Today’s dispatch is The Walls Come Tumbling Down. Originally dispatched on 30 November 2014
Yaxşı gün dostlarım,
The 1980’s were a time when there was live music everywhere. Yuendumu was no exception. Papunya’s Warumpi band was formed in 1980, Broome’s Scrap Metal in 1983 and the most famous Aboriginal Band of them all, Yothu Yindi in 1986. At some concerts all I had to do was wave my trumpet about, to be invited on stage. That I wasn’t quite up to scratch didn’t bother the musicians, it was an inclusive scene, and I didn’t overstay my welcome and only joined in a few tunes.
In 1987 we decided to travel overseas as a family (our oldest son was 18). It was the year of the stock-market crash and the coldest European winter in a half a century. Christmas 1987 we were in London, and I got to “sit in” with Howlin’ Wilf (no folks, I know how to spell)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhEPPTzDlns
My trumpet playing days are all but over, and I certainly haven’t been responsible for any walls tumbling down.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u02t3-QoO7c
Last week in Yuendumu some walls came tumbling down. The walls of the Police Station. They’re making room for our new Police Complex. A friend sent me a copy of the media release announcing the proposed $7.6M Complex, which was headed: “Improving safety in Central Australian communities” . My friend wanted to know if I was feeling safer. It goes without saying that I’ll continue to cringe in fear(Lani kana pandarimi) until the complex is completed.
I suspect that when the Larrakia people of Darwin heard about the Police Complex on Warlpiri land, they got minmayi (jealous), and demanded they also get something from the NT Government. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRAiz5VvIVs be careful what you pray for….
My friend duly sent me a copy of a subsequent media release: “New toilet block for Casuarina Coastal Reserve”
“We’ve listened to concerns of visitors to the reserve and have made sure the new toilet block will be located out in the open with good lighting to make it safer and less intimidating for people to use,” and “This government is investing $410,000 for the toilet, which will make the area more attractive for possible investors wanting to submit an Expressions (sic) of Interest for the reserve” “It is proposed to have Larrakia Traditional Owners paint the new toilet block with images of Casuarina Beach and in particular the turtles that nest there.”
$410K, another bargain I say. Safety at all costs. When you’re down and troubled….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhlMWtk7-0E …. You’ve got a friend…
When Kevin 007 ousted the instigators of the Northern Territory Emergency Response (NTER) we waited for the “roll- back” of the Intervention. The pre-election promise of the roll back morphed into a review of the NTER after one year. The thorough Peter Yu review cost a few million dollars- another bargain we thought. In October 2008 Paul Toohey in an article in The Australian reported that the official version of the report dramatically differed from the leaked draft report. The highly critical draft had morphed into a bland report that supported the Intervention.
“Too frequently, often at a subliminal level, indigenous culture is regarded by policy makers as an impediment to the future development of remote communities, rather than an essential resource for their development.” Appears in the leaked draft, but is not to be found in the final report. Pourquoi pas? (Why not?)
From an illustrated Yuendumu school book Mangkurdu-kurlu (pertaining to clouds) (Warlpiri Reader Level 3):
Kurdu-kurdu: Nyampuju mangkurdu kurdu-kurdu wita-wita ka panu-jarrimi ngapa-ku ngarnti ngula kapu wantimi.
Milpirri- Nyampuju mangkurdu wiri karlipa ngarrirni ngulaju milpirri ka karrimi manu ka ngalpa ngarrirni ngapa wiri ka yanirni ngula kapu wantimi.
Matayi- Nyampuju mangkurdu ngulaju matayi maru-nyayirni ngapa palka ka kanjayani wantinjaku-ngarnti
The first are ‘fair weather cumulus’ the next are cumulus and the third are cumulonimbus.
Kurdu-kurdu is synonymous with ‘children’…. The small clouds grow into larger clouds that foretell rain and eventually mature into very dark clouds that bring rain.
“To deny a people an education in their own language where that is possible is to treat them as a conquered people and to deny them respect.” (The Hon. Kim E. Beazley Sr., 1999)
The current Federal Government is putting lots of resources into the ‘Remote School Attendance Strategy’. They even employ (part time) some Warlpiri people and provided them with a (second hand) bus and those ubiquitous bright yellow jackets (presumably to keep them safe). Federal support for teaching in the vernacular is distinctly lacking.
My Warlpiri friends are far less likely to bash their heads against brick walls in the hope they come tumbling down than I am.
I try to follow their example.
I do this by listening to music. ..
Take this silver lining
Keep it in your own sweet head
Shine it when the night is burning red
Shine it in the twilight
Shine it on the cold cold ground
Shine it till these walls come
Tumbling down
We were born with our eyes wide open
So alive with wild hope
Now can you tell me why
Time after time
They drag you down
Down in the darkness deep
Fools in their madness all around
Do yourselves a favour …. Take the 7 minutes it takes to listen to this:
zövq almaq
Frank
And if you have (or make) the time, a little bonus: