Aboriginal communities have all too often been marginalised and rejected by mainstream Australian society. Philip Stone reports from northern Queensland on two innovative projects that may help redress the balance
There is a queue outside Jean Illingworth’s office. Two small boys stand at the front, shifting nervously, clearly wishing they could be somewhere else. Further along the corridor a little girl sits patiently while her mother fills out an application form. This is a common sight; places at Djarragun College, a school for indigenous children in Australia’s tropical northern Queensland, are increasingly in demand, particularly as its academic record of success continues to grow.
The principal’s door opens and Illingworth steps out. The two boys start to offer the explanations they have clearly been rehearsing. She cuts them off with a stern look and tells them they will have to wait, prolonging their agony still further. This scene is typical of any school in Australia but Djarragun’s successful, warm and disciplined atmosphere is exceptional in a country that has an appalling record of educating and integrating Aboriginal children into its prosperous society.
Illingworth explains that the success is a result of her dedicated multi-national staff, but there is no question that the tone has been set by the inspirational example of this red-haired, Zimbabwean-born teacher whose eyes blaze with determination as she recounts the extent of the turnaround.
When she arrived six years ago this was an institution that had failed; a school for indigenous children that was in a state of virtual collapse. Its 60 students spent almost as much time in trouble with the police as they did in the classroom, and staff were utterly demoralised. Most depressingly, the school was unremarkable. The issues were seen as symptomatic of the broader problems of the indigenous communities and typical of the repeated failure of many well-meaning initiatives. A rescue package was put together and the school went into private control. It was relocated to a spacious campus on the fringes of the sugar cane fields and rebuilt virtually from scratch.
Since then, the results have been so impressive that Djarragun is being hailed as a model for the whole of Australia to follow. Deprived kids who would once have graduated barely literate and unemployable are now reaching national averages and even surpassing them. Their family circumstances may be as difficult as ever, but Djarragun College has become a place of hope.
Illingworth tells me about the difficulties that she initially faced. ‘When I first arrived the children were completely out of control. They were running wild and had absolutely no respect for themselves or anyone else.’
The teachers were sub-standard: inexperienced and out of their depth, but today the school receives applications from all over the world. ‘Working here is not easy. I need 100 per cent commitment and not everyone can provide that,’ she adds. At times the teachers have to act as social workers, taking calls from the police in the middle of the night and helping to resolve housing problems on behalf of students and their parents. Illingworth calls it ‘tough love’: the atmosphere is highly supportive but strict, never indulgent.
The greatest challenge now is to secure the funding that will allow Djarragun College to meet the demand for places. There are 510 students, of whom 80 are boarders, but there is demand for at least the same number again. Every day, parents queue hoping to find places for their children. There is some government funding, but it is never enough for the needs of the children. The school has to get help from elsewhere – supporters include the Anglican Church, Jewish charities and private donors.
The students hail from local Aboriginal populations as well as a variety of ethnic groups originating in the islands of the Torres Straits, the stretch of water separating the northern tip of Queensland from Papua New Guinea.
Given the demand on resources, Illingworth explains that teaching indigenous languages and culture would be impossible. ‘Our students come from over 30 distinct ethnic groups, each with its own language. We could not even begin to teach every one. That is the responsibility of the parents.’ Responding to concerns that their cultural identity could be eroded, she is clear. ‘I thought it was particularly important that this would not turn into a race issue, with white teachers and black children. It is invaluable that we have an international and multi-cultural staff, but culture is not our top priority. We want to educate the children so that they will be able to take advantage of the job opportunities that are out there and that is what their parents want too. They don’t want to be cultural relics.’
Maintaining a strong cultural identity, without feeling trapped by it is particularly important in this part of the world. Only 20km to the north is Cairns, the gateway city to some of Australia’s leading tourist attractions, including the Great Barrier Reef and the Daintree rainforest. The beaches along the coast host some of the most exclusive resorts in the country. It is also the region where Captain Cook ran aground in 1770 and was forced to establish the first European settlement at Cooktown while his ship, the Endeavour, was being repaired. Foreigners returned around 100 years later in search of gold. This time they brought disease and conflict with them, followed by a misguided paternalism that devastated the Aboriginal communities in the area. Despite decades of formal legal equality, there has been little progress in their battle against deep-seated social and economic problems as well as frequent discrimination.
