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Newslines

I N D I G E N O U S

A MAGAZINE ON ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER ISSUES July–August 200

IndigenoustourismOpen for business

A nationalvoiceTowards a new rep body

KamilaroicountrySpotlight on Tamwor



Contents4

17Indigenous Newslines

Welcome to the rst edition o Indigenous Newslines, an

Australian Government magazine on Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander issues.

This magazine will be published ve times a year. It provides

up-to-date inormation on Australian Government services

and programs and includes inspiring Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islander stories rom across the nation.

Indigenous Newslines also has a weekly radio program called

Newslines Radio. To listen online or get broadcasting details

visit: www.indigenous.gov.au

To share ideas, subscribe to receive Indigenous Newlines by

mail or online, change your address or order more copies:

Web: www.indigenous.gov.au

Email: [email protected]

Fax: (02) 6133 8374

Mail: The Editor

Indigenous Newslines

Department o Families, Housing, Community

Services and Indigenous Aairs

PO Box 7576

Canberra Business Centre, ACT 2610.

ISSN 1836-9154

FAHCSIA10213

© Commonwealth o Australia 2009. Apart rom any use as permitted under the Copyright

Act 1968, no part may be reproduced without prior permission rom the Commonwealth.Reproduction inquiries should go to: Commonwealth Copyright Administration, Attorney-General’s Department, Canberra or posted at: www.ag.gov.au/cca

Every action is taken to ensure culturally inappropriate names and images are not includedin this magazine. However, readers should be aware that this publication may inadvertentlycontain names or photos which could oend.

IndigenousNewslines is

produced from sustainable

managed forestan d

controlled sources.

PEFC certified

www.pefc.orgPEFC/XX-XX-XX

Closing the gap 2

Towards a new representative body 4

Indigenous tourism 7

Open for business 7

Big vision ventures 9

Showcasing the west 10Different paths 12

Operators 14

Tamworth is Kamilaroi country 16

Yarning Gamilaraay 17

How to yarn 17

The Koori King of Country Music 18

NAIDOC Week 2009 poster 20

7

Cover photo: Jett Sibosado, Lombadina Beach, Dampier Peninsula, WA.

Jett’s Lomadina Community owns and operates the successul Lombadina Tourismventures 2,600 kms north o Perth. Jett’s ather, Garry, is a guide in the business whichoers accommodation to around 3,000 visitors a year and runs a gallery and mudcrabbing, shing and scenic tours. Visit www.lombadina.com.au

The manager o Lombadina Tourism ventures, Robert Sibosado, says the remotenesso Lombadina Beach is a major attraction or visitors. “You can be the only personon the beach here. No visit to the Dampier Peninsula is complete without a taste oLombadina.”

July – August 2009 |3



Towards a new representative body

Recommendations on the shape o anew national representative body will be

presented to the Australian Governmentat the end o July.

Once community consultation is fnalised

in late July, Tom Calma, the Aboriginal

and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice

Commissioner, will present his report

on a preerred model or a new National

Indigenous Representative Body to the

Government.

The report, prepared with input rom an

Indigenous steering committee, will be based

on 12 months o intensive consultation. Dozens

o remote, urban and regional communities

across Australia have participated in thediscussions, with thousands o people attending

workshops and contributing submissions.

The consultations have shown strong support

or the new body as a national voice or

Indigenous Australians. The Social Justice

Commissioner believes that without the

guidance o a national body, even the best

intentioned government initiatives can ounder.

“There is overwhelming support among

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples or

a new representative body to be established,”

says Calma. “The new body is critical i we

are to make closing the gap and orging a new

partnership with government a reality.”

Calma’s July report will be studied by the

Australian Government, laying the oundation

or interim arrangements or a National

Indigenous Representative Body to be in place

by the year’s end.

Through the consultation, communities and

individuals have made it clear they want

the new body to be a strong advocate or

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians

as First Peoples, particularly on issues such

as constitutional recognition, human rights,

reconciliation and addressing Indigenous

disadvantage.

“The rep body should be a voice orAboriginal and Torres Strait Islanderpeople and voice our priorities, be ableto negotiate, mediate and strategicallydebate our vision.”

Colleen Johnson, Bundaberg

Aboriginal community.

Rather than delivering government services

and programs as ATSIC, the ormer Aboriginal

and Torres Strait Islander Commission did,

communities want the new body to lead policy

development on Indigenous issues and to

review and monitor the impact o services an

programs on the ground.

They also want the new body to negotiate

ramework agreements with governments,

conduct research, contribute to law reorm a

represent Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island

people at the international level.

Guiding principlesThe consultation process has shown strong

views on the need or the new body to have

highest o ethical standards.

A meeting in Adelaide in March o 98

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people

strongly endorsed a set o principles o

behaviour that members and employees o

the new body should abide by. Known as the

“The representative body willbe critical in us having ourvoice heard on important issuessuch as sel-determination,constitutional recognition and inaddressing racism.”

Muriel Bamblett, VictorianAboriginal Child Care Agency.

4 | Indigenous Newslines



Nolan Principles, they include honesty, integrity,

accountability, objectivity and openness.

Communities want males and emales to be

equally represented on the body and or it to

reect the cultural and geographic diversity o Indigenous Australia, as well as marginalised

groups like youth, disabled people, members

o the Stolen Generations and mainland Torres

Strait Islanders.

“Respect and accountability will be just twoo the qualities that will be essential on thisboard,” Lowitja O’Donoghue, a ormer ATSICchairperson says.

“It is vital that any new body has equalrepresentation rom Aboriginal women. To havea proper balance in the issues that are looked atand in the way they are looked at, our womenmust be a driving orce.”

Should the body be elected?Communities say they want a body that isindependent o government and which in timewill be able to operate without governmentunding.

The Social Justice Commissioner says a clear viewhas emerged that the members o the new bodyshould not be government appointed.

But while there is a consensus on these issues,so ar no strong agreement has emerged on onepreerred model or the new body.

“Is it going to be an elected body through apublic election process or is it going to be a bodyappointed by Indigenous people? Or is it going to

be a combination o both?” Calma asks.

