Hughes Kimberley Calling

The wet area at the rodeo where a girl could find a cowboy.

In the tent inside a swag I had the best nights sleep I have had in a long time. It was warm so I slept next to the flap and had it wide open so I could look at the stars. As we were settling in for our sleep last night Juliette was that excited. She loves camping out and we had decided to just put up the small tent as there was almost no chance of rain so our gear could stay outside. It was heaps of fun but she awoke as soon as the sun came up at 6am. It was very hard to keep her quiet. As the park is mostly full of retirees doing their great trek around Australia, they were all up early as well.

We headed once again to the Kununurra markets for breakfast. These only operate during May which is peak tourist season. Juliette demolished a huge crepe and Mike and I once again went for the bacon and egg sandwich. We have found an excellent local butcher and stocked up. Their lamb chops and sausages are especially delicious. I drop these in a friend’s freezer so they are frozen ready for our trip home tomorrow. Based on the hairdresser’s recommendation we headed out to try a new fruit and veggie shop. It was about 7km out of town in the centre of the Ord irrigation area. This is a spectacular valley, surrounded by the ancient craggy mountains that dominate around here. The shop is only open from May to September when the crops are in season. During tourist season Coles runs out of goodies quickly. The other problem is that they do not source their produce locally and so it has been on a truck for a few days before it reaches the shelves, hence it sometimes is of a very poor quality. Shopping in the cool room was a challenge. I was offered a jumper by the shop assistant. The produce was so fresh and we even bought some boab shoots to have a go at cooking with these.

Tonight’s big attraction was the Kununurra rodeo. We donned our blue jeans and riding boots and headed out along the dusty road to the rodeo grounds. The viewing was divided into 2 areas, the wet bar for those over 18 and the family area. It never ceases to amaze me how many people you run into that you know when you visit these events, you almost feel like a local.

We had heaps of fun. We could not understand how anyone would willingly put themselves forward to ride these bulls or horses. Very few actually stayed on their ride for the 10 seconds. What was great to watch was the men on their horses who rounded up the cattle and horses, and rescued the riders. At the end of the night many (a few of our teachers included), just roll out their swags and sleep under the stars next to their cars.

Frogs in the toilet bowl are a regular part of life up here.

This morning we had a performance from a Musica Viva group called The Chambermaids. There were 5 women who all played wind instruments. They absolutely captivated the kids, even though the instruments were the bassoon, flute, French horn, oboe and clarinet, the women entertained the students and explained the workings of each. Not only did they play classics, but taught the kids the wonders of orchestral music via tunes such as Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.

This afternoon we left quickly for a weekend in Kununurra. I had a hairdressing appointment at 3.30 and I was very keen to make it as it is not easy to get appointments, especially during peak tourist season. We were camping in our tent tonight as no cabins were available. Juliette was very excited as the magician who had performed at school for a Wake up and Read show, was camping 2 tents down. In her usual style she introduced herself to all the neighbours and gave them our life history. Everywhere we go, they all love her and I hope she holds on to the great confidence and love of people that she now has.

Mike and Dave’s birthday brekky 

Today we had our 2 hour art lesson after lunch. As I know nothing about art, but can interpret a syllabus document I had decided that the girls would develop a major work over the term where they study some of the local artists, determine their own families dreaming stories and then work towards doing an artwork that tells a significant family dreaming story painted in the style of the Warmun art. I had arranged for Mabel Juli, one of the more famous artists from the community, whose works sell for many thousands of dollars each, to join us for this afternoon’s session. When we arrived and she was not there I drove around the community in the troupie, with the girls in the back trying to find her. Mabel was at the courthouse, sitting on the bench as she is one of the community’s elders.

Having never seen the court in session before, I was intrigued. The courthouse is located on the end of the multifunction judicial building which also houses the police station. A wide roller door is raised and the judges, bench and lawyers sit inside while the public sit on chairs in rows on the grass. Lots of people were at the courthouse as a member of the community was being sentenced today. The court flies in once a month so it is pretty busy when in session. Any of you who have watched The Circuit on SBS would have a good idea of what justice is like for Aboriginal people.

We went back through the community, the girls keeping their eyes open for any other artist who was free. We found Shirley Purdie and she agreed to come and assist us. Shirley is one of the most famous living Warmun artists as she has won national prizes for her art and had exhibitions overseas. Most recently she won a national prize for religious art.

