 |
Conference Proceedings Chapter Six - Projects Stream |
| [ Home | Contents | Next | Previous ] |
|
Conference Proceedings Chapter Six - Projects Stream |
| [ Home | Contents | Next | Previous ] |
[Conference Day 3 @ 14:30 - Submitted Paper]
For the past 3 years I have been developing and coordinating a TAFE training program in sustainable horticulture designed to make accredited training accessible to remote Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory. To date over twenty communities and outstations in the NT have been involved in the program, the majority in the Top End region. Many of the participants in the program are developing small sustainable gardens on outstations in the Arnhem Land region.
In this paper I would like to tell the story of a group of six outstations near the floodplains and the estuary of the Blyth River in central Arnhem Land; the traditional estates of the Burarra and Djinang people. This story is about the garden djama at Ji-balbal, Gamardi, Wurdeja, Ji-malawa, Ji marda and Yilan.
This permaculture story, like all stories, is a personal view of events, shaped by my own values and experience, my culture. I can only tell this story from the perspective of an outsider, from my own context, from the world view of a 'Balanda' (Whitefella). Perhaps I am stating the obvious, but an awareness of the power of cultural values is important to this story about working within a culture which in many ways is almost the opposite of western culture.
Cultural renewal is one of the themes of this gathering. To the people of Arnhem Land it is the maintenance of culture rather than the renewal which is a key concern in a rapidly changing world. Perhaps change is inevitable and aspects of culture may change over time, but effective design in community development is dependant on the recognition of cultural values of the 'client' community.
The six outstations or homelands in this story are small settlements composed of extended families or clans living on traditional lands. These outstations are about 120 km to the east of Maningrida. They are serviced by the Bawinanga Aboriginal Corporation (BAC) which is a resource centre for about 25 outstations in central Arnhem Land. They are all situated near traditional camp sites positioned to allow exploitation of the rich resources of surrounding woodland, floodplains, monsoon forest, water holes, mangroves and tidal mud flats. Not surprisingly each outstation is on or near the intersecting edges of some, or all of the above systems.
Woodland (Photo: Kami Gosford)
Woodland yields bark for paintings and string, timber for building and tools, sugar bag, (honey from native bees) seasonal fruits and herbs and the meat of kangaroo, and other animals. Monsoon forests yield yams at the start of the dry season and many fruits and medicinal plants. The floodplains are burnt in the dry season and turtle and goanna (some times already char grilled) are harvested; at other times buffalo and geese are shot. As water holes shrink with the advancing dry season, water lily tubers, fish and more turtle are eaten as are the seeds of the abundant pandanus tree. (Pandanus spiralis) Mangroves and tidal flats yield a variety of shellfish, crabs and fish throughout the seasons.
The wet/dry monsoonal climate has an extreme effect on the region. The wet extends from November to March with total rainfall averaging 1300 mm. In the wettest months, January February and March, average monthly rainfall is 300mm. Virtually no rain falls in the dry season between May and September, a period of intense annual drought. Evaporation for the year, on average exceeds precipitation by about 600mm which makes surface storage of water difficult. April and October are transitional times October being the infamous "Build Up" or "Suicide Season". Day temperatures are near 30°C year round with cool nights of 18-22°C. The local people recognise five seasons but that is a different story.
The local flora exhibit a range of techniques to cope with the extreme seasonality of the climate. Eucalypts tend to remain active by tapping into deep soil moisture, other woodland trees and shrubs defoliate for the dry season. Many herbs are true annuals, surviving the 'dry' as seeds, others have perennial roots with annual tops. Dry season gardens are not possible without irrigation.
Interwoven with this physical environment is a rich mythology which connects all aspects of the physical and spiritual world in a way which contrasts sharply with the Western world view. The relatedness of all of the elements of the world; people, animals, plants, places and spiritual beings is accepted in a way which does not conform to western concepts of linear time or quantification. The custodians of this country have many obligations to protect, maintain and renew their world through important ceremonial activities.
The design of appropriate sustainable gardens and communities in this remote region and difficult climate is one of the challenges of working in the region, but the design of gardens and communities appropriate to the cultural needs of Aboriginal people is the greater challenge at the centre of this story.