For a long time, such difficulties blighted the attempts to focus on the positive aspects of indigenous culture. Nevertheless, supported by a burgeoning interest from international visitors, genuine Aboriginal cultural experiences have recently emerged. An exceptional example is Willie Gordon, a former welder in his fifties who recently founded a company called Guurrbi Tours. He now operates award-winning visits to his ancestral land, bringing to life the ancient cave art with his storytelling and passing on his knowledge of the local flora and fauna.
Winning friends among the tourist population is not just about earning a living for Gordon. As a traditional storyteller and tribal elder of the Nugal-Warra clan, he is dedicated to re-establishing a link with his land that is still the subject of legal wrangling.
He aims to keep alive his family traditions and pass them on to future generations. On his days off he takes groups from his own Aboriginal clan to the site, in an attempt to reconnect them to their cultural heritage, much of which they have forgotten. Behind his jokes and amiable manner is a typically sad story of the forced removal of his family from his ancestral lands and of long campaigns to help his community’s struggle for a political voice and against entrenched drug, alcohol and mental health problems.
I meet him in Cooktown. In the 1870s, at the height of a gold rush, the town’s population soared to around 30,000 in the space of a few years before almost disappearing again. Today Cooktown’s population is only 2,000 and it retains a frontier feel. The main approach is via a rough track road through the Daintree, the oldest surviving rainforest in the world. For much of the year the area can be completely cut-off as heavy rains make the route impassable but this year the local government has finally completed construction of a sealed road through the Atherton Tablelands, the high Savannah where much of the prospecting took place. Visitors can now arrive in ordinary road vehicles for the first time ever.
This small town hosts an impressive number of sights, including the James Cook museum, but the greatest cultural treasures have no funding or signposts. The Guurrbi vehicle turns off the road and parks on a grass verge. We walk for a while into the tree line, pausing frequently as Gordon points out some of the wonders of nature: bark that is used as mosquito repellent; leaves that turn into a foaming soap; trees that are so poisonous that they can paralyse and kill a human. e clamber through the forest until a collection of strange rock formations comes into focus. We explore one at a time.
The caves are adorned with ancient paintings, each one telling a story and marking an important ritual site: caves used for giving birth, for family life or as schoolrooms. It is a poignant and deeply personal tour. For Gordon, the act of storytelling is far more important than a means of entertainment. It is a lifeline, a link to the past that is being kept alive through his tours.
‘This is where my ancestors were told these stories by their teachers,’ he says, ‘but so many have already been lost. It doesn’t matter if your understanding of these pictures is different from mine. The important thing is that you pass on what you understood to someone else.’
Gordon’s tours offer a way for visitors to learn but not intrude, and he is far from alone. There is a growing number of Aboriginal-owned tourist experiences that provide both income and cultural support for indigenous communities. A clear precedent exists: over the past 20 years, the arrival of mass tourism has first threatened the eco-systems of the Daintree rainforest and the Great Barrier Reef and then spurred the movement to protect and sustain them. It is highly appropriate that this part of Australia, with its sad history, should now become a place for positive encounters with Aboriginal culture.
GETTING THERE
Cathay Pacific flies direct
to Cairns from Hong Kong.
Qantas runs frequent connections
via most major
Australian cities.
Where to stay
The Sebel Reef House &
Spa in Palm Cove (a fashionable
beach resort 26km
north of Cairns) is a luxurious
boutique hotel by the
Coral Sea. Rooms are from
$390 per night.
www.reefhouse.com.au
The Shangri-La is one of
Cairns’ most distinguished
hotels with direct access
to the port for trips to the
Great Barrier Reef. Rooms
from $233.
www.shangri-la.com
WHAT TO SEE
Willie Gordon’s Guurrbi
Tours run from Cooktown.
www.guurrbitours.com
Four-wheel drive tours
from the Cairns area to
Cooktown via the Daintree
include the Bama Way www.
bamaway.com.au operated by
Adventure North Australia
www.adventurenorthaustralia.com
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