We began our lesson with the girls completing a worksheet that included Shirley’s biographical details, the stories she tells in her art, the techniques she uses and the symbols she uses to represent these stories. Shirley has a wonderfully interesting history as she was brought up on Mabel Downs, one of the large cattle stations south of Warmun. She told the girls a little of what life was like for them, how she had no schooling and so had never learned to read and write. From a young age she was expected to assist in the domestic chores and once a week when they were given rations, if the children failed to say please and thank you for their lollies, they were taken away from them. She said this in response to the poor manners the girls were showing. If you take them out of the school environment, for the first half an hour, they really do not know how to behave.

Then Shirley walked us around the gallery, showing us all her art works and explaining the symbolism and stories in each one. The Warmun gallery has all this on file, but not next to the painting so it as great to hear it straight from the artist. The largest canvas was a depiction of the Stations of the Cross. She called this two- way art, which is a blending of white and Indigenous cultures. This was the canvas she won the prize for, so it was especially a thrill to share the experience of viewing it with her.

The girls then had a worksheet that asked them about their own family heritage and dreaming stories. Shirley was a great asset here as she knew so much history of the area and where most of the girls’ families came from. She was able to help them develop ideas that they could then incorporate into their artwork.

Court had finished by this time and Mabel arrived. The girls were each given a large sheet of cardboard and some crayons and were asked to begin sketching their ideas. Mabel and Shirley helped them greatly and for the remaining time the girls were absolutely absorbed in their work.

 Mike and his girls on his birthday

This morning we had a breakfast for Dave from Mirrilingki and Mike’s Birthday. We had about 20 for a BBQ brekky and it was once again a great sense of community.

For a surprise (it was a surprise to me too as I could not think of anything else to get him when you are so far from shops) I got Mike and I tickets for a joy flight over the Bungle Bungles. It is hard to believe The Bungles were not really known to many beyond the locals until the 1980’s. Bill Bryson in his book Down Under said about them “Think about it. One of the natural wonders of the world, covering an area the size of an English county, was essentially unknown and unvisited until twenty years ago.” It is only when you experience the true vastness of the Kimberley that you appreciate how this is possible. I think the pilot said the Bungles covers an area of 223 000 hectares. Before you even get to the Bungles, the landscape is awesome. There are a couple of enormous hills they call the ski slopes, and then a fault line that has fractured the Earth’s crust that is larger than the San Andreas fault in Los Angeles.

The Bungles themselves are a relatively soft sandstone (hence you are not allowed to climb on the massifs) that has been weathered into these patterns by the howling desert winds. The deep gorges and magnificent patterning on the rocks give it the sense that it is a place where time began millions of years ago, and nothing there has changed since.

We really struggle getting the High School students to step up and take leadership roles. This is for a number of reasons: firstly there is the shame factor that I have alluded to on other occasions, secondly they have so few role models of people actually demonstrating these skills (this is particularly so for the boys), thirdly, some of them lack any self-discipline so you never know what they will do and finally, when you are dealing with such poor literacy, getting even high school kids to read something out in front of people can be a real challenge.

With all these things against us, it was the High School’s turn to put on the school assembly. Michael and I spent this morning rehearsing what each was to say. As a special treat we were going to show the kids the video footage from last night’s Hip Hop concert of all the kids dancing. We also decided the High School would perform their rap song they wrote. This took a great deal of courage as for some these involved solos as they sang their verses.

Just as we were getting ready to go and do the assembly, a fight broke out between three of them, a boy who is obviously liked by 2 girls. There was screaming, foul language and tears and I thought great, so much for all the hard work. I got the boy to settle, sent home the worst behaved girl and we stalled the start of the assembly as the other girl calmed down and stopped crying. In the end it all went off very well and they were really proud of their efforts. One boy in particular who reads very well, we were most worried about him being involved as his behaviour is so strange. He deals with a psychologist as he is from such a disturbed background and he is so challenging to have in class. Well he performed so well that it was really the first time all year that we had been able to give him some positive reinforcement. The positive effect this had on him was great to see.

This afternoon we had the Child Protection Officer and her friend Rose coming for afternoon tea. As happens in a small community we ended up with 12 for dinner (trying to do the loaves and the fishes trick with the lamb chops) and as we were all sitting around the fire, the police did there patrol, saw our fire on and also joined us. We had not even met these 2 yet, but such is life in the country. 2 and ½ hours later they left. It was a quiet start to the night as all the locals had gone to Halls Creek for the football. They knew it would be livelier later so they took a chance to relax when they could. This community spirit will be the hardest thing to leave behind at the end of the year.

