iDIDJ Australia Didgeridoo Cultural Hub

[ididjaustralia]

Lots of news in the media today about what's going on in Arnhem Land...

The Age: Paternal feelings help thrash out pact for nation

ABC News: Arnhem Land lease agreement divides Indigenous community

Sydney Morning Herald: Yunupingu may set up new elders' group

The Age: Checks and balances of indigenous reform

Guan

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[pacdidj]

Interesting... and rather worrisome. Thanks for the update Guan.

Phil

[ididjaustralia]

Here's more:

ABC News: Brough rejects Yunupingu treated favourable over 99y lease

The Age: Whose coup? Canberra and clan both celebrate a deal

Guan

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[itsadidj]

Hi Guan,

Thanks for the links. Not really sure what to make of these new developments...............

Care to share your personal thoughts on the lease Agreement?

Peace,

_________________
Chris

[ididjaustralia]

Hey Chris,

All I can say is that I'm not an expert on these issues and whatever Aboriginal landowners and/or community members decide on, I'm sure that's what is best for them. I read a very interesting article yesterday called "War in the Wilderness" by John van Tiggelen, in the 22nd September 2007 issue of the Good Weekend magazine supplement of The Age newspaper. It doesn't seem to be online yet but if anyone can track down a copy to read, it is well worth it. If not, I'll try to scan the article and make it available here as a pdf.

Guan

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[ididjaustralia]

Did anyone find the article in cyberspace? The reason I ask is that not only is it a brilliant piece of writing, but it captures the essence of Indigenous struggles and how seemingly logical alliances between black and white can go wrong when agendas start to diverge like a fork in the road.

A couple of quotes to highlight some of the issues:

Quote:

Winer says he crossed camps because he "no longer felt comfortable in the environment movement". His epiphany came after the successful campaign for the government buy-back of Starcke station on behalf of local Aborigines. "At the buy-back ceremony half the people were drunk, half were sick, the babies had scabies and there I was talking to them about conservation regimes. I just felt so wrong," he recalls. "It hit me that they were in no functional state to care for themselves, let alone their country. I was witnessing a tragedy, not a celebration."

Quote:

Blissfully removed, greenies spend their adult lives abhorring racism, acknowledging traditional owners, clamouring for a prime ministerial apology, explaining away Aboriginal alcoholism and dysfunction by recognising past colonial wrongs and generally understanding that the problem with black Australia is white Australia. Little wonder, then, that when a vituperative black comes along to declare that (a) they're wrong - the problem with black Australia is black Australia - and (b) they're no longer wanted... Instead, the four campaigners, like their members on a variety of web forums, prefer to frame the debate as one they can understand and win...

The following quote is important for all those out there who think they are seeing traditional Aboriginal dance and song when Queensland groups perform:

Quote:

Winer is a regular at the Laura Dance and Cultural Festival. For first-time visitors, it is a joyous affair. But for veterans like Winer, it also acquires a sad dimension, as a grievous record of cultural degradation. With each passing festival the Cape's most traditional troupes, such as Aurukun's and Lockhart's, seem to have shrunk. The old people are fewer, the middle-aged people look sicker, the young seem surlier. Their decreasingly complex performances are bolstered with semi-commercial troupes from around Cairns and further south, whose unconvincing "kangaroo dance" numbers are rooted less in tradition than in the demand for token "welcome to country" ceremonies.

Guan

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[flyangler18]

Haven't had the chance to look just yet, Guan- but it certainly seems that I should. Brilliant prose!

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[martin]

Hi Guan,
had a good look last week, and another search now.
Cannot find an online version of the article anywhere. Actually I cannot even find an online version of
any of the Good Weekend issues..
Thanks for posting what you have.
Martin

_________________
http://www.fluiditj.com

[ididjaustralia]

I'll try to scan but the problem is that pdf files take up so much more space than text.

The point I'm trying to get to, in an oblique and in a very gentle way, is to see how much genuine interest there is amongst didj folk in Australian Indigenous issues. You guys know how I hate 'talk-fests' and endless back-and-forth discussions when there is action to be taken. Which is why one of the objectives of this forum is activism.

