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| This Tamal woman in central Sri Lanka reminded me of he women in Oombulgurri. I empathized with our common plight and possible future, as I had with the women in Oombulgurri in a way that will long be remembered. Grateful to not have to have been a beggar woman, I nevertheless, am the beggar woman, too. |
I googled "Oombulgurri", in the Kimberleys Region of Australia, where my family lived and work with the Aboriginal people there. We were not the first team and this was not the first village the Institute of Cultural Affairs worked in.
Several books are being written about the first village demonstration in Australia, Mowanjum. As far as I know, none have been written about Oombulgurri.
When my family left Australia, the government was paranoid about our being in Oombulgurri because diamonds had been discovered and they didn't want any interference by civil rights advocates, which they must have imagined us as being.
While the Institute of Cultural Affairs left, the village citizens stayed and maintained the systems that had been developed., which included a community store, garden, clinic, and some renewed cultural rituals -or so the tales are told by colleagues who traveled back to the village for some years following our exit.
The google search revealed the history of Oombulgurri and its present status.
There are only five people still living in Oombulgurri. The other 100 have been relocated with the closing down of village operations. The research also referred to those of us who worked with the people as those who established social welfare programs in the 70's.
At the time I was there, every single person over the age of 16 was a die hard alcoholic. One of the miracles of the village was the decision to have no alcohol in the village. This was upheld by a woman named Olive who in tradition, would be a Queen of the Daughters of Rainbow Snake - the ruling lineage historically. As long as she was in the village, peace and order were maintained.
Then, the Department of Aboriginal Affairs built a motor boat for the community making it possible to get down the Forrest River in a short period. Up until then, access to the village was by raft which took two tides for the journey. Needless to say, the slowness of the raft gave those who were in Wyndham drinking time to sleep it off on the way back to Oombulgurri, a good model which was changed by the new boat. After that, there were some days when we had to go into the bush until the mayhem had passed and the Wyndham arrivals were asleep.
Maybe, this is what was happening recently, when the government decided to relocate the people remaining. There were always only about 100 people, but I am sure many of them have died. I would like to know who was living there when the village closed and the real reasons for its being disbanded.
I wonder if those who were part of the transformation of Oombulgurri were also transformed. I have seen nothing written about the rich spiritual tradition of the people of the Rainbow Snake.
I wondered how the inevitable paradigm shift of being active participants in creating a sustainable environment played itself out in the hearts of the people who remained.
I wonder if our imaginal education efforts worked. Did their sense of self-worth increase as an Aboriginal people at the end of the 20th Century on Planet Earth.
I would love to be working with Aboriginal people today, doing what I did then, knowing what I know now about what it takes to be sustainable, personally and socially.
Reflect on an important time in your life and the situation today. What have you learned about human development?
There are only five people still living in Oombulgurri. The other 100 have been relocated with the closing down of village operations. The research also referred to those of us who worked with the people as those who established social welfare programs in the 70's.
At the time I was there, every single person over the age of 16 was a die hard alcoholic. One of the miracles of the village was the decision to have no alcohol in the village. This was upheld by a woman named Olive who in tradition, would be a Queen of the Daughters of Rainbow Snake - the ruling lineage historically. As long as she was in the village, peace and order were maintained.
Then, the Department of Aboriginal Affairs built a motor boat for the community making it possible to get down the Forrest River in a short period. Up until then, access to the village was by raft which took two tides for the journey. Needless to say, the slowness of the raft gave those who were in Wyndham drinking time to sleep it off on the way back to Oombulgurri, a good model which was changed by the new boat. After that, there were some days when we had to go into the bush until the mayhem had passed and the Wyndham arrivals were asleep.
Maybe, this is what was happening recently, when the government decided to relocate the people remaining. There were always only about 100 people, but I am sure many of them have died. I would like to know who was living there when the village closed and the real reasons for its being disbanded.
I wonder if those who were part of the transformation of Oombulgurri were also transformed. I have seen nothing written about the rich spiritual tradition of the people of the Rainbow Snake.
I wondered how the inevitable paradigm shift of being active participants in creating a sustainable environment played itself out in the hearts of the people who remained.
I wonder if our imaginal education efforts worked. Did their sense of self-worth increase as an Aboriginal people at the end of the 20th Century on Planet Earth.
I would love to be working with Aboriginal people today, doing what I did then, knowing what I know now about what it takes to be sustainable, personally and socially.
Reflect on an important time in your life and the situation today. What have you learned about human development?
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