Today for our Arts lesson we rehearsed our Hip Hop routine for the concert tonight and then joined in with the last session of the boys’ workshop so we could put it all together. After 2 days of Hip Hopping I can tell you my thighs were aching and I found it hard to walk. Watching the boys’ Hip Hop is amazing. All the girls want to do is come out and shake their hips in a really suggestive fashion (which Michael the teacher says all the girls in Indigenous communities he visits do the same) whereas the boys moon walk, robot dance, do flips and really acrobatic things. After 2 days of me nagging about how sexually suggestive their dancing is and how much more interesting the boys were, they were beginning to try new moves. I was trying to empower them to take control and step outside the stereotype.

Also this afternoon we were taking home 2 of Juliette’s best friends here for 4 nights. Their mum, Rose, is one of our Aboriginal Teacher’s Aides and she was going to Sydney with Sister Theresa (she is the Josephite sister who has lived in this community in very humble lodgings for 30 years). They were attending meetings to discuss the work the Josephite’s do in Indigenous communities. Erin and Jackie are such beautiful little girls and Juliette loves their company.

We went to watch the concert and Juliette and Jackie joined in with the kids, but Erin was just too tired. Although the kids did not remember all the dance moves, they had so much fun it was fantastic.

All of this week we have had a group called Indigenous Hip Hop in our community working each afternoon with the kids and at nights teaching some of the adults to Salsa. They receive government funding to promote positive behaviours and involvement through the medium of Hip Hop dancing. Each day they had been working with various classes and today it was the turn of the High School Girls. We were to have an all day workshop with them. Michael, the leader and his two sons Jacob and Jerome were the most amazing dancers and acrobats I have ever seen perform.

 They began the session with a discussion about being brave enough to step up and stand out from the crowd for positive things. In Aboriginal culture it is considered shameful to draw attention to yourself. Unfortunately in the modern context this means no one is prepared to step up and show leadership skills. Consequently as the Elders die, the community has no leaders. We have no school captains and to get the students to be involved in anything is hard. It is interesting that for the first couple of weeks the girls were embarrassed when I praised them in class. This was soon overcome when I instituted the Student of the Day reward system. If a student gets this twice they are able to pick a prize from the prize box. Now they start asking me from around 9 am who will be student of the day.

It was important for the students to overcome their reluctance to step out and dance on their own, as Hip Hip dancing involves a battle. This is where the group stands around and claps to the music as individuals come out and show what they can do on the dance floor. The group cheers them on.

The morning session we were taught a routine, me included. I had to overcome my inhibitions as a means of encouraging some of the shyer students. It was great and very lively. The afternoon we wrote a class rap song and recorded it.

Each afternoon these guys worked with about 70 kids of all ages to teach them a routine and let them battle. They were working towards a community concert on Thursday night. I took Juliette down to join in the fun as her lesson at school was not until Friday. She proves the idea that white people just ain’t got rhythm. She had heaps of fun though.

Sorry I haven’t written for a few days but we have had so many people at our house over the last week that I was too tired to write. Also, the internet was dwon for the last couple of days.

Today began nearly a week of national testing, the NAPLAN tests for years 3,5,7 and 9. The tests were well beyond the scope of our students, but it was essential to have as many sit them as possible, for funding was given for those students who failed to make the national benchmarks. This would mean almost all of our students would qualify, so it was important to at least get them to put their names on a paper to say they had attempted them.  

It was sad to watch kids who could not read attempt these papers. Some got really angry and just left after a short period of time. The spelling section had words that were well beyond the scope of our students, and most could not identify the misspelt word in the sentence. I watched one student who cannot read, just go through and copy the incorrectly spelt word for every question. At least this paper had some multiple choice. The creative writing was a struggle for them. Faced with the challenge to write a story about a box, a number handed in a blank test or a couple of lines.

We are working hard to improve their knowledge, but when school attendance is so disrupted, and they arrive at school hungry, tired and often traumatized, their chances of learning are small indeed.

The Maths exams were extremely difficult, as our students had only learned to count into the hundreds at the start of the year, and on the exam were very complex, multistage problems. I just felt sorry for how these exams must make them feel about themselves.

Juliette received the ultimate honour today, she was given a skin name, Nangala. This is a complex system which places everyone in kinship to each other, different to the existing blood ties. In the traditional times, this regulated who you could speak to and marry. It meant that Juliette now had a number of  people she could call mum, sisters, bothers, aunties and uncles. Her skin name was determined by the first friend she made in the community. This was Katie Mosquito, so she was her sister, and her mum Leanne, who Aboriginal Liason Officer was her mum.

