Warlpiri Lexicon
Yapa Indigenous people
Kardiya non-Indigenous people
Milpirri is a large-scale performance performed by Lajamanu youth and elders utilising traditional Warlpiri, contemporary western dance forms, and a fusion of both. A coming together of opposites, celebrating the new life that this creates. Milpirri was originally conceived in 2005 by Steve Jampijinpa Patrick, a Warlpiri man from Lajamanu.
Sorry, Sorry business = Are Walpiri English terms for the rituals performed when a death has occurred.
The Northern Territory intervention is targeting poor school attendance, with the quarantining of up to 100% of a parent or carer's Centrelink payments being used as a measure to encourage improved attendance. A recently leaked plan from Yuendumu's new government business manager, Noel Mason, to improve attendance proposes that truant children be required to pick up rubbish under supervision until they are 'visibly tired.'
Since 2000, the Yuendumu School has had a series of different principals including the current principal, who will be leaving at the end of term 3 this year. Current attendance rates are at an all time low. Today there are 3 local Indigenous teachers or assistant teachers compared to 7 in 1997. The school has a bilingual program that has been running since 1974, helping to teach children in both English and Warlpiri. Recently the school lost funding for their school liaison officer, who helped engage with the community to improve attendance. Other programs no longer in effect include the mentoring program, in which a non-Indigenous staff member helped mentor and train Indigenous staff and the Remote Area Teacher Education (RATE) program, where local people could do their teacher training in the community. The school covers pre-school to year ten, with a small number of children being sent to schools Melbourne, Alice Springs and Darwin. There is no formal adult-education or trade-training in the community.
In the last two weeks since we heard from Yuendumu the community has been visited by members of the intervention taskforce, including Sue Gordon and Major-General Chalmers. The Yuendumu magpies triumphed over Papunya in the CAFL Grand Final and there has been significant Sorry Business in the community following a local death.
This week, community members share their thoughts and ideas about education in Yuendumu and nearby Lajamanu.
Steven Patrick has been an assistant teacher with Lajamanu School for the past 15 years. He was awarded a National Curriculum Award for his work at Lajamanu School in 2007.
I’ve lived here in Lajamanu all my life, I'm an assistant teacher. I’m 43. I’ve got two boys and one grandson. Just recently the Lajamanu School’s started to listen and we’ve got a group of good yapa and kardiya staff willing to work together. The new principal is consulting with the community and we've got an assistant principal, they’re fairly new but they’re starting to move forward.
There was an open day on Monday, which was successful because there were some games, a lot of the parents come in and even after they left the kids remained right up to the end – that’s one of those good signs that they were enjoying themselves. We're thinking maybe we were going to have more of them – maybe twice a term and keep adding things and some excitement – you know more games to it - and that will involve not only the kids but the community – the parents too.
I had education both ways, I went to my ceremonies and learn about all my people’s ways and cultural ways and then I learnt about this other culture – this kardiya culture. I went to Alice Springs to Teacher’s College and I stayed there for three years as a student. In some ways I’m really lucky that I got that two way learning which helped me as a person to try and look for ways to bring the two, what you call world views, together… make one world view, an Australian view. Which some of them government mob are still doubting whether that can work or not. But I feel you’ve got to give it a go to try and find out the best way to run this country, run yapa and kardiya way.
This welfare payment stuff, I hope it’s done in the right way and a more sensible way. Parents have been playing too much government money in cards or something or gone off to get grog but I don’t know if that can put a stop to those two things which have been really bringing us down – playing too much cards and not looking after kids.
I think (the rubbish collecting), that’s the intervention mob – that’s one of their plans. I don’t know if it’s going to work here but I feel that one is a bit too rough I’d say. I’m sure they’ve got to find another way that would maybe be more effective than picking up rubbish. Educate them, find out a way to acknowledge knowledge. Learn them to be open to learning, find a way to teach people who are willing to learn instead of forcing them to do things.
