back to work, a very busy week. There have been hordes of whitefellas swarming around, doctors, nurses, centrelink people, even Sue Gordon, the chairperson of the taskforce - a women's meeting that had umpteen male photographers and cameramen recording it all. I even made it to the Alice Springs News (look for the blonde up the back).
The elders from Mt Liebig danced and presented Sue Gordon with some special totemic items. Sue is an Indigenous woman from WA who was stolen from her family as a child and is now a magistrate. She and Alison were both urging women to bring their children for check-ups and to view the intervention as benign, but there is a lot of mistrust - funny, eh.

Anyway, the doctor and nurses have all left now, they were a good bunch and probably saw half of the kids. The checks are voluntary and very thorough and there is no looking for signs of sexual abuse, so it has been quite helpful to some of the mothers and carers to get a total picture of their child's health. But we still only have a doctor out here for a few days every six weeks.

Aged Care has had a booming business in selling paintings to all the whitefellas and some of the old ladies sold lots of yininti necklaces.

The Centrelink crew have been very busy signing everyone up for work-for-the-dole. They couldn't quarantine the pay of CDEP workers, so CDEP's been abolished. And no-one had any plans for how to fund the hundreds of positions and programs that rely on CDEP labour - including Aged Care. There will be emergency meetings happening, I was assured by all the comfortable bureaucrats, and things are being acted upon 'higher up'. I still have heard nothing so am being pro-active and writing submissions - which have then to be signed and sent by Rod as I am his underling - bureaucracy rules the west these days.

Life goes on here, football is more important than anything else (these boys have been playing since they could walk) and Papunya is deserted this weekend while the whole community is in town supporting the lads in the semi-finals...except me, I am recovering from feeling like s...t all week. Been making ice-cream in my $10 garage sale maker: peach and mango - better than Weiss! And lying around reading and enjoying very much not being at anyone's beck and call.This funny little photo is of the circus driving through town, it really did look like a real circus, not just the centrelink mob or whatever...it's strange times out here!

Camel Kisses

Who would have thought a camel had such a soft and velvety snout, or could be so friendly and gentle? I have had some anxious thoughts about these critters chasing me down the road on one of my walks, but when it came to the crunch and camel met woman, it was instant attraction and no pursuit. Perhaps it's my new streaked hair, shades of spinifex surely appeal to camels.

We went out at the weekend and had fun collecting witchetty grubs - Helen the hairdresser was at first too horrified to try one toasted on the gas ring at home, but then she loved it! The cross was found along with a five dollar note way out there in the mulga where we went looking ...there are cultural symbols everywhere and here is the Papunya bora ring , a major cultural site...

The fence for the bush tucker garden is going up despite a howling bitter gale. And I hope to be on the Larapinta trail this weekend xxxxxxx