I have today received a message from the Gurindji: 'Very sad we lost that old man, but good because now people all over Australia will be reminded of his great legacy and the great thing he did with our leader, Mr Lingiari. That old maluka'—old man—'understood our important role in land rights. We will meet today to plan how we will mourn him.'
Jangala's childhood memories consist of stories associated with the Coniston massacre of Aboriginal people and the shooting of families at Wantaparri, which is close to his birthplace at Jila. Jangala had virtually no contact with white fellas during his youth but remembers leaving Jila for Mt Theo 'to hide' from being shot. After his father died at Mt Theo, Jangala moved with his mother to Mt Doreen Station, and subsequently the new settlement of Yuendumu.
Liam Campbell's loving tribute to his friend Eric Brown. "Eric and Isobel dropped round. Eric is always jovial. I hope he lives a long time yet. The memory of him and Isobel will be with me always."
If you have ever visited the art centre at Yuendumu, it’s likely that you met Cookie ... you would have heard him laugh or grind his teeth as he concentrated on his work.
The story deals with women harassed by men. However the painting’s subject is centred on the ascension of the women to the rank of stars. Their metamorphosis sublimes their deed to deliberately refuse the status of a permanent victim and act in consequence ... In these paintings, there are neither stars nor women.
While I’m prob’ly not black enough for the likes of Andrew Bolt and Bess Price, I’m damn certain I’m still not white enough for the rest of you. Half-breeds like me, we’re still pawns in the middle of a big, nasty, lateral violence fueled discourse, led by self-interested types with ulterior motivations. And that’s why I fight.
At the time I came to the conclusion that the ‘cooling-off place’ had been designed by the same architect that had designed Camp Delta at Guantanamo Bay. The several strands of barbed-wire at the top of the chain-wire mesh fence, the padlocked chain on the gate and the spotlights surrounding the Spartan building are reminiscent of TV images I had seen during the time that David Hicks was receiving similar consular assistance from the Australian Government as Julian Assange is currently receiving.
UPDATED - Now with added Gerry Wood! That's not all! Just next to this rubbish dump there is an open sewerage pond where the raw sewage is pumped out straight of the houses. It is just very rough and ready - a hole in the ground surrounded by a chain-mesh fence. Pure raw sewage. The tip is about 2 or 3 minutes drive from the community. Kids walk back and forth. Dogs can get into the sewage ponds and then they go back to the community. It is a disgrace.
I suspect that Lajamanu’s Centrelink personnel, who will have the power to decide whether Jupurrula is responsible enough to be exempted from IM, and who probably are half his age and earn at least twice as much as him, are incapable of fixing taps and unblocking sewerage pipes, and even if they could wouldn’t be allowed to because they don’t have a ticket...I won’t bother to tell you the stories of ticketless Jampijimpa that used to run the Powerhouse, until he had this power taken off him, or of ticketless Jakamarra that could make a bulldozer dance.
This brings us back to the Notice at the Nyirripi Store and begs the following question. Has anyone bothered to ask the locals if they want the Police to shoot their dogs? No? I thought not.