The Australian Government has indicated thenew body will not necessarily be an elected oneand the consultations have shown support orboth elected and delegate models.

Lowitja O’Donoghue believes a directly electedmodel is not the best solution.

“We need to nd a way o structuring the

new body that will not necessarily be

by direct election … to look outside the

conventional models and nd something

that ensures Aboriginal people are able to

have a real say.”

Lowitja O’Donoghue, ormer ATSIC chairperson.

But Megan Davis, Director o the Indigenous LawCentre at the University o New South Wales,

believes the new body should be elected.

“That is what sel-determination

is – Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander people reely determining

their political status and reely

pursuing their economic, social and

cultural development.”

Megan Davis, Indigenous Law Centre,

University o New South Wales.

Legal status With the strong call or the new body to beindependent o government, communities havebeen considering what the legal basis or the

body should be.

Calma says there are three main options on

the table here. The body could be a statutory

authority, with its roles and unctions set

down in law, a company limited by guarantee,

like Aboriginal Hostels Ltd and unded by

government, or it could be a more independent

non-government organisation which has

a Memorandum o Understanding with

government.

“I the body is set up as a statutory authority, it

would report to Federal Parliament each year in

much the same way as the Australian Human

Rights Commission does currently,” he explains.

Regardless o the model adopted, the Social

Justice Commissioner believes the new body

must have the bi-partisan support o the major

political parties and operate outside the election

cycle.

Calma is optimistic. “I think in 10 years’

time all Australians, both Indigenous and

non-Indigenous, will understand the role

o the rep body and we will have very clear

strategies developed or all areas o Indigenous

disadvantage.”

For more inormation on the new representative

body visit: www.humanrights.gov.au/social_justice

Previous page:Aboriginaland TorresStrait IslanderSocial JusticeCommissioner,Tom Calma. Photo:Wayne Quilliam.

Let: Participantsat the Adelaideworkshop. Photo:Rosey Boehm.




Towards a new representative body cont

Steps to a new body

2007 commitmentThe Australian Labor Party, then the

Federal Opposition, commits to setting

up a National Indigenous Representative

Body i it wins government.

July 2008The Social Justice Commissioner, Tom Calma,

releases his Building a Sustainable National

Indigenous Representative Body discussion

paper. View the paper at:

www.humanrights.gov.au/social_justice

July–December 2008The Australian Government leads

consultation and workshops in over 60

communities across Australia. It invites

organisations, peak bodies and state and

territory governments to participate and

make submissions.

The Government requests Tom Calma set

up an independent Indigenous steering

committee to oversee the next phase o

consultations.

The steering committee members are:

Mark Bin Bakar, Tanya Hosch, Geo

Scott, Jackie Huggins AM, Tim Goodwin, Yananymul Mununggurr, Jason Glanville,

Rosalie Kunoth-Monks, John Toshie Kris

and Nala Mansell-McKenna.

Mick Dodson, Australian of the Year 2009,

also participates on the steering committee

in an advisory capacity.

March 2009National meeting o 98 Indigenous leaders

in Adelaide reviews consultations and

discusses roles, unctions and structure

o new body.

May–June 2009Community guide released and available

online along with a national survey at:

www.humanrights.gov.au/social_justice

July 2009The steering committee report

recommending a preerred model or a

National Indigenous Representative Body

is presented to the Indigenous Aairs

Minister by the end o July.

A new partnership

The Australian Government wants a new National Indigenous Representative

Body up and running so that the views o Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

people are represented at the national level through a credible body.

Indigenous Aairs Minister Jenny Macklin believes the national representative

body will be “a good platorm on which to build new partnerships”.

“It oers us a great opportunity to build on the impetus o the National

Apology, to work together to overcome the legacy o the past – the entrenched

disadvantage and marginalisation o Indigenous people,” Minister Macklin says.

The Government sees establishing the new body as central to resetting its

relationship with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and as a vital step

in closing the gap in living standards between Indigenous and non-Indigenous

Australians.

“A national representative body will allow Indigenous Australians to take the lead

in the campaign to close the gap and on advising the Government and the wider

community on the issues which are important to them,” Minister Macklin says.

Members of the steering committee and supporters.Front row: Yananymul Mununggurr, Lowitja O’Donoghue, Jackie Huggins.Second row: Tom Calma, Nala Mansell-McKenna.Third row: Mark Bin Bakar, Mick Dodson, Josephine Bourne.Back row: Jason Glanville, John Toshie Kris, Darren Dick. Photo: Rosey Boehm.




Indigenous tourism: Open or business

Indigenous tourism is the reshest thing to come on to the

Australian tourism landscape in the past 20 years.

It’s proving to be a win-win situation where both tourists

and communities are beneftting.

Whether it’s didge players busking at Circular Quay in Sydney or

fshing on traditional lands in ar north Queensland, Indigenousinvolvement in the tourism industry is having a powerul impact.

Aden Ridgeway is the executive chairman o the Indigenous Tourism

Industry Advisory Panel which advises Tourism Australia. He says

Indigenous tourism was once just an “add on” activity or tourists but

is now a valued part o the industry.

“You can promote the Indigenous tourism experience as a point o

dierence between Australia and the countries we compete with or

tourists,” says Ridgeway, who as a ormer Senator, championed the

potential o Indigenous tourism or many years.

“We encourage people to come and experience the oldest civilisation

on the planet.”

Ridgeway says the spiritual insight which Indigenous tourism provides

or visitors is appealing.

“It gives people a chance to experience Aboriginal spirituality, things

like the Dreaming and stories about how or example the Milky Way,

the kangaroo and the dolphin were created.”

The diversity o types o tourism businesses that can operate

successully in Australia – whether they are run by individuals, amiliesor communities – means all types o people can contribute.

“I or example a resort opens nearby, a community can do guided

tours on mountain bikes or our-wheel drives. Someone else in the

community might harvest native oods to create Indigenous cuisine.

Others might work at the resort or encourage resort guests to visit the

local community art centre,” Ridgeway says.

“Tourism creates ways o expanding opportunities in areas where not

many opportunities exist.”

