Anindilyakwa Land Council’s

Ayakwa

For more news on the Groote Eylandt archipelago, go to anindilyakwa.com.au

30 Bougainvillea DrivePO Box 172Alyangula NT 0885

INSIDE THIS ISSUE• Trees for fuel,

page 3

• New commercial kitchen, page 4

• Native title meetings, page 6

• Fish for food, page 8

GROOTE Eylandt’s recent national exposure is expected to be the catalyst for a stronger tourism industry.

Already this year, the island has been the focus of several episodes on two national television series, The Last Cast and All4Adventure.

Meanwhile, Groote Eylandt lodge has new management working hard to improve its profitability and increase charter bookings on GEBIE’s vessels, East Wind and West Wind.

Eylandt prepares for more visitors

Continued Page 4.

PRISTINE: A shot of Groote Eylandt from the first episode of The Last Cast, which aired nationally throughout April and May.

| Newsletter June/July 2018

CANE toad detection dog Edna and her handler were put through their paces in May, with their annual validation testing and maintenance training assessment.

Handler, Tom Lawton from Anindilyakwa Land

and Sea Rangers, said testing was done by Credible

Canines owner Craig Murray, who bred and trained

Edna to detect cane toads.

Cane toads are a toxic pest introduced into

Australia in the 1930’s in a bid to protect sugar cane

crops from cane beetles. They have caused huge

declines in native species across northern and

eastern mainland Australia.

“The testing and training ensures both Edna and

Tom are hitting their targets and performing to the

highest possible level,” Craig said.

Groote Eylandt is one of only a few islands left in

the NT still declared cane toad free.

Towns to come back under community controlTHE ALC met with the Australian Government and NT Government last week to discuss Anindilyakwa traditional owners taking control and responsibility for their communities and housing again.

An 80-year Township Lease over Angurugu, Umbakumba and Milyakburra means this land is presently controlled by the Australian Government. The ALC is negotiating to bring the lease under community control through the Anindilyakwa Royalties Aboriginal Corporation.

The ALC is also establishing a new entity, the Anindilyakwa Housing Corporation, controlled by Anindilyakwa people, to

administer housing across the archipelago.

The Northern Territory Department of Housing and Community Development currently manages Groote housing.

Corporation chair Gregson Lalara said it would be very exciting for traditional owners to have control over their own housing.

“It will mean we can spend resources and make decisions based on our culture and our needs,” Gregson said.

ALC chief executive Mark Hewitt said the new Anindilyakwa-led township leasing model would provide a secure, stable

and transferable system of land tenure.

“This will ensure Anindilyakwa people in their own communities make decisions about their housing,” Mark said.

He said there would be a transition over time from the current public housing model.

A workshop was held on May 8-9 with the Land Branch of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, the Executive Director of Township Leasing, Office of Township Leasing, the Northern Territory Department of Housing and Community Development, and the Department of the NT Chief Minister.

Edna has nose for the job

HIGH STANDARDS: Testing and training ensures Edna and Tom Lawton are hitting their targets.

| June/July 2018 Page 2

Surprising study results for scarce species

High interest in native title meetings

BRIGHT: There were grins all round when Bush Fit Mob held its second colour fun run in Umbakumba in April as part of its Deadly Fun Run Series. Pictured are Roshana Herbert, Shatonia Ngalmi and Joyce Bara Bara.

Splash of colour for Umbakumba run

Agroforestry proposed for mining leasesTHE ALC is proposing to trial growing trees for timber and to harvest for bio-diesel on Groote Eylandt mining leases in the future.

The ALC hopes to engage consultants to look at the soil and which species of trees and plants can be grown commercially.

ALC mining and environment manager Ross McDonald said the aim was to secure the future of transportation on Groote Eylandt and to create an income stream with timber products.

He said the land council was planning ahead for when mining royalties stopped feeding the Groote economy and fuel became too expensive.

“We are going to have a problem post-mining,” Ross said.

“If we want to run diesel trucks, cars and machinery when mining on Groote Eylandt finishes, we need to start making investments now.

“And if we want a sustainable economy for the Anindilyakwa people, we need to investigate options to make that happen.”

Consultants would do an assessment of the island, including looking at soil and timber varieties.

Ross said the ALC was hoping to work with the South 32 GEMCO mine to trial crops on mining leases.