One question... how many didgeridoo sites do you see on the internet that professes to be sympathetic to the 'Aboriginal cause'? I've become dulled to the number of times I've seen the Aboriginal flag on didgeridoo merchants' websites, and some statement about social justice and/or environmental protection. Is this just some cheap attempt to win customers? Do people actually fall for this sort of trickery? And am I the only one who is bothered by this?

I'm sure there is genuine interest out there, though I guess I'm cynical about the motivations of merchants, the VAST majority of whom sell rubbish. It is fine to be seen to be caring and to publicly express concern about this and that, but when it comes down to the crunch, what is being done about it?

What say you?

Guan

[pacdidj]

Hi Guan,

I couldn't locate the article anywhere online either. It seems that Good Weekend doesn't maintain an internet archive. I don't know if I posted any of this on this forum yet. I was in the Yirrkala area during the months of June, July and August while this legislation was being debated, and government representatives were sent to Yirrkala. People seemed awfully worried about it, and unhappy that they were basically not consulted at all in the decision making process. Here are some links that I've found, and that others have shared with me, detailing more about what's actually being done as part of the Northern Territory Emergency Response:

Press Release

Mal Brough Speech

NY Times Article

There's also an attached fact sheet.

I'd be interested in doing anything I could to help my friends in Yirrkala and Galuru in this unhappy situation. Problem is, I'm not sure what I can do from the middle of the US. Do you have suggestions Guan? Are there electronic petitions going around? Are there political initiatives that concerned people can donate money to? Do you have other novel ideas of how to get involved in activism to oppose the implementation of this legislation from afar?

All best,
Phil

[ididjaustralia]

Hi Phil,

On a topic as complex as this, I think the best we can do is to keep abreast of developments and just listen. What we may be presuming is that there is uniform and singular opposition by Aboriginal people to the government's approach. This is not the case, and even as we speak (or type should I say) things are turning and talks are taking place. I put those links to media articles here on the Forum merely to keep people informed, if they are interested. But as I indicated, I am not an expert and when dealing with issues like this, one really needs expert knowledge about the issues at hand especially a thorough understanding of the legislation that underlines all this. I don't want to be seen as a concerned by misinformed bleeding heart wringing my hands in despair from afar in the comfort of my home. But instead, I have full confidence in the decision-making powers of Yolngu and their fellow countrymen. Some elders who spoke to me about this are calling for radical action, not protestation with words. I'd like to see that, full-on radicalism in Arnhem Land...

Where I do have expert knowledge is in the domain of didgeridoos and I am taking appropriate action on the issues I see as important.

Guan

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[flyangler18]

Quote:

One question... how many didgeridoo sites do you see on the internet that professes to be sympathetic to the 'Aboriginal cause'? I've become dulled to the number of times I've seen the Aboriginal flag on didgeridoo merchants' websites, and some statement about social justice and/or environmental protection. Is this just some cheap attempt to win customers? Do people actually fall for this sort of trickery? And am I the only one who is bothered by this?

Hey Guan,

Some very heady questions, for sure, and most certainly worth talking about. I'm inclined to believe (and this mostly through discussions with aspiring players) that there simply is so much chaff floating around on the internet with the accompanying notion that because it's been written, it must be true. I suspect that the underlying cause has more to do with the 'target market' of didj players in general. The didjeridu has been appropriated by the counterculture (I know there is a chapter in Didjeridu: From Arnhemland to Internet that discusses this) with a certain 'new age' mentality- and marketing to those interests along the lines of social justice and environmental protection means increased revenue because such topics fall into line with new age practices. The new age/new Pagan philosophy looks to indigenous peoples the world over as being in concert with their environment with highly romanticized notions of Aboriginal life with respect to spirituality and community, and the didjeridu is somehow made to be a symbol of that notion, a 'vehicle/vessel' for connected with 'simpler times'.

I think that education is, and always will be, key to helping potential consumer navigate the marketing hype in search of culturally authentic works.

Jason

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www.jdidj.com

[ididjaustralia]

Well said Jason!

The Didgeridoo Meditation thingy espoused by one of the QLD merchants takes the cake for most ludicrous idea. I get these annoying emails asking for my participation, and I'm thinking, why would I want to do that? What does that achieve? Sorry if anyone here is involved in the Didgeridoo Meditation...

Guan

[flyangler18]

Quote:

The Didgeridoo Meditation thingy espoused by one of the QLD merchants takes the cake for most ludicrous idea.