Above: Darren Capewell ofWula Guda Nyinda AboriginalCultural Tours, Shark Bay, WA.Photo: Wayne Quilliam.Let: Brisbane’s NunukulYuggera dancers perform fortourists, QLD.Right: Robert Sibosado,manager of LombadinaTourism ventures, DampierPeninsula, WA.Photo: Red Dirt Photographyand courtesy Riverlife.




Indigenous tourism: Open or business cont

Dedication and passion

Ridgeway admits that running a tourism

business will not suit every community. He

points out that tourism can be a seven daya week job and that most visitors come on

weekends rather than weekdays.

“People have to be passionate about putting

themselves orward, as the characters that

operate Indigenous businesses are so much

in the ront line o the industry,” he says.

“When tourists are or example sitting

around a campfre listening to stories or

going out fshing with two brothers, it is

the characters o the tourism operators

that enrich the experience and make it so

powerul.”

Work-lie balance While dedication is essential to run a

tourism business, it does not have to be

a seven day a week, 12 months a year

commitment.

Ridgeway says tourism is a business that

individuals and communities can adapt to

suit their circumstances.

“Tourism is not like working in the public

service or in say mining or agriculture. It

has this adaptive nature to it and you can

make that work or you.”

Ridgeway sees the seasonal nature o

tourism, particularly in many parts o

northern and central Australia, as an

advantage.

“In some places tourism only operates

or part o the year because temperatures

are so hot, or tourists won’t travel out

there in the wet season. It is cyclical, so

communities can say, or six months o the

year, do tourism and or the other hal o

the year, they might do land care services.”

Overheads can be low

While some communities have invested

in large scale tourist ventures, like hotels,

other very successul businesses have been

based on simple ideas and low overheads.

Ridgeway points to cultural guided walks

as an example. “All you need is access to

land and an opportunity to bring people to

your land to meet your people,” he says.

He is ull o admiration or simple ventureslike Jungala Kriss, who runs dot-painted

mountain bike tours into the MacDonnell

Ranges in Central Australia and the

Melbourne-based Aboriginal che Mark

Olive, or his inspirational outback native

ood cuisine.

“Quite simply, by operating their own

businesses and activities, our people are

ensuring the integrity o the Indigenous

experiences that visitors have.”

“Tourism means communities can get

involved in economic activity and at the

same time help to make sure that our storyis part o the national story.”

> Tourism Australia is a statutory authority

which promotes Australia as a tourism

destination.

> For the latest inormation on training,

assistance and unding or tourism operators

visit Tourism Australia’s Indigenous tourism

portal at:

www.indigenoustourism.australia.com

> State and territory governments provide the

most unding to support tourism operators.

Links to the websites o these governments

are at:www.indigenoustourism.australia.com

> Indigenous Business Australia (IBA) assists

tourism operators with low-interest loans

and supports Indigenous joint ventures into

tourism (see story opposite).

Visit www.iba.gov.au

> Western Australian Indigenous Tourism

Operators Committee (WAITOC) represents

Indigenous tourism operators in Western

Australia. It hosts the Australian Indigenous

Tourism Conerence and the annual Gnunkai

Awards which acknowledge exceptionalcommitment and contribution to Indigenous

tourism at the national level.

Visit www.waitoc.com

Support orIndigenous tourism

Let: Home Valleyemployee Lorelle Adamand the catch of the dayat Home Valley Station,East Kimberley, WA.

Right: IBA and theDjuldjurd AboriginalCorporation own theCape Don Fishing LodgeCobourg Peninsula, NT.




Big vision ventures

Aboriginal investment money has owed intomany iconic ventures: Kings Canyon Resort in

Central Australia, the Gordon River Cruises in

Tasmania and the Tjapukai Cultural Park in

Cairns, to name just a ew.

Smaller joint venture projects are also making

their mark, like the newly-renovated Mungo

Lodge in the Mungo National Park in western

New South Wales and Cape Don on Cobourg

Peninsula in Arnhem Land.

Much o the investment is being supported by

Indigenous Business Australia (IBA), which

has about 25 per cent o its $220 million joint

ventures portolio invested in large tourism andaccommodation businesses.

“These larger joint ventures are owned or

partially owned by Aboriginal people so they

are on the boards and receiving part o the

dividends and profts that are generated,” says

Ron Morony, IBA General Manager.

With large tourism ventures, IBA usually

partners with an Indigenous group to buy a

business and then engages an experienced

private operator to manage it. IBA then assists

its Indigenous partner to acquire business

management skills so they can eventually buy

out IBA and take over the business.

The Kakadu joint ventureOne o IBA’s more successul joint ventures

is Gagudju Lodge, Cooinda (Home o Yellow

Water Cruises) in Kakadu National Park in the

Northern Territory.

The local Gagudju Association used miningroyalties to build the Gagudju Lodge at Cooinda

and the Crocodile Holiday Inn Hotel, “the

Croc”, in 1985.

When the association had fnancial difculties

in 1998, IBA bought 70 per cent o the business

and supported reurbishment and training

programs. Now the Gagudju Association has

rebuilt its position and will have acquired

48 per cent o the Cooinda operation by the

end o the year, and aims eventually to own it

entirely.

The Kakadu businesses run training programs

which guarantee employment on completion.Cooinda has 10 Aboriginal employees and by

2010 wants all its tour guides to be Indigenous.

The venture also supports local Aboriginal

people to run their own small businesses

such as cultural tours and the planned Anme

Arringun bush snack caé.

Eyes on the uture in TownsvilleIBA has recently acquired the 110-room

Holiday Inn Townsville and is negotiating with

an Indigenous group to partner with in the

venture.

IBA says this investment is already paying

o, with art worth around $150,000 being

purchased rom local Indigenous artists or the

hotel’s walls, and recycled hotel urniture being

donated to local community groups.

IBA sees the Townsville venture as an

opportunity to train young people to work in

the hotel and in the wider tourism industry

and is talking to local Indigenous groups about

running small businesses rom the hotel.

Economic hard times

Despite the good news on tourism investment

IBA is aware that today’s global economic

climate is not an easy one or earning tourism

dollars.

