KUNMANGGUR , LEGEND AND LEADERSHIP A STUDY OF INDIGENOUS LEADERSHIP AND SUCCESSION FOCUSSING ON THE NORTHWEST REGION OF THE NORTHERN TERRITORY OF AUSTRALIA Bill Ivory Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Charles Darwin University 2009 Declaration This is to certify that this thesis comprises only my original work towards the Ph.D., except where indicated, that due acknowledgement has been made in the text to all other materials used, and that this thesis is less than 100,000 words in length excluding Figures, Tables and Appendices. Bill Ivory 2009 ii Acknowledgements I wish to thank my supervisors Kate Senior, Diane Smith and Will Sanders. They have been extremely supportive throughout this research process with their expert advice, enthusiasm and encouragement. A core group of Port Keats leaders supported this thesis project. They continually encouraged me to record their stories for the prosperity of their people. These people included Felix Bunduck, Laurence Kulumboort, Bernard Jabinee, Patrick Nudjulu, Leo Melpi, Les Kundjil, Aloyisius Narjic, Bede Lantjin, Terence Dumoo, Ambrose Jongmin. Mathew Pultchen, Gregory Mollinjin, Leo Melpi, Cassima Narndu, Gordon Chula and many other people. Sadly, some of these leaders passed away since the research commenced and I hope that this thesis is some recognition of their extraordinary lives. Boniface Perdjert, senior traditional owner and leader for the Kardu Diminin clan was instrumental in arranging for me to attend ceremonies and provided expert information and advice. He was also, from the start, very keen to support the project. Leon Melpi told me one day that he and his middle-aged generation are „anthropologists‟ and he is right. They are continually seeking information and knowledge about their own culture. At the same time, they are also willing teachers. I thank him, Tobias Nganbe, Matthias Nemarluk, Gerald Longmair, Cassima Narndu, Timothy Dumoo, Adrian Lantjin, Aloyisius Kungul and the other men of this kardu kake, middle-aged generation. iii Aloyisius Narjic, Tobias Nganbe, Gerald Longmair and David Timber assisted with a cultural edit of this thesis. Their knowledge and understanding of „both worlds‟ was invaluable and their involvement is gratefully acknowledged. Mark Crocombe and the Kanamkek-Yile Ngala Museum provided information and material. I thank Mark and his team and hope I have been able to provide some assistance to them as well. Their dedication and the service they provide in recording the history of the region is invaluable. I thank Carol and my family for their support. Carol and my daughter Lauren came on various trips with me to country owned by Port Keats people and were able to observe firsthand the skills, knowledge and hospitality of the people. My parents, Mick and Audrey, came to the Territory at a relatively early stage of their lives and worked tirelessly throughout in order to provide opportunities for myself, my brother Peter and sisters Toni and Natalie. They always encouraged us to accept people for who they are, to get on with others, and to attempt to achieve our full potential. This thesis is dedicated to them and the Territory pioneers for their, often unrecognised, achievements. Ted Evans, one of the first patrol officers in the Territory, acted as an enthusiastic mentor to me from my very early years in Darwin and Maningrida. Les Penhall, Creed Lovegrove, Jack Larcombe and others were always willing advisers. Jack Doolan, Trevor Milikins, Graham Castine, Ray Hempel, Bill Gray, Kirk Whelan, Tony Tapsell, Neil Westbury, Neville Jones, Peter Ritchie, Roger Brailsford and other patrol officers of a bygone era have always iv supported each other in our attempts to achieve some academic credibility to complement our experience in the field. I thank them for their ongoing companionship. Some have passed on to greener pastures after devoting a significant proportion of their lives to the Territory and its people. I have been able to discuss various aspects of this thesis with other researchers such as John Taylor, Manu Barcham, Kim Johnstone, Elizabeth Ganter and Bentley James. John Taylor accompanied me on some of the trips and I have heard his stories many times over – they still manage to get a laugh. Alberta Furlan was a mainstay of support for my research, particularly during the early period. I thank them all. Rick Bliss and John Marchant provided good company, a drink, and a place to sleep at Wadeye, on many occasions. My old mate, Kevin Wanganeen accompanied me during many field trips over the years in the Port Keats area. As a team, we attended various cultural events, ceremonies, meetings, and important occasions. I also thank Harold Anderson and his family for their friendship over the years. I had the opportunity to work with John Taylor collecting demographic and other material on the Port Keats region. He has always been available to answer and discuss my many queries. Terry and Lesley Bullemor, Dale and Desley Seaniger, Mandy Leggatt, Sean Bowden and families during my