| The Mala Elders
comprised Djambuwa
Marawili, Jabani Lalara and Joe Gumbala from East
Arnhem Land,
Felix Bunduk from Wadeye, Andy Andrews from Katherine and
Cyril Kilippa (Rioli) from Tiwi Islands.
They delivered four key messages to
their country
men and women living in long grass camps: the
need to respect
Larrakia country; that drinking time was over;
that the humbug
must stop; and that it was time to come home.
Speaking at a press conference held
during the
visit, Mr Kalippa said the Elders had spoken to
their countrymen
in a quiet, non-pushy way.“I just explained
that people
in Darwin weren’t happy with anyone making
a nuisance,
not just them but anyone,” he said. “Most of my
people said the main reason they came to Darwin was to deal
with health problems.”
Mr Gumbala revealed that he himself had once
lived in the long grass when he was younger. “One of
the things about living that lifestyle is that you’re
lost, lost to your community,” he said. “Many
Aboriginal itinerant people are important members of their
own community, ceremony people. That’s why
we need them
back, to help look after things.”
The Elders’ visit had an
immediate affect,
with groups of people taking advantage of the
financial assistance
offered by the Elders to travel back to
Milingimbi, Ramingining,
Elcho Island, Groote Eylandt and Wadeye.
However, Mr Yunupingu said the visit was just
the start of the long-term Return to Home
strategy, with the
Elders planning several more visits back to
Darwin to continue
encouraging their countrymen to abandon the long grass.
“The Elders’ participation is a
very important component of the strategy but no-one should
think that their presence offers a quick-fix
solution to the
itinerants problem,” he said.
“There are fundamental issues in remote
Top End communities that need to be tackled in
order to stop
the drift of people into Darwin and other major
Top End centres.”
Following the visit the Government beefed up
its commitment to the year-old Darwin and
Palmerston Itinerants
Project, with $5.25 million allocated in the most
recent Budget
(see story page 3) to expand its activities
across the Northern
Territory.The Itinerants Project will now be
extended to the
regional centres of Katherine, Tennant Creek, Nhulunbuy and
Alice Springs.
|
Introduction
In
our visit to Darwin we went out to the long grass camps and
talked to our people, we talked to the
Government, we listened
to Larrakia representatives and we discussed the
issues among
ourselves.