“When we move to a more commercial stage, we will have to take ownership of those areas,” he said.

“These mining lease areas are excellent sites to investigate impacts on soil and water quality, biodiversity, trialling different species, and the potential for growing an island bio-based economy,” he said.

He said biomass energy could provide the social, economic and ecological drivers for a sustainable future on Groote.

Creating healthy homes

Warna ALC karrilabajama ayika yakina-langwa yimundungwa

Kajungwa kanilingkwabajina-ma bio-deisel-yada.

Warna warnumamalya aburrajukwaba karrirringkina-ma ajiringka kajungwa amiyambena ayika-mirriya akwa amarda-mirriya ebina nalungkwarringina-ma ajiringka-manja kemba karrilungkwabijina-ma kemba kalungkwarringina yada kajungwa karringekburakina-yada awarnda.

Nakina niyama wurrakina angalya council arakba nalelyumbukweyinuma arakba akina mining royalties kangwanjina - ma narrakakuna-ma wurringakina Groote economy akwa amalyirra ngalajukwaba numarmidina ngalajukwaba.

| June/July 2018 Page 3

PITCHING IN: The Aminjarrinja Healthy Homes team has been delivering mattresses to the elderly. Program coordinator Anne Ingram said James (pictured), Amathea and Edith had also been cleaning homes and doing washing in an attempt to eradicate scabies in Groote Eylandt communities.

A BIG commercial kitchen is being installed by GEBIE in Angurugu’s CDP building, ready to spread a love of cooking in Groote Eylandt communities.

Cooking will be taught as part of the Food for Groote plan being rolled out by the ALC together with the CDP, GEBIE, GEAT and the non-profit EON Foundation.

EON Foundation has worked to improve nutrition in 26 other Aboriginal communities over the past 12 years and the organisation’s project manager Clancy Hearps, arrived on Groote Eylandt in April to kick-start the program.

Clancy has been liaising with schools and elders to get as many people involved as possible.

GEBIE Group chief executive Corallie Ferguson said the communities were excited about the program.

“One part of the project is teaching community members about the importance of fruit, vegetables and bush tucker in a healthy diet,”

Corallie said.

“All ages will join to grow, harvest and prepare fresh produce to create healthy meals.”

She said health and education were GEBIE’s big focus areas and the program addresses both. “It’s probably the most exciting program we’ve taken on,” Corallie said.

“We hope children will encourage their parents to come to school and see the garden that is created and that eventually people will start growing food at home – that this becomes a way of life.”

She said the CDP chef was already training some of the women with a plot at the market garden.

EON’s five-year program provides sustainable access to fresh produce in schools and communities and offers training in how to grow, harvest and prepare the produce to create healthy meals.

Poor nutrition contributes to the soaring rates of type 2 diabetes and heart disease in Aboriginal communities.

HEALTHY FOOD TO BECOME NEW WAY OF LIFE

Continued from Page 1.

The lodge, which in May celebrated 10 years since opening, is also offering new experiences such as land content, Indigenous activities and Indigenous tourism.

ALC chair Tony Wurramarrba said it was an exciting time for the Anindilyakwa people.

“We are doing what we can to get tourists to the island,” Tony said. “Not just now but into the future.

“If mining finishes on the island, tourism will help keep our economy going.”

Tony said it was important that the Anindilyakwa people create a self-sufficient economy now so they were not dependent on mining royalties.

“We have a beautiful island and we want visitors to come here, have a great experience and share that with their friends so more people come.”

The Channel 10 All4Adventure program featured Groote Eylandt and its Indigenous tourism over three weeks to more than 250,000 national viewers.

The island´s waters were also the focus of the new national television show, The Last Cast, starring AFL star Patrick Dangerfield and Groote fishing enthusiast Bomber Farrell in May.

The four-part series followed the duo as they showed off abundant wildlife and pristine waters teeming with pelagic and reef fish.

Big boost for Eylandt tourism

| June/July 2018 Page 4

Collaborative piece in running for award

PROGRAMS are starting to operate from Groote Eylandt’s new cultural centres.

Excitement is building among traditional owners keen to use the new facilities in Angurugu and Umbakumba, which will be available to all ages for cultural activities and to archive, share and create cultural content.

The ALC has also boosted funding for the Milyakburra centre on Bickerton Island, which opened last year.

