Anindilyakwa Land Council’s

Ayakwa

One People. One Voice. anindilyakwa.com.au

30 Bougainvillea DrivePO Box 172Alyangula NT 0885

WOMEN from Four Mile Outstation, Umbakumba and Angurugu have been bush dying homewares, wearables and silk, and designing ghost net baskets.

Among them is Vera Lalara, an exceptional artist and weaver who stays up late into the night while her children sleep, weaving ghost net baskets.

“Old people came to Angurugu School when I was young to teach us weaving,” Vera said. “We go collecting Pandanus and string and dying with plants to make colours.”

The woman, who is from Four Mile Outstation, said she loves making baskets “both the traditional ways that the old ladies teach me and these new ways. It’s important, to keep my culture going, for the future”.

Vera is one of several Anindilyakwa artists whose work featured in an exhibition in Darwin in December. The exhibition, hosted by Aboriginal Bush Traders, is the first time baskets made using local ghost nets and bush dyed fabrics have been on sale in Darwin.

FEATURED: Deserall Lalara, Annabell Amagula, Letoria Yulidjirri, Sharna Wurramara, Bernadette Watt and Tammy Lalara are some of the artists whose work will be on display at a Darwin exhibition (above). Vera Lalara (inset).

Women weave in old and new waysINSIDE THIS ISSUE• Cane toad

emergency, page 3

• Men’s sheds, page 4

• New arts website, page 6

• Boarding school an option, page 7

| Newsletter December 2017/January 2018

A WOMEN’S competition was the highlight of a grand final basketball event in Umbakumba.

Teams were a mixture of Angurugu and Umbakumba players of all ages and skill levels.

The day was filled with lots of laughter, combined with a fun, competitive vibe.

Other events were toddler games, shooting competitions, ball games, prizes and a free barbecue.

The day coincided with NT AFL’s Grand Final men’s game.

Many stakeholders, community members, and volunteers joined forces to support the day.

Fun competition brings communities together

AUSTRALIA’S Threatened Species Commissioner, Gregory Andrews, visited Groote in October to help plan for recovery of the brush-tailed rabbit rat and the northern hopping mouse.

The two small mammals are target species in the national Threatened Species Strategy.

Gregory said they benefit from the island being cane-toad free but they were still threatened by feral cats and wildfires.

He spoke to the ALC, rangers, Traditional Owners and the local community about how to help in the fight against extinction.

Commissioner helps fight mammal extinction

GEBIE has been delivering Christmas hampers in Angurugu, Umbakumba and Milyakburra communities.

GEAT and Bush Medijina came on board this year to provide every house in community with a Bush Medijina Care Pack.

STRATEGY: Gregory Andrews meets with the ALC, rangers, Traditional Owners and the local community.

COMPETITION: Yasmine Bara and Shianne Amagula battle it out in the Umbakumba event.

Hampers bring Christmas cheer

| December 2017/January 2018 Page 2

A QUICK response from the Anindilyakwa Land and Sea Rangers has prevented a cane toad disaster on Groote Eylandt.

Three adult cane toads were found hiding in the spare tyre of a car on a barge from Numbulwar to Groote Eylandt in November.

“All of the toads found were adults and if they had made their way to fresh water it could have been a disaster, with a single female cane toad producing up to 40,000 eggs in one single breeding event,” Ranger Quarantine and Biosecurity Officer Tom Lawton said.

He praised the quick actions of Harrison Herbert, Gregson Lalara and Cassandra Lalara.

Tom said everyone on Groote needed to help to keep the island cane toad free.

“Please make sure you check your gear, car, and boat for

a cane toad, including boots and anything that has been outside before you bring it to Groote Eylandt,” he said.

The Groote Archipelago is home to endangered species including the northern quoll and Mertens’ water monitor and to other reptiles and birds that currently have healthy populations on Groote.

Many of these species have

declined dramatically on the mainland as cane toads have made their way across northern Australia devastating native wildlife. Cane toads became pests after being introduced into Australia to control destructive beetles in Queensland’s sugarcane crops.

Anyone who sees a cane toad on Groote, should contain it and call 8987 4425.

New arts website launched in time for Christmas Toad discovery prevents disaster

DISASTER AVERTED: Harrison Herbert, Gregson Lalara and Tom Lawton with the three cane toads found in a car arriving from Numbulwar.

Royalties to pay for damagesCONVICTED community

members that have damaged

property will have their royalties

deducted, following a ruling by

the District Court judge.

