Culturally sensitive and confidential material not to be reproduced without permission of the author. Action Research to Build the Capacity of Nyikina Indigenous Australians Anne Poelina Master of Arts (Indigenous Social Policy): The University of Technology, Sydney Master of Education (Research): Curtin University of Technology, WA Master of Public Health and Tropical Medicine: James Cook University, North Queensland Graduate Diploma in Education Studies (Aboriginal Education): Armidale College of Advanced Education (now University of New England), NSW Associate Diploma in Health Education: Western Australian College of Advanced Education (now Edith Cowan University) Registered Nurse: Western Australian School of Nursing A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy of the University of New England December 2008 Culturally sensitive and confidential material – not to be reproduced without permission of the author. Acknowledgements I am grateful to Dr David Plummer who was my principal supervisor in the early period of my study. David inspired me to continue learning and to think from multiple perspectives. I thank Dr Jeanne Madison, Head of School of Health who continued to encourage me when she took on the role of principal supervisor, following David’s international posting. I acknowledge Dr Myfanwy Maple, School of Health as a supervisor with new ideas and a structure that moved the writing of the study into its final format. I also appreciate the assistance of Dr Helen Edwards, School of Education who provided the technical guidance which enabled me to finalise this research project. To my friend and colleague, Colleen Hattersley, who provided invaluable editorial comment, all the while reinforcing in me the importance our collective narrative on Nyikina resilience and resourcefulness. I am indebted to my true partner, teacher and friend Ian Perdrisat who provided continuous guidance and mentoring in both my community and academic practice; endlessly, reading and critiquing my research with every draft change, challenging my thinking, loving and supporting me, working constructively with me to get there in the end. -2- Culturally sensitive and confidential material – not to be reproduced without permission of the author. Dedication This thesis is dedicated to the continuing cultural actions of Nyikina people championed through the words of my uncle, John Watson, when he was Chairman of the Kimberley Land Council. Aboriginal people in the Kimberley have been consistent about what we mean by Self Determination. It means to us the right to own our land, to control what happens on our land, to practise our culture freely with the certainty of passing on to our children our culture and law, and the ability to control through our own organisations those services that are provided to us by governments. The colonial structure of the Kimberley retards the region’s economic progress and keeps Aboriginal people in poverty … we want to develop local economic initiatives so that we can free ourselves from the dependence and control of governments (J Watson in Crough & Christophersen 1993:1). Under the leadership of my uncles John and Harry Watson, our family continues to hold strong to our collective vision for a better world along the Mardoowarra kandri for our children and grandchildren. -3- Culturally sensitive and confidential material – not to be reproduced without permission of the author. Abstract Indigenous Australian people in the remote West Kimberley region of Western Australia experience extreme disadvantage as a legacy from 128 years of European colonial rule. I bring to this study a unique insider perspective as a Yimardoowarra marnin, an Indigenous woman from the Mardoowarra, Fitzroy River, researching local people and communities. This research has been a deep personal and shared journey with the Nyikina people, as we made meaning of both the construction of disadvantage and strategies to reduce the impact of disadvantage in the West Kimberley. Utilization of a cultural action research framework, with mixed methods of data collection, opened up an understanding of Indigenous disadvantage and strategies to overcome it in one particular context. Narratives of the Elders and other Nyikina people, plus multiple information sources, identified that the processes of systemic racism, established during the early colonial period, have evolved to maintain an endemic state of structural violence. This process has been responsible for the overwhelming disadvantage experienced by Indigenous people in the West Kimberley. -4- Certification I certify that the substance of this thesis has not already been submitted for any degree and is not currently being submitted for any other degree or qualification. I certify that any help received in preparing this thesis, and all sources used, have been acknowledged in this thesis. Anne Poelina 5 Culturally sensitive and confidential material – not to be reproduced without permission of the author. Table of Contents Acknowledgements ............................................................................... 2 Dedication ............................................................................................... 3 Abstract ................................................................................................... 4 Certification ............................................................................................ 5 Glossary of terms ................................................................................. 14 Figures Figure 1. Historical legal and policy framework for Aboriginal citizenship ................. 38 Figure 2. Five Phases of Nyikina Cultural Action ....................................................... 128 Figure 3. Concept Plan of the Nyikina Cultural Centre .............................................. 243 Figure 4. Proposed Nyikina Inc. Organisational Structures ....................................... 258 Maps Map 1. Geography of Derby-West Kimberley ............................................................... 20 Map 2. Nyikina Land in the Kimberley .......................................................................... 60 Map 3. Nyikina and near Neighbours ......................................................................... 188 Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................... 16 1.1 Background ........................................................................................................... 17 1.2 Research Setting ................................................................................................... 19 1.3 Context of the study .............................................................................................. 21 1.3.1 Historical context of Nyikina People .......................................................... 21 -6- Culturally sensitive and confidential material – not to be reproduced without permission of the author. 1.3.2 Contemporary Context ................................................................................ 22 1.4 Significance of the study ....................................................................................... 26 1.5 Conceptual Framework ....................................................................................... 27 1.6 Research Aim ........................................................................................................ 28 1.7 Research Objectives.............................................................................................. 28 1.8 Thesis Chapter Outlines ....................................................................................... 29 Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................. 34 2.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................... 34 2.2 Historical Context of Colonisation ..................................................................... 35 2.2.1 Scientific Racism ......................................................................................... 39 2.2.2 The Colonial Experience of Western Australia ........................................... 40 2.2.3 Indigenous Australian Slavery .................................................................... 45 2.2.4 The Construction of Indigenous Disadvantage ........................................... 48 2.2.5 Indigenous Disadvantage in the Kimberley region of Western Australia........................................................................................ 55 2.3 Nyikina People of the Mardoowarra ................................................................. 58 2.3.1 Impact of Colonisation on Nyikina People .................................................. 62 2.3.2 Understanding the Intergenerational Trauma of Nyikina People through the experience of the Watson family .............................................. 82 2.4 Contemporary Context of Colonisation ............................................................. 82 -7- Culturally sensitive and confidential material – not to be reproduced without permission of the author. 2.5 Oppression against Indigenous Australians ..................................................... 84 2.5.1 Anti-Dialogic Action .................................................................................... 85 2.5.2 Dialogic Action ...........................................................................................