The Kaanju Ngaach homelands cover 470,000 hectares, stretching over
the Wenlock and Pascoe Rivers in central Cape York Peninsula. The
biodiversity of Kaanju homelands supports many species of fish,
birds, insects, plants and animals, including rare and threatened
species including the North Eastern Tree Kangaroo.
The Wenlock River has great cultural importance to Kaanju Pama
(Aboriginal people) and under Kaanju law Pama are required to look
after Ngaachi (country) and use it in a sustainable way, then in
return country looks after people.
During colonisation and under official removals and assimilation
policies of government many Kaanju people were taken forcibly from
their traditional homelands to either Lockhart River Mission in the
east or Cowal Creek Mission in the north of Cape York Peninsula, or
more than 800 km to the south to Yarrabah mission and Palm Island.
A number of people walked home from the missions, but were sent
back into incarceration. In the late 1980s, Kaanju people returned
to their homelands permanently to reaffirm their position as
primary land managers and to re-establish ‘proper’
Kaanju governance. The Kaanju community of Chuulangun or Chuula
(Frilled-neck Lizard Story) was re-established with limited
resources and support from government. In the early years people
used bush timber and donated corrugated iron to build sheds for
houses, cooked over fires and used pittoilets.
Kaanju people initially struggled to reoccupy their traditional
lands, but can now be proud of their achievements and enjoy being
on country with family. The community now has more permanent
infrastructure and adequate communication services including phone,
Internet and satellite TV and radio.
Chuulangun is occupied throughout the year, although the wet season
makes it difficult for families to stay when the roads are cut-off
by a number of flooded rivers and creeks. During the wet, access to
food, mail and emergency services becomes difficult but despite
this there are people whose commitment is strong and continue to
live on homelands even during the wet.
During the dry season, a number of Kaanju families visit Chuula
however it is difficult for some people to make a permanent
commitment to living on homelands as government continues to focus
funding for housing and essential services such as education and
health in the centralised communities. Further, outside influences,
such as alcohol and ‘town life’, are still strong for
some people.
These are two of the major challenges facing Chuulangun – the
focus of government on centralisation and the commitment of the
people to move away from towns and live permanently on homelands.
The Chuulangun Aboriginal Corporation was established in 2002 to
represent the interests of Kaanju people on land management issues
and to facilitate sustainable homelands and economic development.
The Corporation was formed from the grassroots level on homelands
and with the family-based group or clan as the basis for membership
and governance.
The corporation’s founding principle is “One must live
on their particular homeland in order to have say in its
management.” (See Kaanju website). David Claudie is a Kaanju
traditional owner and Chair of the Chuulangun Aboriginal
Corporation and said “Government can support homelands
development by shifting the focus of funding strategically from
centralised communities to homelands, by acknowledging the many
benefits derived from living on homelands, by acknowledging their
role in forcibly removing people from homelands and their
obligation to support and fund appropriately the permanent movement
of Aboriginal people back to homelands.”
By reoccupying homelands Kaanju are demonstrating the reaffirmation
of Kaanju land and resource management and Kaanju governance. The
results of permanent communities on homelands are self-reliance,
self-sufficiency and autonomy of Kaanju people. Kaanju want to show
other Aboriginal people what can be achieved from the grassroots
level from homelands, and to be an example and a springboard for
other Aboriginal groups wanting to re-establish themselves
permanently on homelands.
Kaanju people continually inform the government and public about
the need for support and the importance of relationships to
homelands through the Kaanju web site; letters, emails and
telephone calls to Ministers, government agencies, bureaucrats,
academics; via conference papers, academic publications, reports
and
plans; word-of-mouth (i.e. in the community and with neighbouring
landholders on Kaanju homelands and other traditional owners) and
through strategically placed signage on homelands.
Chuulangun Aboriginal Corporation is localised and based on Kaanju
governance structures. The corporation’s governing committee
too is indigenous and the leaders and decision-makers under Kaanju
law and custom form this committee. The executive and governing
committee are elected every year and the committee meets regularly
to consider project proposals and general community development
issues.
The corporation’s guiding objectives include the development
of homeland economic enterprises, the development of homeland-based
projects, education and training that will build the self-esteem of
Kaanju people, promotion of improvements in the health, economic,
social and spiritual well-being of Kaanju people, and encouraging
others to return to homelands and be self-reliant.
Current projects underway include the completion of the
community’s airstrip; funds are being sought from the
Governments Regional Partnerships Program in partnership with Rural
Airstrip Development Program for commencement of the project in
2005. Chuula also wants to build a multi-purpose centre, but is
having difficulties finding the right program to fund the project.
