Trish Crossin (NT, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This evening I rise to draw the attention of the Senate to a community in the Northern Territory known as Ngukurr and their story over the past 100 years. The Ngukurr community is an Aboriginal community in the very north of Australia, in Arnhem Land. The community have grown from their establishment as Arnhem Land’s first mission to be a thriving community. They are Aboriginal people and they are proud of it. Today I want to tell you some of their story, their struggles and their triumphs.

This year marks the 100th anniversary since the mission was established at Ngukurr. One hundred years is quite an achievement. To celebrate this anniversary, the community have compiled a book of their stories called We are Aboriginal: Our 100 years from Arnhem Land’s first mission to Ngukurr today. The Ngukurr peoples are keeping their history alive through this book, ensuring that the story of their peoples will be known and shared by future generations. The community are located on the Roper River, which marks the southern boundary of Arnhem Land. The Ngukurr peoples have achieved much over the past 100 years, including publishing the first complete Bible in Kriol, their native language. This was also the first Bible to be published in this country in an Aboriginal language.

Fortunately, the Ngukurr peoples are not part of the stolen generation. However, their history is not without tragedy. In fact, the mission was established to help protect them from merciless massacres that were being carried out against their families. The community speak of the many killed at the hands of stockmen. The mission took in many Aboriginal groups from around Arnhem Land who had been attacked during those times. The community have taken steps to put this sad history behind them, acknowledging the sorry message and sympathising with those of the stolen generations. They are moving into the future, stating: ‘We don’t carry the past as a burden. We have learnt about forgiveness and let go of hurts from the past.’

The people at Ngukurr speak about the missionaries—those who came and brought the good news of God—fondly. They speak of how the Christian faith has been integrated into their traditional beliefs and practices and how their elders cleaned up the adultery and death threats from their ceremonies. The missionaries also brought health and education services to the Aboriginal people. They helped them clear the land, build schools and houses, grow vegetables and look after the cattle, so many skills were in fact passed on to these people.

The first mission ended in the 1930s and the second one ended in 1968. The government then took over the management of the community. Of course, since 1978, with the proclamation of self-government in the Northern Territory, it has been the responsibility of the Northern Territory. The missionaries tried to help the Ngukurr people fight the many diseases that they were susceptible to. Interestingly, the Macassans from Indonesia, with whom they traded, brought leprosy and yaws to the Australian Aboriginals.

The church plays a very important part in the life of the Ngukurr peoples even to this day, and the people speak fondly of their church leader, ‘Gambuli’, who has been their leader for over 30 years. A man named James Japanma played a key role as a leader in the community and the church and as a school teacher. Many Aboriginal people took up the mantle of the church, and James Japanma spread the teachings of the Bible to the Aboriginal people of Arnhem Land. He is a well-respected person in their community.

As I have already said, in 2007 the community proudly launched the complete Bible in Kriol. From 1945 there were attempts to write the stories from the Bible in a language the people from Ngukurr could relate to. These attempts were in a language called Wubuy. Referred to as the Kriol Baibul, it was launched in Katherine on 5 May 2007. It took 35 years to realise this achievement, and it was due to the efforts of many people. When you think about it, it is an outstanding achievement to translate the Bible into a language that is barely written in this country. The teamwork behind this Bible is demonstrative of the importance of its presence to the community, and it is an important step for the recognition of Aboriginal languages in our society.

Ngukurr is a close community, with everyone acknowledging some form of kinship—as is the case, of course, in Indigenous communities—with other members of the community. These complex family ties are an important feature of the Aboriginal culture. Aboriginal communities from Northern Australia can relate to their family and to any other family they may meet, for that matter, through their complex ‘skin’ systems.

From the early mission times, the Ngukurr people have retained leadership over their community. Even in the 1960s, the council was predominantly Aboriginal. Today, many Aboriginal members of that community are in fact church leaders in Arnhem Land.

The book that they have launched on the celebration of 100 years of their community reflects the importance of community and family to the Ngukurr people. It details the stories of many people who have lived in or passed through the mission. This is important in ensuring the survival of Kriol. This Australian Aboriginal language has 30,000 speakers. It is a phonetic language, and it has been spoken in Ngukurr for more than 100 years—in fact, probably hundreds of years. It is a form of pidgin English. There are many languages of the people of Arnhem Land that we currently know, but Kriol is spoken regularly and used in homes and in church, ensuring its relevance and survival for the new generations of Ngukurr. The language is spoken as far west as Broome, as far south as Tennant Creek and as far north as Darwin. Kriol speakers are proud to claim that Kriol is their language. It gained prominence in 1973 through the work of John Sandefur, who wrote a Kriol grammar. Many other people have published language studies, dictionaries and grammar books for the languages of the many people of the mission.

Ngukurr was established as a mission in 1908, and by the 1930s it had grown into a small town. One hundred people were in regular residence and others would visit regularly. However, by 1931 Arnhem Land had been declared an Aboriginal reserve. In the 1960s the Church Missionary Society won the mining rights for the people of Groote Eylandt. In 1973 the Northern Land Council was formed to assist people in the battle for their land rights.

There are still many challenges for the people of the Ngukurr community, even to this very day. The land is affected by wild buffaloes and pigs. Cane toads have now managed to infiltrate this area, posing a threat to native wildlife. Floods are also a regular problem. The community is located next to the Roper River and has been destroyed many times by flooding. When we next talk in this country about rebuilding this nation through infrastructure and having massive infrastructure programs, I suspect that the need for a bridge over the Roper River, to assist the Ngukurr community, will be overlooked once again. However, I note a colleague of mine, the Northern Territory Minister for Children and Families, Malarndirri McCarthy, while in Canberra just two weeks ago, reminded my colleagues of the need to produce funding for a bridge to this community. I have tried to get to the Ngukurr community, to visit these people, during the wet season. I know that for five to seven months of the year this community is cut off from the rest of the Northern Territory and from access in Arnhem Land because the river floods. In fact, if you want to get to the Ngukurr community in the wet season, you have to get on a boat near the Roper Bar Store and travel upstream for about 20 minutes to the landing at Ngukurr. So a bridge over the Roper River would certainly be welcome relief for many people who are trapped in this community during the wet season.

Australia and its senators should be applauding this community. The Ngukurr community is moving into the future and letting go of the past. This is a community that is embracing new practices and beliefs and integrating these with its traditional beliefs and practices. We should acknowledge the achievement of these people in fostering their language and preserving it for future generations. I would like to take this opportunity before the year ends to acknowledge the Ngukurr community. I acknowledge that it is celebrating its growth over the past 100 years from the Arnhem land mission to the community that it is today. The pride of this community is encapsulated by their book We are Aboriginal and it should be reflected in the pride of all Australians and found in all Australian classrooms. This community has suffered throughout history but its members remain strong today and have remained strong throughout the Northern Territory intervention. However, this does not stop them asking questions about what is happening to their people. I am sure that in another 100 years we will see the next chapter of this fine community, a new chapter that will document its members’ proud progress throughout the Northern Territory as they move from this community to a town—and a thriving town at that. Hopefully, pretty soon we will be celebrating the opening of a new bridge across the Roper River for the people of the Ngukurr community.