¿Que tal amigos?
When I was attending primary school in Argentina, ‘Justicialismo’ was a compulsory subject. It had very little to do with ‘Justicia’ and everything to do with ‘Dogma’,Peronist Dogma that is.
I’m quite happy to have lived without being subjected to Peronist Dogma. I’m eternally grateful to Señor Isasmendi , my teacher, for having given me the opportunity to do so, by refusing to teach it.
To fill the void left by the dismantling of bilingual education, Yuendumu School holds a ‘culture day’ once a fortnight. Older Warlpiri people come to the school to tellJukurrpa stories and to teach children how to make artefacts. Whilst the idea to subject these Warlpiri teachers to compulsory police checks required for anyone ‘working with children’ was quietly dropped, a form none the less has to be filled in for these people to get paid. Napaljarri was asked her birth-date: “ No birthday, lawa,no birthday” she replied. There is no Warlpiri word for ‘birthday’.
Older Warlpiri people can take you to the tree they were born under, if it’s still there, not to mention the place where they first ‘quickened’ in their mother’s womb.
During the last decade a trend has emerged whereby young Warlpiri parents hold lavish birthday parties for their babies and toddlers.
Thus societies change, without the need for anyone to force change. Self appointed arrogant enforcers of change don’t realise how superfluous and counter-productive their efforts are. Warlpiri people are too polite to tell them how obnoxious they are. White people are much more inclined to tell them to f*ck off.
Once a month Court is held in Yuendumu. One or two days. Overworked lawyers (defence and prosecution) descend on Yuendumu. The court list for 16th. August listed 57 matters involving 48 defendants (28 male, 20 female) and 134 charges. Fight/violence related charges numbered 50 (20 male, 30 female), the most common being: “Armed with an offensive weapon”, “Going armed in public”.
Before you start envisioning Baghdad or Tripoli street scenes, I should point out that the Yuendumu weapon of choice (especially for women) is a kuturu (“nulla-nulla”) or mulga wood stick.
Whilst over the last few decades some serious injuries have been sustained from contact with a kuturu it is fair to say that usually a kuturu is used for symbolic/ritualistic effect, a bit like the Maori Haka.
I can’t think of a single dispute in which a rifle or pistol was used, even if in the past many rifles were held in Yuendumu. In this regard Yuendumu is safer than the streets of Melbourne.
I don’t believe that there has ever been an RPG at Yuendumu, neither one of those oddly named IEDs.
There were also 50 motor vehicle related charges (60% male) plus 11 involving alcohol (55% male). By far the most common charges: Drive Motor Vehicle while unlicenced and Drive Motor Vehicle while Disqualified.
Only 15% of defendants (5 men, 2 women) were charged with alcohol related offences. All of the alcohol related charges were for motor vehicle offences (none for violence related charges)
Not a pretty picture I grant you. Yuendumu is a nest of criminals.
But are we a dysfunctional community of perverts and violent men bashing their wives and abusing their children under the influence of rivers of grog? Look at the numbers and draw your own conclusions.
Recently in Alice Springs an Alyawarr man spent two months in gaol (he was arrested at Alice Springs Hospital maternity ward whilst visiting his wife and newly born daughter), and received a two year suspended sentence. He is not allowed to return to his community until his wife’s 16th.Birthday.
The judge’s sentencing remarks included the following:
“Because of the remoteness and your traditional lifestyle, concepts such as ages are irrelevant to you. Your day-to-day life has centred around the traditional hunting and gathering of bush tucker for the
community. You spend most of your time in the company of your grandfather who is now in his 90s, and who is an important traditional elder in the community. In terms of modern day society you are extremely unsophisticated and you are one of those increasingly rare persons in a remote Aboriginal community who did not know that having sexual intercourse with this child was wrong according to Northern Territory law. No one had explained to you the concept of your age and the age of the child.
Your family and the family of the child were also unaware that it was wrong for the pair of you to engage in sexual intercourse. The victim has told me in her victim impact statement the following about her belief and about you, and I quote what she has to say: ‘I didn’t think it was wrong and was happy to be with him. In our law it’s okay. He’s been good to me. He looks after me. Our families are happy that we are together, even though I am young, because they know he is a good man and will look after me. ….The lack of knowledge by everyone concerned in this case about the law of the Northern Territory in connection with sexual intercourse with children under the age of 16 ….While it may be increasingly rare, there are sections of our community who do not have this knowledge and understanding. It is a sad indictment, indeed, of our community as a whole that we have not been able to educate everyone in our remote communities about these matters… (my emphasis)
http://youtu.be/23S7lAhXR2M We don’t need no thought control…
This Justicia from a society that in 1789 sentenced 10 year old Mary Wade to hang. The sentence was not carried out, instead Mary was transported to Australia. By today’s standards, all of the Convicts sent to Australia had only committed trivial crimes. The serious crimes, such as rape, murder, or impersonating an Egyptian, were punished with the death penalty.
Mary Wade was 14 years old when she gave birth to the first of 21 children.
The legal age of consent in many Latin American countries is 14.
Romeo wooed Juliet when she was 14 years old.
The ‘victim’ in the Alice Springs court case was 14 years old when the Alyawarr man committed his heinous crime, because he hadn’t been properly ‘educated’.
Just as well no Warlpiri or Alyawarr person has impersonated an Egyptian.
This judgement has very little to do with ‘Justicia’ and everything to do with ‘Dogma’, Assimilationist Dogma that is. Being subjected to Assimilationist Dogma is something many remote Aboriginal Australians would be quite happy to live without. They are not given that opportunity. They have no choice.
Justicia, Tierra y Libertád….
También Respeto y Dignidád….
Hasta pronto,
Franklin
PS- Have I mentioned it before? Centrelink’s motto: “Giving you Choices” ¡Que pavada!