The ALC is coordinating programs across all three centres, which will be linked using a new microwave network.

IT provider Brilliant Technologies is delivering computers and other technology as well as microwave link adaptability.

ALC infrastructure manager Brent Woods said the centres were expected to be connected to internet in June.

He said some adjustments were being made to hand railing for the existing walkways and decking to improve disability access, particularly for traditional owners with Machado Joseph Disease (MJD).

The centres are expected to be officially opened later this year.

Once fully operational, they will include facilities to explore music, language, video production, radio, genealogy and cross cultural education; and an indoor cinema, arts program and men’s program.

They will be ‘safe keeping’ places for clan songs, stories, artefacts, videos and photographs, using modern technology.

Probuild NT built the centres, project managed by GHD Darwin.

The centres will build on the strength of the Anindilyakwa people – culture, language, history, customary practices and connection to the country.

ALC chief executive Mark Hewitt thanked Minister Nigel Scullion for supporting the concept and helping with funding.

“We look forward to engaging with multiple service providers and organisations to build on this major initiative,” Mark said.

“We are keen for schools and correctional service providers to make the most of these new community facilities to connect children into the program.”

The ALC’s Spotter Program provides security for all cultural centre infrastructure.

HEALTHY FOOD TO BECOME NEW WAY OF LIFE Finishing touches for cultural centres

OPERATIONAL: The new centre in Angurugu will be a ‘safe keeping’ place for clan songs, stories, artefacts, videos and photographs, using modern technology.

ANINDILYAKWA artists Bernadette Watt and Annabell Amagula have been together selected as finalists in this year’s National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards (NATSIAA).

The entry is a unique collaboration that carries bush dyed textiles into a new digital medium.

The awards are Australia’s most prestigious Indigenous art award and winners will be announced in Darwin on August 10.

The nomination marks the second time Anindilyakwa artists have been nominated after the late A. Lalara was a finalist in 2009.

Bernadette Watt Annabell Amagula

| June/July 2018 Page 5

AFTER years of decline due to fire and lack of rain, northern quoll populations are rising again on Groote.

Researchers expect this year to be excellent for the endangered species.

“While numbers were high in 2012 they slowly reduced to about half of our original captures in 2015, most likely due to food availability,” Dr Skye Cameron said.

Dr Skye has led a team of University of Queensland quoll researchers working with the Anindilyakwa Land and Sea Rangers over the past seven years.

“Groote is extremely lucky to have one of the last remaining strongholds,” Dr Skye said

“This is due to the lack of cane toads, limited number of cats and the traditional fire practices of the Anindilyakwa people.”

A surprising finding of the research has been that all male quolls die between September and December every year, due to an intense two-week breeding season in July, when they can roam up to 10 kilometres each night in search of females, foregoing any self-preservation (such as eating) to

ensure they father as many young as possible.

Females can live up to three years and give birth in August to about eight young, which can be from multiple fathers.

She called on residents to help protect northern quolls by driving slowly in wildlife crossing areas, closing wheelie bin lids to prevent quolls from becoming trapped and reporting sightings of cats and other invasive species.

Surprising study results for scarce species

ANTHROPOLOGISTS will get back on country to collect more information for a report to support a native title claim over sea country.

The ALC and the Northern Land Council (NLC) held a series of meetings on Groote Eylandt, Bickerton Island and at Numbulwar, to discuss preparation of the native title application over the seas around Groote Eylandt and across to the mainland.

ALC anthropologist Hugh Bland said there were still areas of uncertainty that required further fieldwork.

“It is important that every site is correctly identified so we get the clan ownership of that site correct,” Hugh said.

“It’s important for the claim, to get that story really tight.”

Hugh, ALC anthropologist Leslie Pyne and NLC anthropologist Shannon O’Connell, will join lead anthropologist Dr Scott Cane, an independent expert engaged by the NLC, to travel through sea country to talk to traditional owners.

The four recent meetings also discussed what native title in the sea means for traditional owners, what area of sea country the claim will cover, which Aboriginal groups have native title rights and interests in the area and how research is being done.

Hugh said the meetings were well attended as it was an area of high interest for the Anindilyakwa people.