“Tourism is like any sector – it has its cycles

and has been in the doldrums or about 18

months,” Morony says.

“But the message rom the industry is that

there is an ongoing demand rom tourists or

engagement with Aboriginal and Torres StraitIslander people.”

For more inormation on IBA visit:

www.iba.gov.au

“We want communities tobuild assets and get capitalgrowth rom them.”

Ron Morony, IBA General Manager.

Some Indigenous communities are

entering the tourism business as

investors. They see becoming owners

o resorts and hotels as a way o

tapping into the benets which can

fow rom tourism.

Kakadu National Park, NT – IBA and the Gagudju Association own Yellow Water Cruises, above, and theGagudju Lodge at Cooinda, bottom right. Top right: IBA-owned Holiday Inn Townsville, QLD.




Showcasing the West

The Indigenous Land Corporation (ILC)

purchased Home Valley Station in the East

Kimberley in Western Australia on behal o the

traditional owners, the Balangarra people.

Once a struggling and run-down operation,

work by Indigenous trainees and ILC

investment have seen the property transormed.

The re-invented station is now drawing tourists

rom around the world and is an Indigenous

pastoral and tourism training centre, creating

opportunities, especially or young local

Aboriginal people.

Fourteen Indigenous trainees are hosted at

Home Valley each year. The ILC provides

ully-accredited, certifcate-level training to

them in collaboration with Kimberley TAFE

and Kimberley Group Training. A new training

centre has been built at the station.

The training is in station work, tourism,

hospitality and horticulture. When they’ve

completed their certifcates, trainees can stay on

and work at Home Valley, or spread their wings

– one has become a cabin attendant or a local

airline and another is cooking in Melbourne.

The trainees are paid to work while they

train. It’s station work like encing, welding,

concreting, horsemanship, stock handling,

building and yard maintenance, and

landscaping and garden work. The hospitalit

and tourism work includes reception, guidin

transport, serving ood and drinks, room

preparation, cleaning and ofce administratio

Trainees live at the station and work with

the tourists who go horse-riding and cattle

mustering and take bush-tucker and fshing

treks guided by the trainees.

Home Valley’s eco-tents and other

accommodation are popular with tourists an

the scenery is spectacular. The station is on

the Gibb River Road 120km north-west o

Kununurra and covers 615,000 acres at the

o the Cockburn Range.

For more inormation on Home Valley Statio

visit www.homevalleystation.com and on the IL

visit www.ilc.gov.au

Above: Home Valley horseriding tours.Let to right: Original Home trainees Sade McCoombe andJames Cigobia in the Home Vkitchen; Tourism trainee RaeJohnston shows a visitor arothe horse yards; Pastoral traiCyril Yeeda conducts horse rtours at Home Valley.Opposite page: Solo operatoDarren “Capes” Capewell. PhoWayne Quilliam.

Finding a place at

Home ValleyHome Valley Station is both a Kimberley cattle station and a $15 milliontourist venture. In a spectacular location, it’s luring visitors and launchingthe careers o Aboriginal trainees.




Trainees

Cyril Yeeda, 28, came to Home Valley Station three

years ago ater working as a gardener in Wyndham.

The station’s longest-serving trainee grew up on a

station in Halls Creek riding horses. When Cyril

came to Home Valley he did not have a specifc

career in mind, but ater trying a ew dierent

things ell into caring or the horses, stables, taking

out tourists on horse rides and caring or the cattle.

Now he works closely with head stockman

John Rodney in the stables and is studying or a

Certifcate III in Tourism.

However, the tour guide part did not come

naturally.

“I was very shy at frst, but I have realised I was not

going to get anywhere being shy. I got used to it and

have started mixing in and talking to people.

“Being here at Home Valley I eel good and ree. The

job is the best thing that could have happened to

me. Some people say ‘You’re a cowboy?’ and I say

‘Nah, I’m an Aussie stockman’.”

“There’s a lot o people rom all over the world

come here to Home Valley. They say ‘You mob

have a very beautiul place’. I’m proud that I’m a

Kimberley ella and can tell them everything about

the area.”

Gina Sebastian, 26, originally rom Beagle Bay,

went to Home Valley Station eight months ago

ater two years in Kununurra without a job. Now

she’s studying Certifcate II in Tourism and when

not in the classroom, she does reservations in the

ront ofce, assists in the restaurant, and helps

with a range o tours including fshing.

Gina says she enjoys customer service, interacting

with guests and showing them the Home Valley

property.

“I didn’t expect any o this. I was in Kununurra

being a nobody and decided to sign up. I was

looking at being a housekeeper but it wasn’t mything so I tried the ront ofce and this is where I

am today. My mum used to be a tourism lady and

all o a sudden I am ollowing in her ootsteps.

She is very proud.

“I eel good about being here. You get so many

opportunities, and can become who you want to

be. Just seeing so many aces come rom all over

the world, just to see us here at Home Valley, has

been great.”

Respecting the land at Monkey MiaYamatji man Darren “Capes” Capewell has been the sole operator o a

successul tourism business in WA or the past our years.

Darren Capewell let a bright ootball careerto go back to his country at Shark Bay, nearMonkey Mia, to teach people about hisculture.

Capes is the owner/operator o Wula GudaNyinda Aboriginal Cultural Tours, meaning“You come this way”. He guides Aboriginalcultural walks rom Monkey Mia or smallgroups, on to the lands o his Nhandaspeaking mother and Malgarna-speakingather.

Starting his own business was a big changeor Capes who had never been in business

beore. “But I went into it knowing the typeo product I wanted to deliver – to introducevisitors to Shark Bay and teach them toappreciate Aboriginal people and culture.”

He’s the guide or morning and dusk walksin which tourists taste local bush tucker andlearn about medicinal plants, identiy birdcalls and ollow animal tracks, and an eveningtour in which they hear sacred stories bycampfre and observe night animals. He willsoon add a kayak tour.

For Capes, the reward is having guestsrespond to his encouragement to “treadlightly” on sensitive country, reconnectspiritually with the land and have a greaterawareness o environmental sustainability.