I know which merchant you mean. I have a long list of issues with that one, but I'll be quiet on that front

On a personal level, I have no problem when people incorporate the didgeridoo into such exercises, as long as they don't try to legitimize them by pointing to some Aboriginal past.

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[ididjaustralia]

From The Age newspaper today:

Quote:

Don Watson visits a remote NT Aboriginal outstation where bureaucrats, not booze, spell trouble. THREE-AND-A-HALF hours westward from Gove, the half dozen houses of an Aboriginal outstation lie baking in the scrub. At certain times of the year about 80 people live here. In addition to the houses, there is an airstrip, two school buildings, a workshop and a phone booth: and a story attaches to each of them. A couple of weeks ago, police arrived and searched the place for drugs. They had no reason to think they'd find any, and they didn't. When the place was established nearly 40 years ago the community banned all drugs, including alcohol and kava, and the rule has applied ever since. There is no gambling. And if the police were looking for signs of domestic violence or molested children, they weren't going to find them either. It's not paradise, but these things don't happen here. They are Yolngu people. To judge by the rock paintings and mythology with which they identify, it is likely they have been on these lands for 4000 to 5000 years. As with other outstations, this one was set up to maintain the culture and language and the land from which they are inseparable. The white Australians of those times thought this was reasonable. The feeling was that enough damage had been done to these people, and that less might be done in future if they were given their ancestral lands and, as far as possible, allowed to live according to their customs and beliefs. It is hard country and it has made them resilient people. Tom Bridingal, the chief custodian, was raised in keeping with the laws and rites of his ancestors. He grew up nomadic and can give the Yolngu name to every species of plant and animal that lives there; every rock and every painting, every waterhole and every kind of fish. He is a tiny, impish man; alternately anxious and laughing. He also looks indestructible, and if he proves not to be in the next few years, it will be the tobacco and not the country that does for him. Tobacco is the only non-medicinal drug allowed at the outstation. The great objectives of the outstation movement were to protect the cultural traditions and pass them on to future generations, and to keep the young people away from the chaos of the larger settlements where drugs, violence and despair devour them. Go to one of these settlements and then go to the outstation and you can easily conclude that the objective has been met. The young people of the larger centres know nothing of their traditions, and look unhealthy. The children of the outstation know something and look healthy and happy. The teenagers and adults carry no surplus fat. Their skin shines. They would be even healthier if the contractors who put in the septic tanks and drains had done their work more conscientiously: a real septic tank instead of the 44-gallon drum they used, and agricultural pipes to drain water away from the taps, would have eliminated the pools of stagnant water where parasites gather. They would be healthier still if the health department had held the contractors to account; or if they had not taken the view that the people's rotten teeth should not be treated because then everyone else would want their teeth done, and excused their own neglect on the grounds that Aboriginal people can tolerate more pain than whites. The people at the outstation go hungry sometimes. This is partly because the habitats of the animals they once hunted are being destroyed by exotic species. Cane toads have killed off the goannas and pythons that were once an important part of the people's diet. Water buffalo and pigs gouge the land, rip out vegetation and erode and foul the creeks. They also go hungry because their supports fail them at nearly every step. The half-dozen houses are as if expressly designed to be unliveable in the sweltering climate and perfectly unsuited to the inhabitants' way of life. No breeze can blow through them. Most of the solar panels only worked for a few weeks after they were installed and no one ever came back to fix them. The tractor provided to maintain the airstrip is a rare Korean model without spare parts. For more than a year the people asked for someone to come and fix it. Three months ago a volunteer overhauled it, but it lacked two parts. It still does. The community generator was running the batteries flat. The community was blamed. But the volunteer found that the person sent to repair it had assembled the alternator the wrong way. The daily life of the people is conducted in the shadow of this incompetence, waste and neglect. The stories are funny, in the manner of Russian satire; but the reality, like the Russian one, is corrosive and dispiriting. Dr Neville White is a biological anthroplogist. He is also a Vietnam veteran. He drove up from La Trobe University 35 years ago and has been there for months at a time every year since. He persuaded Rotary and other philanthropic bodies to put up the money for a school and a workshop, and he took up a team of Vietnam veterans to build it with the young men. When the workshop was finished, at a cost of several thousand dollars, a bureaucrat flew out from Darwin to supervise the installation of an illuminated exit sign. The vets teach the young men various mechanical skills; how to repair houses, how to paint them. The young