David said “We are striving for the development of further
housing at Chuula to accommodate the community’s growing
needs. With the abolishment of ATSIC we are yet to see whether the
new system for funding will be able to adequately accommodate our
housing and infrastructure needs, i.e. cost efficient and
environmentally appropriate housing. A major obstacle for us is
that government programs continue to focus funding for housing
development in centralised communities and towns thereby keeping
our people in town.”
In addition the development of a renewable power system that will
deliver the community’s power needs has been a battle. The
hard work has finally paid off and a solar power system is
currently being set up at Chuula with assistance from the Bushlight
program. David said “This project has been an important
achievement for the Chuula community considering our hard work
lobbying over several years for funding and support for a renewable
energy system for the community. Since the reestablishment of the
community in the late 1980s we have relied on petrol or diesel run
generators that are noisy, and very costly due to the fuel and
maintenance required.”
The community created the
Kaanju Homelands Land and Resource Management Framework,
which covers all aspects of project coordination and Kaanju land
and resource management goals.
Under this framework the community is currently seeking funds for a
number of projects including infrastructure development (e.g.
housing programme, airstrip and access) as well as a number of land
and resource management projects (e.g. weed management plan, fire
management, essential oils and plant extracts).
One of the strategies outlined in the framework is the
establishment of an Indigenous Protected Area (IPA) over Kaanju
homelands. Chuulangun Aboriginal Corporation’s application to
the Commonwealth government’s IPA program was approved and an
agreement has been signed with the Department of Environment and
Heritage. The Chuula community are currently working on a Plan of
Management for the area of Kaanju homelands to be investigated for
IPA establishment.
David said “Our application to the IPA program has been
approved and we are currently working on a Plan of Management for
the area of our homelands to be considered for IPA establishment.
This project also involves on-ground land management activities
including the protection of significant sites, camp site
establishment and weed and feral animal control.
Our Chuulangun campgrounds project has also been progressed with
funding approved under the Queensland Department of State
Development and Innovation’s indigenous Business Development
Grants Scheme. In the coming dry season we will be establishing
serviced campgrounds with toilet facilities on the upper Wenlock
River to accommodate passing tourists as well as organised tour
groups and ‘tag-a-long’ tours. This project is only the
start of the Chuulangun indigenous Cultural Eco-Tourism Venture. In
coming years we will be developing ‘spin-off’ products,
such as bush-walks, bird-watching and campfire yarns.”
The corporation has also secured funding under the Natural Heritage
Trusts Envirofund. The project ‘Rehabilitation of Riverine
Environments on the upper Wenlock River’ will target the
revegetation of a degraded section of the river with a rare species
of Acacia. The 12-month project will commence in January 2005.
Under the land and resource management framework Chuulangun
Aboriginal Corporation has also formed partnerships with
individuals and organisations including the Centre for Aboriginal
Economic Policy Research (CAEPR), the Tropical Savannas Management
Cooperative Research Centre and more. David was the Inaugural CAEPR
Indigenous Visiting Fellow in 2003. There were a number of outcomes
of this fellowship, including the publication of a CAEPR Discussion
Paper (available for download from the CAEPR website), the
development of important project collaborations and the
establishment of valuable networks with other Indigenous groups.
David says, “If Australia is to move ahead, if Aboriginal
people are to move ahead, if the land and resources of Australia
are to be sustainable for present and future generations of
Australians, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous, the government has
to recognise appropriately the sovereignty of Aboriginal people.
Government must recognise Indigenous sovereignty in the land and
resources, and Indigenous governance and cosmology that underlie
our land and resource management and our kinship system.
Importantly, they must recognise that Indigenous governance and
cosmology are as relevant today as in the past. Government in
Australia must work with Aboriginal people particularly concerned
with land and resource management on homelands. They must recognise
the different forms of Aboriginal governing bodies, in particular
homelands-based organisations, and that funding and support of such
organisations results in far better benefits all around including
sustainable land and resource management, and improvement in
health, social, economic and spiritual well-being.”
Kaanju show that commitment to Ngaachi and commitment to proper
‘Indigenous’ governance can achieve a lot in terms of
self-determination and reaffirmation of land and resource
management on homelands.
All information was accessed from the
Chuulangun Aboriginal Corporation
website. Thanks to David Claudie for his contributions.
Flooded Wenlock River
All photos: www.kaanjungaachi.com.au
Chuula Lagoon
The Home Office
The meeting & working shed