With the establishment of access, reliable communications, shelter and water to the outstations, people have identified the need for gardens and training in horticulture as a priority for further community development. Garden djama fits well with Community Development and Employment Programs (CDEP) by providing meaningful 'employment' for people which is seen to benefit the community, especially the children through the provision of fresh food. CDEP is also empowering people in the bush by giving them choice in the type of 'work' they want to do in developing their communities without too much outside interference.
Some of the early gardens in the region tended to be based on a conservative western model, they seem to have been 'installed' with little if any community consultation and were dependant on materials, skills and technology not available in the communities. For example the garden at Gamardi was down hill and away from the living areas, and far from a tap. When the garden was irrigated the rest of the community had no water! The garden was never really a part of the community, and due to the isolated position, snakes, and on one occasion, a water buffalo, were unwelcome visitors! Despite the keen efforts of one family which included composting and making and applying liquid manures, the garden struggled and little food was produced from their labour.
Gardens at other outstations were better positioned but until recent years a shortage of water in the dry season was a problem. Reliable good quality ground water is now available to all of the outstations via solar-powered submersible pumps. When the sun shines the pumps pump and once tanks are full the excess water overflows. Most shelters in the communities (not officially houses because they have no internal bathroom or rotary clothes line out the back!) have a small concrete slab situated nearby with a water tap. These areas are used for washing clothes, dishes and people and for the supply of drinking and cooking water. These wet areas have now become the nucleus of gardens on the outstations, often starting with a few banana and pawpaw plants.
Since 1991 when I got plants from Darwin, I planted them and sometimes I collected seeds to plant as well. The overflow from the tank used to run away into the bush and make the grass grow long. Now it goes straight into the banana and sugar cane garden, and we make trenches for irrigation all around the garden. (Jimmy Gulanmina Pascoe, Ji-malawa)
Jimmy Gulanmina Pascoe (Photo: Dave Calland)
Recently BAC has installed laundry and shower blocks on some of the outstations. These areas concentrate nutrient rich water which is used to irrigate larger gardens based on banana, sweet potato, pawpaw and sugar cane. After twelve months the tap and laundry gardens at Jibalbal are producing large crops of bananas and paw paw with no direct input beyond initial planting - simple solutions are the best! An earlier garden, remote from water, has inferior plants which are struggling with their first crop of bananas after three years.
The initial plants successfully grown in all the outstations have several things in common;
Composting using local materials (including buffalo manure and seaweed) at Ji-Marda. (Photo: Dave Calland)
Fruit trees, predominantly mangos, tamarind, coconut and cashew are planted on all outstations and jack fruit, guavas, citrus and others are thriving at Ji-malawa. A range of local 'bush' trees is being planted on outstations for shade and traditional uses, and chooks and ducks are being integrated into the garden designs.
As people become more confident in their gardening skills other crops are being tried, these include snake beans, peanuts, watermelon, pumpkin, tomatoes, lemon grass and cassava. The concepts of crop rotation, sustainability and green manures are now becoming relevant to the local context.
It is important, but often difficult for Westerners to recognise the polarities in Aboriginal and Western world views without imposing culturally biased value judgements. Because of the deep fundamental differences, I don't believe that the Aboriginal world view is fully accessible to western minds (or vice versa). However an acceptance of cultural differences is vital for all who work with Aboriginal people if they are to be effective in their occupation.
The story of the of the word djama highlights one of the differences between our cultures. It is one of many words borrowed by the people of Arnhem Land from Macassan trepang fishermen who came each year with the monsoon. There was no word to describe the new practice of paid employment introduced by the Macassans. Work did not exist in traditional society. The contrast with the dominant position of work in Western culture, and our distinction between work and other aspects of life is extreme. The term djama is now usually used to describe work done for or with the white people.