He manages all aspects o the business himsel but has created a balance that suits him.

“My work is part o my liestyle,” he says.

“Rather than it being to support my liestyle,I can manage it to suit me and I’ve recentlyreduced the number o tours and increasedmy prices.”

His business is a big success, attracting mostlyvisitors rom Europe. In 2007 Capes was aSilver Medallist in the Indigenous Tourism,

Western Australian Tourism Awards andin 2006, won the Indigenous Tour Guideo the Year, in the Gnunkai Awards, run by

the Western Australian Indigenous TourismOperators Committee (WAITOC).

Capes encourages Aboriginal people toturn their cultural passion into a business,especially in the current climate where

Australians are travelling overseas less andholidaying more at home. He also advisespeople to join WAITOC to help them getstarted.

Capes says he gets a lot o business throughthe Lonely Planet Guidebook and the MonkeyMia Resort, and he stresses the value o having“a wonderul website” that is easy or him toadminister.

Visit www.wulaguda.com.au andwww.waitoc.com




Indigenous tourism: Different paths

“It’s a passion ... it’s in your soul” is how

Paakantyi man, Graham Clarke o Harry

Nanya Tours describes his business in

western New South Wales. Clarke has

worked or the company or 17 years and

bought the business two years ago. He

takes pride in having built up a tour which

visitors love and keep returning to.

Clarke starts early each morning, picking

up tourists in Mildura and Wentworth and

driving them to the spectacular, World

Heritage Listed Mungo National Park.“I explain to the tourists along the way the

trees and landmarks o this country and

share the language with them.”

Clarke’s award-winning tour mixes his

knowledge o the origins o man at Lake

Mungo, where very ancient remains o

ancestors have been ound, with stories on

climate change and didgeridoo playing.

“There is a lot o work in tourism,” Clarke

admits. “I drive my own bus, I wash my

own bus. I work seven days a week.”

“I decided I wanted to be as independent as

possible, so I went to my bank direct and

got a loan or my bus by mysel,” he says.

“Now I only owe money to my bank!”

The satisaction o having gone it alone and

the pleasure tourists get rom his tours are

what keeps Clarke’s enthusiasm or Harry

Nanya Tours alive.

“When you set goals and achieve them it

makes you proud. I eel very proud that

people come rom hal way around the

world to visit Mungo National Park on my

tours. And people keep coming back. We

have people coming back or their third and

ourth time.”

Visit www.harrynanyatours.com.au

The independent path:

Harry Nanya Tours

Graham Clarke of Harry Nanya Tours, NSW. Photo: Courtesy Tourism NSW and © Year of the Outback 2002.

Tourism operators are finding there is no one right way to run a successful tourism ventu




Terrence Coulthard at Iga Warta’s camping ground, SA. Photo: Wayne Quilliam.

Iga Warta:

A family vision

When the Coulthard amily set up Iga Warta inthe Flinders Ranges in South Australia 13 yearsago they were ollowing their ather’s vision o Indigenous people running their own tourismventures.

“My ather realised there’s great interest in Aboriginal perspectives,” says one o Iga Warta’s ounders, Terrence Coulthard. “It was apioneering vision and when we rst started o there wasn’t much cultural tourism around.”

Iga Warta involves Adnyamathanha traditionalowners taking visitors on ochre pit, plant,

hunting and ood tours and providing overnightaccommodation.

“People walk through the bush with us andsuddenly realise there’s a whole new perspectivethat comes to lie having us interpret thingsrom an Aboriginal perspective,” Coulthard says.

Pauline Hedger, who manages the WadlataOutback Centre, the visitor inormation centrein Port Augusta, says tourists really appreciatewhat Iga Warta oers.

“There’s a core market that’s very interested in Aboriginal tourism products, especially theinternational visitors. There is also an increasingdemand rom the domestic market – a thirstor knowledge o Indigenous history that’sincreasing.”

“Iga Warta gives visitors an understanding o contemporary Aboriginal culture not just lookingback at the past. It promotes what Aboriginalpeople are doing today.”

For the Coulthard amily, Iga Warta andIndigenous tourism is the way orward. “It

gives us a lot o opportunities or our utureeconomically, but more importantly, it helps usretain what is culturally signicant,” Coulthardsays.

“Our plan is to keep our young generationclose at hand so we can pass on our culturalknowledge. Since we’ve set up Iga Warta ouryouth are speaking our language in everydayconversations and keeping the language alive.”

Visit www.igawarta.com




Some tourism businesses don’t like towork with competitors but The Bama Wayoperators, who run cultural tours in Cape

York in ar north Queensland, understandthat working closely with both Indigenousand non-Indigenous operators can be abonus.

The Bama Way is a collaborative ventureset up by three Indigenous tour operators:Guurrbi Tours, Walker Family Tours andKuku Yalanji Cultural Habitat Tours. Thethree businesses have partnered to promote

their region to tourists. They work closelywith mainstream businesses to attract visitorsand have, or example, produced a jointmarketing brochure.

When Nugal-warra elder Willie Gordonstarted his Guurrbi Tours in 2003, he quicklyrealised the importance o promoting theregion as well as his own tours. He says thekey to success is working together with otherpeople in the tourism industry.

“You’ve got to be part o the broader picture,”says Gordon. “I’m based in Cooktown,which is o the beaten track, so I work with

my Bama Way partners and the CooktownChamber o Commerce and Tourism to makesure visitors know everything our area has tooer.”

“Too many people take one tour and thinkthey know everything about Aboriginalculture,” Gordon says. “With The Bama Way,I lead people on tours o cave paintings,while the Walker Family share theirknowledge o the rainorest and Kuku Yalanjitake people out to hunt and track on thebeaches and mud fats,” she says.

“Tourists then leave this corner o Cape Yorkwith a much broader understanding o ourculture and history.”

Francis Walker o Walker Family Tours agreeswith Gordon.

“We get so much positive eedback romtourists; not just about our tours but alsoabout the whole Bama Way idea.

“People initially plan to do only one tour butenjoy it so much they end up going on allthree.”

