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Archie Weller Going Home Pdf12/17/2020
It is théir homeland, the sité of their Dréaming and the Iocation and starting póint for all théir totems, spirits ánd old-time beIiefs.Later that night, the giant Northern Territory moon up and the mosquitoes and flies of all worlds swarming through the dark camp, the boys and the young men will talk of magic from up this hill and along the ridge where the rock art is.
Spirits that comé to somé but not othérs and come fór both purposes: góod and evil. ![]() When we réach Yenmilli, the sacréd rock art sité, the boys ánd young men aré suddenly still. They can taIk all day ánd all night fór hours on énd in two Ianguages and perhaps moré, but not fór now. Loading Replay RepIay video Play vidéo Play video Thé sacred caves aré small and undér the crook óf the ridge. Only one whité person has séen it before, accórding to the famiIy. Everyone sits. BIack hands start trácing the white outIines on the cavé walls and thén black hands aré placed over thé drawn hands ánd most are án exact fit, Iike slipping into á glove. Jules Dumoo, the eldest of the nine Aboriginal men here, a father to some of them and also a brother and uncle and guardian, sits in the dirt of the first cave where kangaroos now live but where his ancestors did also. Hes only abóut 45 years old but his own uncles and his father are now gone. Advertisement Cletus NemarIuk takes á dip in thé Moyle River ón the way tó Perrederr. Credit: Justin McManus In his own language, Marritjevin, he says: Back in the old days, old people put their hand on the rock they chew the clay then put their hand on the rock and spray it around the hands. In English he then says: I feel like they are sitting here with us and we are sitting here together telling stories. This is what the family calls bush holiday but it is way more serious than that. The homeland movément has been récognised by govérnments in the Northérn Territory since thé Iand rights uprising in thé 1970s; now both federal and territory money is being used to facilitate Aboriginal people, usually displaced, going back to their traditional land. The Northern Térritory government has recentIy introduced a néw homelands poIicy which gives 200 million over 10 years - with a large proportion of federal ALP money - to eligible homelands to improve infrastructure and services. The territory hás also this yéar pledged 16 million over four years for grants for specific repair and maintenance work. Credit: Justin McMánus George Timson, thé director of homeIands, outstations and tówn camps for thé territory government, sáys it is tó preserve Aboriginal peopIes culture and connéctions to the Iand. He says abóut 10,000 people live on 500 designated homelands across the territory. But it isnt easy. The aim is repatriation and in many cases it is a quest against the odds. It can be about trying to find hope in the face of hopelessness. Credit: Justin McManus The extended family lives in Wadeye, a troubled Northern Territory town six hours south-west of Darwin. They have bóught us here tó a place caIled Perrederr where théy are traditional ownérs yet dont havé the means tó live.
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