REFLECTION FOR OCTOBER 2012       PETER MILLAR

                                        petermillarreflects.blogspot.co.uk

The Challenge of Remote Indigenous Communities in Central Australia.

During September and October I have been travelling in Australia and visiting with many old friends. Among these friends are Ros Whiley and Peter Bennett of Sydney. Peter, who is a doctor and Ros, a teacher have been working for the last   six years in a remote indigenous community in central Australia. When I met with Ros and Peter I asked them to share some thoughts on living and working in these remote communities. I am grateful to them for sharing their views in this October Reflection. Ros and Peter are very aware of the multiple problems which face remote indigenous communities.  Over the years, they have come to understand that it is far from easy to reflect easily on indigenous life, yet I know it is important for all of us, whether in Australia or elsewhere, to listen carefully to those who work alongside indigenous people. This is their reflection.

LIVING WITH THE ANANGU   

The Anangu have had a continuous connection with their land for tens of thousands of years. They cared for the land and it supplied all their needs.  Since white settlement they have faced significant challenges.  These include the establishment of settled communities, the introduction of welfare and the destructive influence of alcohol, marijuana and petrol sniffing.  Partly due to their remoteness their language and culture have survived to become key elements of their identity.   

In 1981 the Anangu were granted freehold title to 102, 650 square kilometers in the north west of South Australia known as the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankutjatjara (APY) Lands after two main language groups.  The Lands are administered by a board of elected indigenous leaders and funding comes from various Federal and State government sources.  Health care is provided by an Aboriginal controlled Health Council (Nganampa Health Council) which has six main clinics across the Lands.  The South Australian Education Department has schools in all the communities concentrating on the younger age groups as many students go to boarding schools in Adelaide or elsewhere for the high school years.  There are also TAFE (technical and further education)  centres in many communities.

We live in Indulkana (also known as Iwantja) which is the easternmost community, about 400km south of Alice Springs.  It has a population of about 350 people.  The next community is 70 km away at Mimili with a similar population.  Peter works in the clinics of these two communities while Ros teaches in the Indulkana school. The school has about  80 pupils.

The major health problems of the Anangu are to a large extent diseases of poverty and dispossession.  These include a number of illnesses rarely seen in Australia outside these remote indigenous communities such as rheumatic heart disease and chronic suppurative ear disease.  Limited housing, overcrowding and poor hygiene lead to a heavy burden of infectious illness including skin infections, scabies and respiratory infections.  Poor maternal and infant nutrition and poor dietary habits contribute to the high rate of diabetes, poor dental health and adult obesity.   Renal disease is common and eventually means having to leave home to go to a dialysis centre some hundreds of kilometers away in the city.  Mental health problems are common and are an enormous burden on families caring for mentally ill children or siblings.  Domestic violence is also common and leads to unsafe environments particularly for women and children.

The primary challenges in education are the children’s low school attendance rates, lack of home support for education, and chaotic and transient lifestyle with irregular sleeping and eating.  Families are often moving from place to place across the land. Students who are able to attend school regularly enjoy school and do well.  However the remoteness of the communities and the lack of exposure to spoken English make it hard for them to become literate. Communication in the community is in Pitjantjatjara, and English essentially is only used in the classroom.

The lack of job opportunities in the communities means that many parents do not see the relevance of education for their children.   Many of the older men who worked as stockmen and drovers for the big cattle stations are proud and secure individuals who have worked hard and achieved self respect from skilled and responsible jobs.  The generations that follow them are now needing to find a significant role for themselves and a purpose for their communities.

As outsiders we are privileged to be able to relate to these people who are struggling with issues that are outside any experiences we have had to face. 

We have been inspired – and frustrated - by their strong sense of family and community, their lack of need for possessions, their freedom from concern about time and their ability to live in the day without concern for the morrow.   In these communities the children grow up naturally athletic, musical and artistic, and with a well developed sense of humour.   We hope to be around or at least in touch to hear about them creating a positive future.

MORE INFORMATION RELATING TO THIS REFLECTION

There are many websites relating to indigenous life in Australia.

www.papertracker.com.au - monitors government programs and other issues related to Anangu. 
Ros and Peter can be contacted at peter.bennett@palya.org.au

A FINAL THOUGHT

Aboriginal spiritual beliefs are invariably about the land Aboriginal people live on. It is ‘geosophical’ (earth-centred) and not ‘theosophical’ (God-centred).The earth, their country, is “impregnated with the power of the Ancestor Spirits” which Aboriginal people draw upon.

They experience a connection to their land that is unknown to white people. A key feature of Aboriginal spirituality is to look after the land, an obligation which has been passed down as law for thousands of years.
“Spirituality is about tapping into the still places I go to when I’m on country and I feel like I’m part of all the things around me,” explains Senimelia Kingsburra, from the far north Queensland Yarrabah community. www.creativespirits.info