Through community consultation and community events like this Milpirri that’s there to look at both ways, how we can receive knowledge. Bringing the both cultures together and look at what it means. What does this story talk about? Is it talking to me? We’re using Milpirri as a way to get into people’s minds. Milpirri – it’s a rain cloud. Well when we talk Milpirri here at Lajamanu, it’s a ceremony and it’s a cloud – it’s a certain cloud that one that builds up in the hot weather and it’s full of lightning and all that. We’re using that as a metaphor you know… it takes two to build up that cloud. You’ve got the cold air falling, you’ve got the hot air rising and there you’ve got the cloud being formed I guess. All that lightning, fury, it’s just all sorting itself out and you’ve got the rain falling and then it’s drenching the land I guess and that brings out the goodness out of the land – it brings back all animals, birds and everyone.
There's two ways, kardiya and yapa, like with the Milpirri the two come together and they sort themselves out then really come out with that confidence that we can make the lands celebrate again. For the first Milpirri we had old people and young people coming together. Hopefully the next Milpirri will be kardiya and yapa coming together to find out the best way to become Australian again.
We need to become allies, to work something out and not be afraid to talk up. That’s a way – I feel like we’ve got a really good team here. In my 15 years at school I didn’t see that sort of cooperation. This year I feel more comfortable working at school. They talk to that department to not to try to tell us or try to control us what to teach but listen to the community – what we need to teach. That’s the way we want to move – for them to support us when we’re trying to teach in education.
Nancy is a qualified teacher at the Yuendumu school. She has been working as a teacher for nearly 30 years. Nancy has been closely involved with the development of the Warlpiri language program at the school. She is currently teaching Years 1 and 2. Nancy was born at Yuelamu (Mt Allen) close to Yuendumu.
I think education is really important because we want our kids to learn. It's really good to educate our kids here at Yuendumu. We want more kardiya teachers and more yapa TAs (teachers assistants). In every class there should be yapa but we need lots of kids to come to school so that they can give us lots of TAs and teachers. I think kardiya are really good too because they’ve got lots of experience. Two-way is really good – teaching in both ways is really good. We want to keep our culture, we don’t want to lose it, we don’t want to lose Warlpiri. We want to keep it strong, we want to speak our own language.
Parents have got to be strong – they’ve got to send their kids to school and wake them. Sometimes its really sad when we see our kids go and drink – it’s really sad if I was teaching that kid and he’s going wrong way – ‘Maybe get a job first you know’ – we taught those kids.
I want to talk about my little grandson. I sent my little grandson to Darwin to live with his aunty because he used to run away with other boys, jump over the fence and I used to talk and talk, to chase him. By running he used to miss lessons and I decided to send my little grandson to do his education in Darwin. I used to be ashamed of myself, ‘oh my grandson’s running away – I’m supposed to be a teacher he should stay in school’, but he didn’t listen. He was eight years old – he’s nine now. Education is really important – it’s the key. When he grows up maybe he’ll be a really educated person and come and work back here at Yuendumu or Lajamanu.
I’ve got this issue with the cut-backs from education by both parties. There’s no assistant teachers for secondary age classes, no assistant teachers for Aboriginal teachers, no money to pay for these jobs. There’s no money to pay old people, that’s PTI hours – Part Time Instructor, there’s no RATE program – Remote Area Teacher Education, no mentors for Aboriginal teachers, no community liaison officer, no using buses to pick up kids, no breakfast program, no lunch program, no fruits, no Night School, no rent free education for Aboriginal teachers. The Liberal party government tried to end bi-lingual education three times. The Labour party has tried to take it away once. But we are the only lucky school in the centre which has kept our own program since 1974. When we started we had about 20 Warlpiri working in the school. One TA for every white teacher and two each in any childhood classroom, three cleaners, three gardeners, three literacy teachers. Before taking money away fix the school first, thankyou.
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Ned is a Warlpiri man aged 46. He is a Traditional Owner who works at the men's reception desk at the Yuendumu clinic. He has lived in Yuendumu all his life and is a father to five children. Prior to his work at the Health Clinic he was a plant operator and supervisor.