Tonight we were invited to a corroborree (or corrobitty as Juliette calls it). This was not a tourist event, but a genuine dance for a family to mark the end of their sorry time. Their son had died in a car accident on Mothers’ Day last year and so to mark the first anniversary, a corroborree was held where the men of the family did their traditional dances and the women chanted. This was held out at Bow River and so we had the 30km drive at night into the place. We do not usually drive at night due to the number of animals on the road so we took it very slowly, not wanting to collect a scrub bull on the way.

This was probably one of the few events we had been to that reflected their traditional life. Before the dancing began all the kids and dogs were running around like crazy. It was good to see Juliette join in as these children were from our school and she knew most of them. When it began, the women of the family thanked everyone for joining them and talked about their sorrow. They tried to make the kids behave and show respect but they had absolutely no effect. Any wonder we have trouble with them! The dances told of traditional stories, including one where they all fell to the ground dead, which told of an event where a group was poisoned by white fellas. Many of our male students were involved in the dancing.

Today we spent the morning at the Ord Valley Muster markets, which run during the month of May, then doing our grocery shopping at Coles and tried a new butcher. As we were not heading home until tomorrow we used a friends freezer to freeze all our meat  (it had been packed in meal sized portions) and kept the air conditioner going during the day in our cabin to keep the fruit and vegies fresh. Kununurra was absolutely bustling as we are coming to the height of the tourist season. When we saw how many cars were in town, we made sure our shopping was completed today. Already many stocks were depleted and I imagine by tomorrow there would be very little fresh fruit and vegies left. I also purchased extra produce to use as incentives for class. Miss Neisha had great success with the carrot and celery sticks. After the diabetes talk last week, I decided to pass on the lolly prizes.

Lunch we spent with our friends, Lyn and Col from Sydney and then at 4pm we headed off with our picnic tea to a paddock for the Kimberley Moonlight concert, the signature event of the festival. This began around 4pm and continued until around midnight. As the sun set, a beautiful full moon rose over Lake Kununurra. The entertainment was excellent, with the Darwin Army Band, a real surprise. They had some lead singers in long sequin dresses who belted out songs from the blues Brothers, Elvis, the Supremes and Arethra Franklin. The best act was a local WA group called Blue Shaddy, whose blues and harmonica talents had the crowd in a frenzy. As each successive act came on the music got louder, but alas after so much dancing Juliette crashed on the rug at 9.15 just as the Hoodoo Gooroos came on.

Today I had the same students as yesterday but they were completely different. They worked really hard on their Math’s and successfully completed the literacy group work. As we only have one hour after recess on a Friday I let them colour a complex picture that we then mounted on black cardboard as part of a Mothers’ Day present. As they were all so well behaved I said they could all be my “student of the day” and from the prize box I chose a selection of items that they wrapped as a gift for their mothers. It was hard to believe that the same students could behave so completely different on two consecutive days.

This afternoon we headed to Kununurra as the month of May sees the start of the Ord Valley Muster, the local community festival. This includes three weeks of great activities. We were going to a big concert tomorrow night. Friends of mine from Sydney, Lynne and Col Samany and their sons Thomas and Alex were catching up with us this weekend. They were doing a holiday from Darwin to Broome and they planned their stay in Kununurra to coincide with the concert.

We were going to catch up with them tonight, but they missed the Katherine Gorge tour by about 5 minutes yesterday afternoon so they did that this morning and consequently got away later than expected. We headed to the Country Club for the Friday poolside Pizza night and a number of our friends who are teachers from Kununurra were there sharing a drink. With them was our delightful priest Alastair MacIntosh who had been filling in for us until a new priest could be found. He was from Deniliquin in south western NSW and had come out of retirement for his stint up here. He was a great priest whose sermons were really enjoyable as he spoke in a simple yet heartfelt manner. It was a tough job for anyone as the parish encompassed Wyndham, Kununurra and Warmun, so the weekend was pretty much spent on the road.

The teachers from Kununurra had a colleague die unexpectedly this week. Mary was apparently a wonderfully giving lady and they were all still reeling from the loss. Belinda, who did the Induction course with had arrived part way through last year from Tasmania. She was a beginning teacher and had 2 young children and she told us how Mary had taken her under her wing and gave her a great deal of support.  Belinda’s daughter Molly and Juliette had become good friends and spent the evening rearranging the garden stones in the poolside garden.