men are keen to learn. Until recently a teacher came each week from the regional college — a teacher with trade skills who could work with the teenagers and young men. Two young women from the outstation were trained to be assistant teachers. Enrolments at the school more than doubled. A second, larger school building was erected. And then, after a few months, the trade teacher was taken away. The young men who had been learning how to repair LandCruisers and plumb houses, found themselves in class with six-year-olds being taught how to make pizzas. Enrolments halved. Most have gone into the centres where the drugs and chaos are. Some of them went because they were frightened by stories that the police and soldiers were coming after them. The Yolngu often use signs to communicate with each other: to signify police they cross their wrists, as if handcuffed. The difference between the efficiency of the volunteers and the ineptitude of the bureaucracy is startling — as startling as the difference between the volunteers' generosity and the paltriness of the bureaucracy and the contractors. Next time Australians congratulate themselves on their work in Aceh or East Timor, or deplore the American response to hurricane Katrina, they might reflect on the Northern Territory. No white community would stand for it. But then, in general, white communities are not so heavily dependent on the Government. Some are, of course; and some, like the Aborigines of the outstations, choose to live in remote and unproductive places. But the white people who do this are commonly esteemed as authentic, if not "iconic", Australians, and the passing of their way of life is reckoned a national tragedy. There was a time when it seemed possible the country would think this way about the Aborigines living on their homelands, but it now seems certain that this time has passed. Even if the services intended for the outstations actually reached them, life on the outstation would still fall well short of perfect. When the sun is setting and the kids are playing football or hanging from the mango trees, and the men are hunting and the women tending fires, and the bee-eaters are whizzing about and the old custodian is wandering up the airstrip on his nightly search for tracks and taking the odd pot shot at mudlarks with his shanghai, it comes close to seeming perfect. But, of course, it's not: it wasn't before the Europeans, it wasn't after them, and it's not now. Yet it is so much better than the bigger centres. And it would be so much better still if the promises were kept; the humiliations and disappointments were kept to a tolerable minimum and the people were not obliged to be always asking — like children — for their recognised entitlements. It is not just the impression of relative health and happiness: there is hard data to say they are healthier. And while government surveys never seem to ask the question, the people on the outstations will tell you they feel healthier, happier and safer there. The practical skills the outstation residents want, and the vets and the government teacher were beginning to provide are precisely what the Government says it wants. Being able to fix their own and others' vehicles would not only provide income and employment, but also free them from the grip of town repairers who charge them what they like and do not hesitate to confiscate their cars if they cannot pay their bills. Local Yolngu work teams can maintain the buildings, machinery and roads at a fraction of the cost of contractors. Providing guided tours of their country for scholars and students would make for useful jobs and income and maintain the connection with the land. Everything the people of the outstation want, the Government says it wants for Aboriginal people. Everything the people have conscientiously shunned for 35 years, the Government says must be shunned now. So why would the Government abolish the permit system that protects the land against degradation and the people against booze and drugs? No one seems to know if the system still applies or not, but tourists and hunters are assuming that it doesn't and heading into the lands for the first time in 40 years. Why would they cancel CDEP on these outstations? Why would they tell the people that they must be economically self-sufficient, yet deny them the means they have chosen to do it? Why tell them — as the Yolngu say they have been told — that they must set up a shop and sell drinks and artefacts to motorists passing on the Katherine road? Or dance for them at night? Why, when the centres are plagued with booze, dope and violence, force the outstation people back into them? These are not my questions: they are what the local administrators and educators are asking. Whatever the particular merits of the present Federal Government intervention, there is no question that the big centres needed drastic action. They have needed it for many years. But why starve the people out of the homelands? The old custodian speaks just enough English to make his view of these things clear. It's not for drugs or for children, he says. It's for mining. He has always said "No". But they never stop asking. And they'll win in the end. That is one plausible explanation. There is another one which he cannot know: that they have put themselves beyond the reach of booze and drugs, but they could not escape the culture wars and the Carlylean tenet of their chief protagonist — that history is always right and just and the vanquished have no cause worth defending. Don Watson is a Melbourne writer. His next book, American Journeys, will be published next year.

Link to online article is here

Guan

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