I’d like to see a lot of good things happening in Yuendumu with education. But not with all this picking up rubbish business and that. (Welfare quarantining), that’s going back to the old law that – the old government law. The government – they promised everything was coming in for child abuse. Like that Noel reckons he’s going to make kids pick up things. You’ve got to stop child abuse and what’s he doing? That’s child abuse making kids pick up rubbish until they’re tired. Why doesn’t he do it? We’ll watch him first and see how he feels. That’s what I reckon.
We haven’t got principals and head teachers who go around to the camps and talk to parents to encourage their kids, I never see anyone of them going around there. No school engagement. I reckon it's important to learn to read and write but to get them kids to school you’ve got to have a principal to encourage kids to come to school. At the moment Yuendumu School level has dropped. The kids are not going to school lately – not much – we’d like to see a lot of kids going there. They (teachers) get payed big money to be out here. (Community engagement) that’s the key to education. I used to see teachers go around to camps and talk to parents about their kids you know. They didn’t say like ‘Oh your kid better come to school if not we’re cutting your money out’ – that’s no good.
I always see the Aboriginal school workers trying to do their best to get kids to school but they don’t get any support from the principal. All they worry about is who doesn’t come to school. When they made all this child abuse thing on the radio – a state of emergency or whatever just like this is Iraq or like it's a trouble spot but it's not.
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Neville has over 30 years experience as a teacher. He has taught at Yuendumu, Papunya, Yirara College, Ali Curung amongst other places. Neville, known locally as Cobra for his love of the Cobra car, has been a Coordinator for the Warlukurlangu Aboriginal Artists Gallery at Yuendumu as well as a park ranger in the Tanami area and at Telegraph Station in Alice Springs. Neville is a member of the Baptist Church congregation and was recently the President of the Baptist Union of NT.
Back in the 60s we mainly learned in English, writing and maths and all other things in English. We used to speak Warlpiri in the playground and outside the camp but in the classroom we had to speak in English. So when bilingual education came in ’74 it went well. Our Warlpiri mob should learn to speak in English because its opens up the world for them – they’re not frightened they can communicate with other people, other tribes. It’s good to learn bilingual but its good to make it balanced you know. We should learn more English because that’s how people find work.
We need a better school in Yuendumu, better education. I reckon there’s better education in urban schools like in Alice Springs and others but for yapa they want to try and put them down. We should be treated as human beings to have a good level of education in bush schools – that’s what’s missing.
Back in ‘73 when I went to New Guinea, to Port Moresby, I thought I was dreaming when I saw yapa as a pilot or taxi driver or policeman or teacher and that dream made me think that one day Australian yapa will be like that in future. That’s the best dream that I got from New Guinea – other yapa. It’ll be better for Australian yapa to be the same as anybody else. We’ve got to live together.
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Sherman is 24 and is a leader of the football team. He has worked with Night Patrol and Warlpiri Media, and has recently been employed full-time by the Mt Theo Program as Youth Mentor. He is married with a young daughter.
I want my daughter to learn how to read and write – that’s the main part – our kids to learn more if they want to get good jobs they have to go to school and learn more about reading and writing. When I was just a little boy a big mob used to go to school and we used to learn our English and Warlpiri together and go out on excursions like visit our country. When I got a little bit older I just stepped back from school – I didn’t go to school anymore.
I don't know why, because in those days there was a lot of good fun, like really good fun. Sometimes at school from your best friends you’ll get carried away. Like family – if family has moved to town you’ll still follow them if you don’t want your family to move on.
I’d like to see night school. Night school is really important for young fellas and kids – get them out of that danger zone like drinking and smoking. We should still have Night School in Yuendumu.
Parents have got to start waking up if they want kids to learn more education. But it’s good when the bus drives around picking kids up.
One day these kids, if they go to school everyday they might become a leader of the community. We just don’t want many outside people to come in and boss us around. Those things (welfare quarantining) only happen to Indigenous people, which is wrong. That bloke – he’s saying for the kids to pick up rubbish – that’s really wrong because kids can’t work picking up rubbish. But if parents don’t wake up and send their kids to the school this wouldn’t be happening today because governments are really getting – getting really mean to us – to Indigenous people that our kids not going to school. If kids go to school this wouldn’t be happening. But that government bloke – I disagree for him because we can’t just make our kids work picking up rubbish. That’s bad for us.