research time at Wadeye have been an integral part of the „Port Keats‟ journey. I thank them for their passion, enthusiasm and dedication to the cause, and importantly, their company. Xavier Desmarchelier‟s important early research and workshops with the Port Keats people provided great insight into the history of the area and gave a focus v for the community during difficult times. Xavier was willing to assist me with my many queries and I thank him for his commitment and dedication. Dominic McCormack has been a great „sounding board‟, friend and confidant on matters relating to language, culture and the region. Kim Barber with his expert knowledge of the people and region gave me sound advice. I utilised Allen Marett‟s information on the Wangga to substantiate my own data in many instances. I benefitted from brief conversations with Linda Barwick and Lys Ford on their invaluable research in the region. Colleagues and staff at Charles Darwin University, Menzies School of Health Research, Centre for Aboriginal and Islander Economic Policy Research, ANU and the North Australian Research Unit, ANU provided various expertise and resources to the project and I thank them for their cooperation and support. Professor Jon Altman, Janet Hunt, Stephanie Garling and my colleagues at CAEPR, ANU have willingly provided advice, critiques and assistance. Leslie Murray has provided expert assistance in editing and proofreading. Richard Chenhall provided encouragement, feedback and advice particularly during the latter phase of this project. I am very grateful to all of these people and organisations. Professor Stephen Cornell, University of Arizona, provided excellent advice as I attempted to interpret the bases of leadership at Port Keats. Government colleagues such as Annette Fuller, Gayle de la Cruz, Brian Stacey and others worked with great zeal on the various development projects at Port Keats, often with little public recognition. Likewise, the Northern Territory Police are rarely recognised for the important and difficult work they perform. I thank them for their assistance and in particular, I vi thank Dean McMasters and Shane Taylor for their friendship, cooperation, and their desire to positively engage with the Port Keats people. Local Port Keats people such as Geraldine Jabinee, Noeline Dungul, Thadeus Dartinga and Ethelreda Dartinga worked on projects such as the Thamarrurr community census. They took me onto their country and told stories about their people, ancestors, places and the reverence they hold for it. Gemma Dumoo and others explained matters related to people and country further north. Thanks to Father Leo for his support particularly with the census data. I thank the Ellis, Maher, Wade, and Dodson families for „looking after‟ me in days gone by, often in difficult circumstances. Thanks to Paddy for initially showing me around Port Keats in the 1970s. I also thank Father Leary, Brother Kinnane, Brother Merrett, Brother Howley and the other Catholic missionaries for their help particularly during the early days. I am grateful to Mrs Patricia Stanner for granting me access to W. E. H. Stanner‟s unpublished papers, and AIATSIS Library staff for assisting this process. The Port Keats people and their leaders are amongst the most resolute, humble, proud, and resilient groups I have ever met. These characteristics have enabled them to meet all challenges so far and will assist them as they go forth. I hope that this thesis may provide a better understanding of these people, their culture and their determination to be rightfully recognised as Australian leaders. vii Abstract This thesis explores how Indigenous leadership in Australia is constructed and maintained. Through an analysis of institutionalised forms of leadership, it unwraps how hunter-gatherer type leadership is interpreted from a Western perspective. Such interpretation has been problematic and recent political events in Australia have once again, challenged the authenticity and resilience of Indigenous leadership. By utilising a case study of the Port Keats region, the people and its history, the thesis investigates how Indigenous people have recast their mental constructs in order to perceive, interpret and relate to contemporary political, social and economic issues. It examines and describes the way that Indigenous people have created social realities that enable intercultural engagement and the ability to get things done. Detailed individual and group accounts of lives and events augment and enhance such analysis. The adjustments made by Indigenous people have been an ongoing process transpiring since first contact and acted out in various forms, including resistance and hostility. I describe a leadership model based on nodal and networked foundations and deference to others. I argue that the opportunity to understand, interact and engage positively with Indigenous leadership forms stands firm, and I propose a heuristic framework that may aid and assist such ongoing comprehension, understanding and mutual interdependence.