Magistrate Sue Oliver said the

court had ordered for royalties to

be transferred to offset damage

under the new Court Ordered

Royalty Deduction Scheme.

The ALC is facilitating the

payment ordered by the Local

Court at Alyangula, and will

provide proof of payment on

completion. Magistrate Sue Oliver

Boost for sport facilities

| December 2017/January 2018 Page 3

ALC clamps down on shopping hours

TUCKED away on aged care centre land

in Angurugu, a small shed is giving men a

place to meet, socialise and support each

other.

The ALC built the shed in February 2014 as

a place to make spears and cultural objects

and now has plans to develop more sheds

for younger men.

Senior men have been meeting at the

current shed for activities such as painting,

making didgeridoos and more.

Coordinator Ian O’Malley said the men

did projects together with school children

and this year had regularly worked with

anthropologists on country recording

traditional names for the Groote landscape.

“Instead of working alone on their interests,

the shed is a space for them to interact,” Ian

said.

He said the space was special to older men

but younger men also needed a safe space to

get together.

ALC chief executive Mark Hewitt said the ALC was

looking at including men’s sheds as part of the new

cultural centres in Angurugu, Umbakumba and

Milyakburra. “It is what communities are asking for,

so the ALC is doing what it can to provide special

spaces for various groups in community,” Mark said.

THE Royalty Shoppa warehouse will now only be open after school hours.

And people will no longer be able to get advance payments on royalties to buy toys at the warehouse at Pole 13, after children were found to miss school to buy and play with toys.

ALC chair Tony Wurramarrba said attending school was important for the future of Anindilyakwa children and parents needed to do everything they

could to get their children to school every day.

“If toys are going to stop parents sending their children to school, then we will stop selling these items,” he said.

“The time to play with toys is after school and in the holidays.”

The warehouse part of the Royalty Shoppa program is owned by ARAC and operated by Amangarra, both Aboriginal corporations.

MORE SHEDS FOR YOUNGER MEN

SAFE SPACE: Jabani Lalara works with ochre in the current men’s shed.

| December 2017/January 2018 Page 4

MANY traditional owners have fond memories of Annie Clark that go back 30 years.

Annie is an archaeologist who worked with many traditional owners while doing a PHD and post doctoral research on the Anindilyakwa people’s first contacts with outsiders in the 1990s.

And new memories were made last month when she revisited Groote to plan further excavations.

Annie plans to spend four months on the island next year to unearth more local history with a team of archaeology students. She will return in March next year.

Annie said she wanted to finish analysing excavated material and find more excavation sites.

“Any traditional owners are welcome to come and help with the work sorting the excavated materials at Angurugu next year,” Annie said.

During 11 months of fieldwork on Groote from 1990-1992 she oversaw excavation of 18 different archaeological sites. She returned in 1995 and 1996 to carry out more excavations and record rock art sites around Salt Lake and in the Marngkala area

The ALC is applying for ABA funding for another three years of research.

MORE SHEDS FOR YOUNGER MEN Archaeologist to unearth more history – arakba-wiya-giya

DEPOSITS: Annie Clarke meets with Danny Lalara and Jabani Lalara at Emerald River in November.

NEW ferry services are in the pipeline to open new opportunities for Anindilyakwa people.

A route from Alyangula to Nhulunbuy via Bickerton Island is expected to be operational by

early next year.

And the ALC is planning a new route between Bartalumba Bay and Winchelsea Island to service proposed mining exploration.

GEAT manager Keshena Wilson said the new Nhulunbuy link

would provide easier access for festivals, ceremonies, funerals and family visits.

GEAT is lobbying ferry operator Sealink, to take on a bus link between Umbakumba, Angurugu and Alyangula.

New ferry to Nhulunbuy, Winchelsea

| December 2017/January 2018 Page 5

ANINDILYAKWA artists are celebrating the launch of their website – www.anindilyakwaarts.com.au – which makes their work available to international buyers.

Many new and interesting works

are on sale online and can also be

viewed at the Anindilyakwa Arts

Centre gallery.

The artists have been busy weaving, bush dying, carving and painting.

Many male artists, such as Albert Mamarika from Umbakumba, are carving beautiful spears and painting them brightly.

New arts website launched in time for Christmas

AN AGREEMENT to share sport facilities and increase sport services in a coordinated way is expected to be signed by Groote Eylandt stakeholders in early 2018.