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Bethany is 18 years old, and has a two year old daughter called Chiara. She grew up in Alice Springs. Her mother is Warlpiri and stepfather is of Austrian and Irish descent. She has two brothers. She moved to Yuendumu a few years ago.
Education should be yapa side and kardiya side. So a school that has English reading and writing and all that and also learning Warlpiri culture as well. (You need) a chance to learn how to read or write or see from two different points of view. So you’ve got your cultural background and your other one as well which you can use to achieve goals. Like English you can go on a higher level and also use your cultural background as well like say for interpreting – like helping out people.
Well when I first pulled out of year ten and eleven I thought that school was all boring – I thought I’m glad I got out of that. Then a couple of years later I’m glad that dad put me in another school. Every time my dad rings up and he asks me ‘Have you got a job yet?’ I say ‘Yeah’ and dad says ‘See you’re smart, Aboriginal, educated young woman and you can do just about anything and I’m happy’ and I thank him.
I see these young kids here and I think they just let them run wild. They don’t want to go to school because they’re not disciplined enough. A mother and father’s job is like to take care of their kids and to try and make them understand and teach them what’s right and wrong and you have to egg them on to learning more things like why they need education. There should be more tutors here, Aboriginal tutors speaking Warlpiri and English as well and teaching them and egging them on and making it more exciting for them.
I’m still thinking about doing law and order because I find that interesting like finding out what yapa's rights and wrongs are and what kardiya’s rights and wrongs are. Because some Aboriginal people – they don't have the right to speak up for their rights. And they don’t because of government and all that. Education is a special thing to have, not only for younger kids but for older people as well. Some old people don’t speak English – some of them don't understand – say (my uncle) Bandy for example every time he gets some mail he always give it to me and I’m always there sitting next to him and reading it to him and he asks me 'What does it mean?' and 'Oh its about your payment'.
I understand what education is and I really want Chiara to grow up strong and know what education is and try and achieve something when she’s older. I’m thankful that I went to school.
Georgina is the Supervisor of the Yuendumu Women's Centre. She was born in Yuendumu and was educated in Alice Springs at the Catholic Convent School and at Yirara High School (for years 8-12). She has 3 sons and 1 daughter and 5 grandchildren. (Georgina is Sherman's mother)
The school at the moment is very low and kids are not going to school and we would like to see more and more kids going to school everyday.
It is really important to have a school here at Yuendumu so that when the next generation comes they can always go to school here at Yuendumu instead of sending kids a long way. It’s important so that we can have all the kids at school so they can have their culture, language and they’re close to their family.
I’d just like to see more and more parents going to the class, taking their kids, drop them off or just go in with the kids to the classroom and see their work – they’ll be happy and they’ll be maybe going to school everyday instead of wandering around the street.
Francis was one of the founders of Warlpiri Media and starred in its most well known production 'Bush Mechanics' and more recently in 'Aboriginal Rules.'
I care about remote area community schools, because there’s not much there for those kids. Like in the cities they go to school and they bring their homework back and they do it with the family and they do reading in the home and they settle in and the questions those kids ask we have to explain it in Warlpiri. They go to school here but they don’t bring their homework back to get the parents to look at it and how the teacher’s been teaching them. Parents are important to go along with it. They should have night school– learning little ones to be apprentice or mechanic or carpenter or anything like that.
We’ve got European children who live in Yuendumu (and they go) to school with the Aboriginal kids to learn, they pick up Warlpiri quick. We’re exchanging education, but we haven’t got a proper school like Year 12 and Year 8 and Year 4 – anything along the line they should be teaching them.
I don’t agree (with the rubbish plan) because that kind of thing is not a kid’s job. It’s a health hazard and they don’t know what the kids are going to pick up and it could be dangerous. Councils – they’re doing the rubbish, they get paid for that.
My grandkids go to school in Darwin, Adelaide and all that, they write a bit – they’re doing well.