Visit www.bamaway.com.au

Working with partners is

The Bama Way

Willie Gordon shares stories of his ancestral rock art sites with a visitor, Cape York, QLD. Photo: Kerry Trapnell.



Indigenous tourism: Operators

Food is a great leveller, says Bundjalung man and che Mark “The Black” Olive.

“Everyone has to eat and when you are s itting around the table there’s noprejudice.”

Olive, now Melbourne-based, has run his own company, Black Olive Productions,

or two years.

He showcases Indigenous tourism and ood to audiences in Europe and North

America as well as in Australia through road shows, the Foxtel TV program,

The Outback Cafe, and a cookbook. Olive says eating Indigenous oods, such as

emu and kangaroo, is a great way o educating people about the richness and

diversity o Aboriginal culture in a relaxed and enjoyable way.

“They may be Australia’s coat o arms, but they are very tasty too.”

Visit www.blackoliveproductions.com

Keeping amilies and community together has been a key achievement o Anangu

Tours in the Uluru Kata Juta National Park in Central Australia. Anangu Tours was

set up 15 years ago by the Imanpa, Mutitjulu and Kaltukatjatjara communities’

Wana Ungkunytja Trust to share knowledge o country with tourists rom around

the world. Their tours have helped to make the park one o the most popular

tourist destinations in Australia.

The company creates local jobs: elders share the stories and secrets o the land

around the rock, while younger people work as translators and guides with

Anangu Tours’ Uluru Camel Tours.

Anangu Tours encourages local Aboriginal people to work or the company by,

or example, having exible working conditions and large sta rosters, which

mean employees can work part-time and can step in to cover each other i other

obligations arise. Visit www.ananguwaai.com.au

Make it delicious: Mark Olive

Sharing Anangu culture

When Eddie and Denise Ruska ormed the Nunukul Yuggera Dance T

15 years ago they didn’t realise it would become Riverlie Mirrabookaan award-winning Brisbane tourist attraction.

A Yuggera man, Eddie Ruska says he started Nunukul Yuggera to keep

troubled Aboriginal youths o the street. “We wanted them to have pr

their culture, so I asked the elders i I could teach them dancing. The

time we perormed we were bad but the elders encouraged us and we

going and improving.”

“The young ellas fnd they like showing o their culture. Some o my

dancers are still mentors and come back to perorm when they can.”

The success o the troupe led Ruska to look or a business partner. He

up with the tour group, Riverlie, and says the partnership has worked

“Riverlie looks ater bookings and ads and I look ater the cultural sid

business.” Visit www.riverlife.com.au/aboriginal-experiences

The Torres Strait Regional Authority (TSRA) is not letting isolation and

monsoonal weather discourage tourists rom visiting their islands. The

TSRA operates the Gab Titui Cultural Centre on Thursday Island, whi

has won Queensland tourism awards and attracted close to 45,000

tourists since it opened its doors in 2004. Islanders believe the centre

is working well because tourists now have one central place where the

can visit and learn about the history and culture o the region, as well

view and buy local art and crat. Sharing their culture through Gab Ti

is a source o pride or Islanders and talented local artists are making a

steady income rom selling their artwork. Others work as gallery sta

and trainees in the centre.

“It’s a learning place or tourists, but also a place o inspiration or our

youth to learn rom our elders so they can continue our traditions in

years to come,” explains TSRA Chairperson John Toshie Kris.

Visit www.tsra.gov.au

Riverlie Mirrabooka: Dancing succ

Showcasing a region’s treasures

Mark Olive mixes laughter and Aboriginal cuisine. Photo: Wayne Quilliam.

Anangu Tour guides Alwyn Dawson (top) Rebecca Wheeler, (centre) and interpreterJimmy Dobson (pointing stick), NT. Photo: © Anangu Tours.

Nunukul Yuggera dancers perorm or tourists, QLD. Photo: Courtesy Riverli


A Gab Titui cultural perormance, 2004, Thursday Island, QLD.Photo: © George Serras, National Museum o Australia and the TSRA.



Euroka Gilbert shows his snake handling skills, ACT. Photo: © ACT Government.

Overcoming the challenge o being remote islands where visitors require

permits in some cases to visit, the Tiwi Art Network has ound an inventiveway o bringing visitors to their art centres on Melville and Bathurst Islands.

Tiwi Art Network arranges ights out o Darwin on demand, so tourists and

art buyers can visit three Tiwi art centres: Munupi Arts and Crats, Tiwi Design

and Jilamara Arts and Crats. Tiwi Art Network board member and artist Brian

Farmer says the ights are a good way to help art buyers and other visitors to

understand more about the Tiwi Islands and their culture.

Visitors are able to meet the artists in their own communities and see them at

work and, as an added bonus, have the unique experience o ying over the

Tiwi Islands and seeing them spread out below. Visit www.tiwiart.com

Wiradjuri man Euroka Gilbert says he has a great job, leading cultural tours in

the Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve with the ACT Government’s Heritage Unit.

“I started at Tidbinbilla as a trainee, where I began consulting with the local

Ngunnawal elders about what I could tell tourists,” says Gilbert. “For instance,

Tidbinbilla is known as a boys’ ceremonial site and is ull o stories, some o

which I know, but it’s not my place to share them all.”

Gilbert enjoys working to improve the experience visitors have and sees the

benefts o working in a tourism role or a government department.

“The ACT Government has been very responsive to the wishes o the

community. I there’s a walking trail near a sacred site we organise or the trail

to be moved. It’s usually no problem to make these changes but or the local

community it means a lot and shows respect.”

Visit www.tams.act.gov.au

Making the most o being remote

Tidbinbilla stories

Hank Horton, along with local elders, set up Jahadi Tours in Deloraine,

Tasmania, to provide unds to run youth programs.“We stick up a big sign and an Aboriginal ag on the main road and it’s

surprising how many tourists call in to stroll through the gallery and have a

cup o tea. They leave with an understanding that the Aboriginal community

is still strong here in Tasmania,” says Horton, a Troowlwoolwha man.

Horton says it’s important that communities work out how much time

and eort they want to devote to tourism, as earlier Jahadi Tours was over

committed – bringing in coach tours seven days a week or most o the year.