Much has been written on Aboriginal learning styles by both Western and Aboriginal authors. An Aboriginal perspective by Hughes (1987 in Byrnes 1993), which I have found helpful, lists the following general characteristics of Aboriginal learning styles:
Although there is not one contemporary Aboriginal society and culture, but many (from traditional remote communities to more Western-oriented urban communities), the above basic characteristics of a cultural style of learning reflect a world view which has remained strong in all. The successful facilitation of community development and training in Aboriginal communities must acknowledge Aboriginal styles of learning. There is a need for the development of appropriate curricula which do not impose a western world view but which address Aboriginal educational and community development needs in a culturally appropriate way.
I am sure that many permaculture facilitators will have recognised the similarities between Aboriginal learning styles and the humanistic approach to education and training which many will be using in their own cultural contexts. Perhaps it will not be too difficult a task to develop or customise a permaculture curriculum to suit the distinct cultural needs of Aboriginal communities.
Outstations throughout Arnhem Land and other remote areas of 'Aboriginal Australia' are becoming established and there is a growing need for sustainable community development programs which can address their unique environmental and cultural needs. It may not be appropriate to have a tractor tyre pond and a banana circle on every outstation, but the principles of permaculture, if creatively and appropriately applied, sit comfortably with the needs of contemporary Aboriginal community development. Starting at the tap instead of the back door works best for us!
Groups of friends working together (Photo: Dave Calland)
The key to the success of the NTU Horticulture program is the ability to support training on-site in communities and the flexibility to accommodate traditional life styles. "On-the-job" training in partnership with local agencies allows the program to be context specific and allows learning to occur in a setting which is more comfortable to participants than a classroom in an alien town or city. Flexible structure allows for self-paced learning and elective modules support individual or group aspirations. Groups of friends or 'relations' working together and exchanging knowledge with each other in familiar surroundings best reflect the needs of community-based Aborigines in the Northern Territory.
To achieve compatibility with Aboriginal world views, education and development programs must exhibit flexibility in their content and processes so that they can be responsive to the diverse and changing needs of participants. Programs must provide participants with choices in structuring their learning and their community development to suit community needs without conflicting with traditional values and lifestyles.
Within the current social, economic and political context in Australia it is also important for training programs to be accredited so that funding may be sourced to support the expensive task of facilitating training in remote areas. (A Traineeship in Permaculture Community Development may best fit the current agenda).
Working in Aboriginal communities has given me many opportunities for observation, a shared characteristic of Aboriginal and permaculture learning styles, and occasionally I have had to remind myself that permaculture is about solutions in an arena where problems can be complex and confronting. Working within a culture where learning involves an informal exchange of information among friends has its own rewards. As time progresses my own education about Aboriginal taxonomy, plant uses, and a way of being within the natural world continues through the subtle efforts of my adoptive family in Arnhem Land.
An Aboriginal permaculture is evolving utilising useful exotic plants and animals to complement a complex system which has sustained the Burrarra and Djinang for countless generations. As people shift towards a more settled way of living on the country they belong to, sustainable community gardens are allowing people to supplement their diet of bush tucker while keeping their culture strong.
I would like to end my story with a few thoughts on working in Top End communities:
Byrnes, J. (1993). "Aboriginal Learning Styles and Adult Education: Is a Synthesis Possible?", Australian Journal of Adult and Community Education, 33 (3), November.
Christie, M.J. (1985). "Aboriginal Perspectives on Experience and Learning: the Role of Language in Aboriginal Education" Deakin University, Victoria.
Lea, D. and Wolfe, J (1993). Community Development Planning and Aboriginal Community Control, Northern Australia Research Unit, Darwin.
Institute of TAFE Northern Territory University, (1993) "Submission for the Accreditation of Certificate in Horticultural Skills (Aboriginal Communities)" Northern Territory Government.
Dave Calland, coordinator of TAFE training programmes at NTU involving practical organic gardening skills with urban based Aborigines and other clients. He regularly facilitates introductory organic gardening courses in Darwin and has co-taught a PDC with Frances Lang in 1993. Dave maintains a small Permaculture site at NTU, which is used for demonstration, practical training and the supply of propagation materials for people "out bush". Currently, Dave is coordinating a training programme in Horticulture at NTU, designed in 1993 meet the needs of community based Aboriginal people in a culturally appropriate way.
© Copyright Permaculture Association of Western Australia Inc. and authors, 1997.