The ALC is teaming up with East Arnhem Shire Council, Bush Fit Mob and NT AFL to plan sport

and recreation upgrades.

ALC chair Tony Wurramarrba said Groote had a serious shortfall of healthy recreational activities for children.

“One of our aims is to develop the athletic potential of children, whether that’s football or

marathon running,” Tony said.

“And the other is to be able to offer fun, active activities such as BMX riding and going to a water park with parents.”

The draft Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) is being circulated.

Boost for sport facilities

UNIQUE: Albert Mamarika with one of the beautiful spears he carved and painted (above). A woven basket (below).

| December 2017/January 2018 Page 6

THE ALC is considering setting up a boarding school to help address poor school attendance levels.

Groote Eylandt children have some of the worst attendance in the country and a group of Anindilyakwa women are passionately leading change.

In November a meeting of 44 people – mostly Traditional Owners – discussed whether

a boarding school could be a solution.

ALC chair Tony Wurramarrba said it was time to take a more extreme approach.

“Education is our future,” Tony said.

“If we don’t educate our children, our people won’t have a healthy future.”

He said a boarding school would

be set up so parents that wanted to visit children could go there and stay.

The ALC met with NT Education Minister Eva Lawler and Local Member Selena Uibo in November and received strong support.

The ALC has formed a Community School Reference Group and commissioned an independent expert report.

Traditional owners call for boarding school

| December 2017/January 2018

GEBIE Civil and Construction (GCC) will be in a better place to win mine contracts after it replaced three excavators.

A 20t and 30t excavator arrived on Groote in November following a 8t excavator in October, all to replace old, unreliable and worn out machines.

General manager Glen Smith said the new diggers would allow GCC

to access new revenue streams, such as the stormwater upgrade it was currently doing for the South 32 mine.

“The upgrade of our plant will allow us to quote on, and hopefully win many new projects.” Glen said.

Glen praised GCC civil manager Matt Keam and GCC workshop manager Rex Hood who worked

hard to forge the path for GCC back into the mine.

Profits from GCC go back to GEBIE for various social initiatives such as hampers, white goods, car seats, dental services, education assistance, beds, school attendance support, festival attendance, funerals, creative arts, and much more.

Page 7

GCC forges path back into mine

PRAISE: Josiah Mamarika, Terry Baillie, Corallie Ferguson, Kenny Nunggumajbarr, Rex Hood and Glen Smith with one of the new machines.

Ph 08 8987 4010Fax 08 8987 4098info@anindilyakwa.com.au For editorial contributions email danielacooper@outlook.com.au

30 Bougainvillea DrivePO Box 172Alyangula NT 0885

anindilyakwa.com.au

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THE Anindilyakwa people will be owners of their own mine, the ALC’s chair has told a national forum.

“We will not just be passive royalty recipients from outside parties mining on our lands,” Tony Wurramarrba said at the 8th Indigenous Economic Development Forum.

He said the Anindilyakwa people had traded internationally for more than 400 years until the colonists stopped it at the turn of the last century.

“Our future is going back to this exchange,” Tony said.

“As an island we must do business with the outside world. My father taught me

that to survive we need to work with the outside world.”

He told the forum that his people had come out of a century of disempowerment and were now taking their future into their own hands.

In November 2016, Tony was the only Aboriginal to travel to China as part of the Chief Minister’s largest ever trade delegation.

The ALC has since been negotiating partnerships with China for aquaculture, renewable energy, tourism and mining.

“This has been the start of a very exciting exchange for our people,” Tony said.

“Personally it seems like I am just doing what my ancestors have done before me.”

Page 8

Anindilyakwa people plan for bright future

ALC chair Tony Wurramarrba

| December 2017/January 2018

Spotters to stop stone throwingSIX spotters will be working to ensure community members are doing the right thing.

The men have been employed by the ALC to watch and report on bad behaviour, particularly by children.

The ALC set up the spotter program after children were found shooting rocks off the

Angurugu bridge. Builders walked off the job and returned to Darwin because they were worried about their safety.

The spotters were given a phone, torch, bicycle, high-visibility jacket and a direct phone link to the police.

ALC chief executive Mark Hewitt said it was a simple community-

led solution that stopped the rock throwing.

“It was a simple pro-active thing to do that came straight from community.” Mark said.

“The spotters will continue to work with the community and parents to stop other inappropriate behaviour, both day and night.”