“Make sure your business plan really reects what you and your community

want to achieve and are prepared to put in, and be clear about what the

expectations o tourists will be,” Horton advises.

Jahadi Tours now operate their gallery and cultural day tours mainly in the

fve summer months. Visit www.jahadi.com.au

With the permission o the local Boonerwrung and Woiwurrung people,

Trevor Gallagher, a Gunditjmara man, takes visitors and students through

Melbourne’s Royal Botanical Gardens and explains Aboriginal history and

culture and the traditional use o plants.

Gallagher says he particularly gets a buzz rom seeing locals, who are amiliar

with the area, seeing the gardens in a new light.

“You are not telling them as Australians, as white people, they don’t belong

here. You are letting them know that the culture may not be theirs but the

heritage is and, as Australians, they need to know about it and embrace it

and not be ignorant o it.

“You can hear a pin drop when I am talking.”

Visit www.rbg.vic.gov.au/rbg_melbourne/visitorinfo/whats_on

Tourism adds to community income

Walk in the gardens with Trevor Gallagher

Tiwi artist Raelene Kerinauia, Jilamara Arts and Crats, Melville Island, NT.Photo: © Michelle Newton.

Hank Horton in the Jahadi Tours gallery, TAS. Photo: Bruce Elliott.

Trevor Gallagher shares heritage stories, Melbourne, VIC.




Tamworth is

Kamilaroi countryTamworth is on the traditional lands o the Kamilaroi peopleand is a place where people like to gather.

Many people come to Tamworth with a dream o breaking intothe country music industry but it’s not just a music town.

Tamworth has a rich cultural heritage, with the local Gamilaraaylanguage undergoing a revival and elders working to protectcultural sites throughout Kamilaroi lands.

Top main: Johnnie Lovett and Paul Kelly on Tamworth’s Peel Street. Above let to right: Kyiesha Naden and Dekquitah, Connie and Anne-Maree Taylor at 2009 Indigenous Cultural Showcase in Tamworth. Photo: Joanne Stead, NSW DAA; Troy Cassar-Daley with members of Tamworth’s Gomeroi Dance CompMarc Sutherland, Brad Flanders, Barega Knox and Tom Flanders; Tamworth artist Terence Allen with Mona Slater and Yaleelal Lawrence; Gamilaraay langustudent and performer Loren Ryan. Photo: Robert Chappel.




Yarning

GamilaraayGamilaraay is the language o Tamworth’s Kamilaroi people.It is endangered but strong moves are underway to revive it.

Forced out o use ater European settlement, the Gamilaraay language was pulled

back rom the brink o extinction by Kamilaroi elders and linguists in the

early 1990s.

Now dictionaries and other learning resources have been developed and the

language is being taught in schools and colleges across northern New South Wales

and at the University o Sydney.

The 2001 Census listed no Gamilaraay speakers, but 37 were recorded in the 2006

Census. People, once again, are speaking and singing in Gamilaraay and elders are

continuing to create new resources to revive the language.

At Tamworth High School, Brian Sampson teaches the Dhalay Guwaali or Tongue

Talk language program. He started the program last year as a trial and, encouraged

by a positive response rom parents and students, he has made it ongoing.

“We were that close to losing our language but or the great work o a couple o

elders who are gone now, who recorded the language and put a dictionary together,

and we’re just starting to get it back.”

Fiteen year old Loren Ryan is one o Sampson’s students. A talented musician, she

believes singing in language gives her a greater understanding o her culture and

exposes Gamilaraay to new audiences.

“I wanted to bring it back because I never really heard anyone speak it ully and

when I sing in the language it’s really sacred. All the elders love it.

“You can’t read it and say it, to learn it you’ve gotta speak it, you’ve gotta yarn it,

that’s the best way.”For local elder Neville Sampson, it is a matter o pride to hear Tamworth children

speaking Gamilaraay.

“I was asked to train this little fve year old girl to talk the language and do a

welcome to country and she surprised me. She did the opening in ront o around

6,000 people … she just stood in the middle o that stadium and let it roll out.”

The New South Wales Government supports the Tamworth High School Dhalay

Guwaali language program.

Let to right: Tamworth High School’s Gamilaraay language class: Nicole Clarke, local elderRon Knight, Andrea Taki, Whitney Livermore, Peter Livermore, Darcy Sampson, Loren Ryan andteacher Brian Sampson. Photo: Robert Chappel.

Support or languages Along with Indigenous language programs in

schools, which are supported by state and territory

education departments, there is also a much wider

range o language activity taking place in Indigenous

communities.

The Australian Government’s Maintenance o

Indigenous Languages and Records (MILR) program

supports the maintenance and revival o Indigenous

languages through community involvement.

The program provides unding to community projects

or the documentation and recording o Indigenous

languages, the development o language resources,

and the delivery o programs through a network o

regional language centres. For more inormation on

the MILR program visit www.arts.gov.au/indigenous

Visit www.yuwaalaraay.org, www.fatsil.com.au

and www.abc.net.au/rn/hindsight/features/

holdingourtongues or more inormation on Indigenous

languages.

The Gamilaraay language, and its related dialects

which include Yuwaalaraay, cover an area romTamworth to around Goondiwindi in southern

Queensland, east to Ashord and Inverell, south to

Quirindi, Murrurundi and the slopes o the Great

Dividing Range, and Coonabarabran, Walgett and

Lightning Ridge in the west.

Some basic GamilaraayYaama – Hello

Dhalaa dhaay nginda yananhi? – Where are you

coming rom?

Dhalaagunda yanay – Where are you going to?

Bana – Lean meat

Bandaarr – Grey kangaroo

Dhuuraay – Flame or light

Buunggal – Native potatoBurraalga – Brolga

Bindiyaa – Bindii

Gidjirriga – Budgerigar

Old Yuwaalaraay sayingGheerlayi ghilayer, Wahl munnoomerhdayer,

Wahl mooroonbahgoo, Yelgayerdayer

deermuldayer, Gheerlayi ghilayer.

Translates as: Kind be, do not steal, do not touch what

to another belongs, leave all such alone, kind be.