High interest in native title meetings

SURPRISING: Male quolls die every year due to an intense two-week breeding season but females can live up to three years.

| June/July 2018 Page 6

A MILESTONE 100 elderly men and women from Groote Eylandt and Bickerton Island have visited an elders’ retreat in Cairns.

The project between the ALC and Aminjarrinja Enterprises takes traditional owners over the age of 50 to the retreat for two weeks of respite care.

While in Cairns, they are cared for by Dick and Margaret Allgood, who are well known to the Anindilyakwa people.

Aged Care coordinator Anne Ingram said they visited many places, went fishing, shell gathering, yam digging, pipe making and much more.

Another highlight of their visit was seeing their grandchildren and great grandchildren who are being educated in Queensland through the Cairns Kids Project.

Anne said it was exciting to see the smiles on people’s faces when they returned from a visit, healthy and relaxed and accompanied by much

shopping.

“Then we can all stand equal, with no gap in confidence and pride of our own sense of place in the world. Then the gap will be closed.”

Milestone for elders’ retreat

GROOTE students who made good choices in

community attended the Michael Long Learning

and Leadership Centre’s (MLLLC) Education

Program in Darwin in May.

The 10 to 14-year-olds from Umbakumba, Angurugu

and Alyangula schools were chosen for the

MLLLC Education Program based on good school

attendance and behaviour.

During the camp, the students engaged in football-

themed literacy and numeracy sessions, team-

building and leadership exercises, football and

umpiring skills sessions, visited local boarding

schools and spent time with the NT Thunder

football team.

Students awarded for excellence were Kaylisha

Mamarika (Leadership), Renelda Durilla (Be

Healthy), Rexena Bara (Play Fair), Aoki Williams

(Play as One Team) and Chinelle Herbert (Play to

Help Others).

AFLNT Groote Eylandt remote development

manager Rob Hince, who is funded by GEBIE,

escorted the students to the centre. Rob also helped

deliver elements of the program in schools before

and after the camp.

| June/July 2018 Page 7

RELAXED: Bridget Mamarika, Elizabeth Mamarika, Tony Bara, Kenneth Mamarika and Janet Bara from Bickerton Island visit the elders’ retreat in Cairns.

Student leaders chosen for football camp

GOOD CHOICES: Jaslyn Mamarika, Elzinah Yantarrnga, Chinelle Herbert, Rexena Bara and Miriam Wunungmurra take part in a team building exercise.

Ph 08 8987 4010Fax 08 8987 4098info@anindilyakwa.com.au For editorial contributions email danielacooper@outlook.com.au

30 Bougainvillea DrivePO Box 172Alyangula NT 0885

anindilyakwa.com.au

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A STUDY is underway to see what marine and freshwater species would be most suitable for an aquaculture industry on Groote Eylandt.

The ALC has engaged Dr Rik Buckworth from Fisheries Research and Education at Charles Darwin University to help put together a team of scientists to assess up to 26 different types of aquaculture species that could be farmed around the island, such as fish, prawns, trepang, crabs, lobsters, oysters, crocodiles and seaweed.

ALC Mining and Environment manager Ross McDonald said the scientists would determine which species were best suited to Groote and most commercially viable.

The researchers were on Groote in May and will also report back on five different locations that they tested for toxic material and water quality.

“We are also looking to other communities in other parts of the NT to work together cooperatively to market and process what we produce,” Ross said.

Aquaculture is a key focus of the ALC Strategic Plan, which aims to diversify Groote Eylandt’s economy to replace the current reliance on mining royalty income.

ALC chief executive Mark Hewitt said the Anindilyakwa people did not currently take advantage of the economic development opportunities of Groote’s large coastline and pristine marine environment.

“The Anindilyakwa people have strong customary links with their aquatic

environments and rely on fish for food and culture,” Mark said.

“However, unlike other NT communities, the Anindilyakwa people do not currently take advantage of the economic development opportunities afforded them by a fertile seabed environment.”

Historically, Groote traded sea products with its northern Maccassan neighbours prior to European occupation.

In recent years, the island has seen small scale trepang industries developed with mixed results.

The ALC hopes to target the lucrative Asian export markets.

Ross said the ALC’s aim was to get all Anindilyakwa clans involved in a sustainable future around aquaculture.

Page 8

DIVERSIFY: Groote Eylandt has had various small scale trepang industries in the past.

Aquaculture for the future | June/July 2018