Aboriginal homelands & outstations

Homelands are proven to make Aboriginal people healthier and stronger, but they are expensive to live in and don't get much love from the government.

What homelands mean to Aboriginal people

The homelands movement dates back to the 1970s and was created by Aboriginal people going back onto country for two broad reasons.

Aboriginal people were leaving major settlements because there was a high level of social dysfunction and political instability. They also wanted to get back onto their own country to protect sacred sites, and to maintain customary ways of living that could only continue on country.

"Homelands give Aboriginal people a sense of 'home' and a sense of belonging while contributing to their cultural responsibilities of caring for their country and managing the natural resources of their land and seas," explains Northern Land Council CEO Kim Hill [1].

"It is also well-documented that homelands contribute significantly to Aboriginal people's overall health, well-being, and importantly, to their thriving art practice and industry which provides an economic base when none other exists."

Studies by the Menzies School of Health in Arnhem Land and at Utopia confirm this view [2] and indicate that Aboriginal people living on homelands are also less likely to be involved in substance abuse, poor eating habits and violent behaviours because they maintain their traditional lifestyle away from the influence of the big towns.

Aboriginal homelands are places where the ceremonial grounds are and "strong discipline comes through the spirits of our fathers talking through the land," explains Yingiya Guyula, a Yolngu studies lecturer at the University of Darwin [3].

No English words are good enough to give a sense of the links between an Aboriginal group and its homeland… our word 'land' is too spare and meagre.—Professor W.E.H. (Bill) Stanner in his 1968 Boyer Lecture, 'After the dreaming' [4]

Expensive food on homelands

The advantage of remoteness from big cities is also one of the biggest problems of homelands. A shopping basket of groceries worth A$240 in Cairns can cost as much as A$370 on Thursday Island and other remote communities [5], while income is generally lower.

The cost of fuel, freight and refrigeration all add up, and by the time food reaches a remote community it is far more expensive and far less fresh than it would be in urban regions.

No surprise that Aboriginal people in homelands turn to cheaper, poor-quality foods like soft drinks, sweets and deep fried products which last longer.

In coastal areas fresh food is often delivered by weekly barges. Some communities have no shop at all, and some food needs to be flown in during the wet season when all access roads are closed. On 'barge day', half a cauliflower can go for A$12 in remote areas [5]. Aged pensioners unable to make it to the shop as food is being unloaded miss out on the best and freshest produce. During the tourist season, visitors buy most supplies [6].

Consequently people in these communities have one week of healthy supplies and eat high salt and high sugar foods the next, contributing to their poor health condition.

A safe heaven

Many reasons speak for Aboriginal people living on homelands [7].

• Escape from alcohol. Ahead of fortnightly 'barge weekends' when alcohol travels into the communities many young women and their grandparents flee the bigger centres and travel to their homelands to escape alcohol-related problems.
• Art and inspiration. Aboriginal artists appreciate the tranquility and spiritual connection they get being on their homelands. They gain an income from selling their art.
• Keeping culture alive. Living on their homeland Aboriginal people keep alive their cultural practices and knowledge. It gives them a purpose and encourages them to pass on their skills to the next generation.
• Strong relationships. By doing things together family members strengthen their relationships.
• Healthier country, healthier food. On homelands Aboriginal people hunt introduced species like buffalo and pig. They improve the country and manage the land. They also harvest bush medicine. Less stress and more exercise means better health.

Homelands are like banks. Not for money but for security, knowledge and culture. —Jimmy Pascoe, traditional owner, Maningrida, West Arnhem Land, Northern Territory [7]

"These people don't respect our culture"

Following is an account by Mabel Tommy of the Yinhawangka people [9]. She talks about why she hates the community of Bindi Bindi, about 200kms north of Perth in Western Australia, and wants to go back to homes away in the bush.

"We hate [Bindi Bindi]. People are drunk, and the kids go through your room and steal your things. Things that you really want to keep and have kept for years. They'd go through the cupboards and take anything. They go through the freezer and take all of the food. Nobody stops them, no mother stopped them, the fathers are busy drinking and don't look after the kids who just go anywhere."

"They always make noises and the big people have no feeling for the old people. They make a lot of noise, they never think the old people have to rest. Night and day they go, drinking and music going full bore. Nobody stops them, and that's why I'm always growling at people at Bindi Bindi. I tell them, you fellas drink and don't know how to look after your kids. I never did any of these things, we'd have got a big hiding from our old people. These people don't respect our culture, nothing."

Homelands don't attract government money

The Aboriginal Land Rights Act (Northern Territory) ensures that anything that is built on lands trust land, including homelands, becomes owned by the traditional owners [7]. This gives the governments few incentives to spend money on homelands and instead inject it into bigger centres where it can own what it builds.

Policies which fail to support the ongoing development of homelands will lead to social and economic problems in rural townships that could further entrench Indigenous disadvantage and poverty. —Tom Calma, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner in 2010 [8]

Out of respect for Aboriginal culture I use Indigenous sources as much as possible.
[1] 'Council support for homelands', Koori Mail 442 p.16 [2] 'Papunya wary of NT policy', Koori Mail 452 p.10 [3] 'NT Govt silent on homelands', Koori Mail 445 p.16 [4] 'Portraits from a Land Without People', John Ogden, Cyclops Press 2009, p.8 [5] 'Inquiry told about high grocery costs', Koori Mail 448 p.10 [6] 'Community stores changes proposed', Koori Mail 465 p.9 [7] 'Why homelands are better for our people', Koori Mail 453 p.21 [8] 'Calma's final report points to brighter future', Koori Mail 468 p.7 [9] 'Karijini Mirlimirli', Noel Olive, Fremantle Arts Centre Press 1997 p.60