Indigenous Newslines used the Gamilaraay

Yuwaalaraay and Yuwaalayaay Dictionary and

advice rom linguist, Brother John Giacon, or these

translations.

How to yarn




The Koori King of Country Music

Roger Knox, the Koori King o Country Music,

has had an extraordinary lie. He grew up

on a mission and went on to become one o

Australia’s leading country musicians and

a respected role model and campaigner or

equality.

Knox has made a huge contribution to

Australian music: he’s been NAIDOC Artist o

the Year, inducted into the Australian Country

Music Foundation’s Hands o Fame and has

received a Jimmy Little Lietime Achievement

Award.

The years and a plane crash have combined to

slow him down rom the renetic pace o his

early career. Injuries have stopped him playing

guitar but his voice still resonates when singing

his best known song Koori Rose, and while

speaking out on issues aecting Aboriginal

people.

A Kamilaroi man, Knox grew up on the

Toomelah Aboriginal Mission in north western

New South Wales, and he traces his interest in

country music to his early lie at the mission.

“All I knew other than Gospel was Slim Dusty

because all the locals played Slim. One man

would hear a song on the radio and would play

it rom memory and we would copy him as

close as we could.”

Knox believes the connection between

Aboriginal people and country music goes very

deep.

“We have embraced country music as an

extension o our own story telling traditions,”

he says.

But ask the Koori King o Country Musicwhether he considers himsel country though,

and he is hesitant.

“I don’t know i you would defne my music

as country. It includes Aboriginal spiritual

elements and talks about the status and

struggles o Aboriginal people and the whole

continent. Some o it is very controversial as I

am singing about land and i we can get some

o that land back. So whether that’s country, I

don’t know.”

In 1983 a plane crash over Lake Eyre change

Knox’s successul recording and touring care

orever. It happened during an outback tour

when his plane developed engine troubles an

made a orced landing.

A rescue plane picked him and his band up

but it crashed on its way to Oodnadatta, leav

one band member dead and Knox to spend

three months in hospital with burns to

90 per cent o his body. He spent another tw

years convalescing, and says his has been a

lietime o recovering.

“It was a huge setback on what I was doing

musically and put a dent in my music plans.

I couldn’t play guitar anymore so I gathered

children around me and helped them orm a

band.”

That band is Euraba and Knox and Euraba

have been touring ever since, raising money

charity and speaking out about issues acing

Aboriginal people. A tour o Australian jails

and detention centres in the late 1980s was

such a success that his band was engaged to

Tamworth legend Roger Knox has been in the music business or more

than 40 years. Today he is inspiring a new generation o musicians.




tour Canadian prisons and Native North

American reservations in 1990, and went

on to perorm in Nashville and London.

Knox is an inspiration to other musicians,rom established stars to those just starting

out. Internationally renowned country

music star Troy Cassar-Daley, who grew

up in Graton, credits Knox as one o his

biggest inuences.

“Roger came to Graton when we were kids

and we sat there thinking ‘how do you play

music like that?’ We sang Koori Rose until

we were blue in the ace.”

Sheree Currie, a talented nine year old

musician rom Mount Berryman in outback

Queensland, lists Knox as her greatest

inuence and 15 year old Tamworthlocal Loren Ryan, who perorms Knox’s

Gamilaraay language songs, says he is her

mentor and inspiration.

“All the kids love him so much and they

have so much respect or him and his

music. Why wouldn’t you ollow him?”

Knox takes the adoration in his stride,

acknowledging his own debts to those who

preceded him and praising those who have

ollowed in his ootsteps.

“Aboriginal country artists like Col Hardy

and Jimmy Little were inspirations to meso I set out to do my best, knowing there

are young kids I could inuence. To have

young talent like Sheree perorm and to

sing with her is antastic. It swells me with

Previous page: Tamworthlegend Roger Knox.

Let: Knox playing withArchie Roach and Shane

Howard at Tamworth’s2009 Indigenous CulturalShowcase.

Right: (Clockwiserom let) Roger Knox,Archie Roach, VivienneKnox and Ruby Hunterat Tamworth’s 2009Indigenous CulturalShowcase.

pride and makes me want to ensure that her

talent is encouraged.

“One o my dreams is to develop a studio

here in Tamworth so that Indigenousmusicians can gather and show our musical,

recording and song writing abilities. My

main aim is to help young people realise the

talent they have.”

Knox also wants to see a country music

academy in Tamworth or talented

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

musicians, based on the Country Music

Association o Australia’s College o Country

Music.

“Our own academy could teach black kids

to be comortable with themselves and their

ability. These kids are born with talent solet’s fnd a way to nurture that and record

our own voices.”

Knox believes country music and Tamworth

have special meaning or Aboriginal people

and he wants to see that grow.

“The old people lived with spirit and drew

people together and that’s what country

music does today.

“I encourage Aboriginal people to come to

Tamworth, to show people what they can

do and what’s in their heart.”

The Australian Government is supporting

Indigenous musicians through its:

> Contemporary Music Touring Program,

which unds the touring related expenses o

musicians (Australian only tours), especially to

rural and remote areas.

Visit www.arts.gov.au/indigenous

> Indigenous Culture Support program, which

supports the maintenance and continued

development o Indigenous cultures in

communities, including music projects.

Visit www.arts.gov.au/indigenous

> Festivals Australia program which provides

unds to assist the presentation o arts and

cultural activities at Australian regional and

community estivals. The program supported

Tamworth’s 2009 Indigenous Cultural

Showcase.

Visit www.arts.gov.au/arts/festivals_australia

> The Indigenous Contemporary Music

Action Plan, developed by the Australian and

New Zealand Cultural Ministers Council.

View the plan at www.cmc.gov.au/working_

groups/contemporary_music_development/

indigenous_contemporary_music_initiatives

> Breakthrough, a pilot initiative, whichsupports the action plan. It will this year assist

three emerging Indigenous musicians/groups

to create high quality recordings o their

music.

www.arts.gov.au/indigenous/breakthrough

Support orcontemporary music


indigenous news lines au jul aug2009

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