Why Warriors lie down and die - Speech at launch by Djiniynini Gondarra

Speech by Rev Dr Djiniyini Gondarra

From the national launch of Why Warriors Lie Down and Die in Sydney on Thursday 26 October at Australia's Northern Territory & Outback Centre, Darling Harbour

As Chief Executive Officer of the Aboriginal Resource and Development Services I want to welcome everyone who has taken the time to be here on this very special occasion. I must pay tribute to the elders of the Eora people whose land we are meeting on.
And a special welcome to Dr Evelyn Scott and to Ray Martin, to members of the media and of course to Witiyana Marika for performing that great song line for us. And also to my colleague Wamut, Richard Trudgen who wrote this book.

Let me say first that many books have been written about the Yolngu people of Arnhem Land. This one is very different. It speaks about the real situation that we face everyday, a reality that is hard for people of another culture to imagine. This reality is now easier for everyone to understand because of this book.

Four years ago I asked Wamut Richard to take some time out from his busy schedule and try and write something that would explain some of the pain and confusion that Yolngu people suffer. We were not sure if it was possible to put it into a book in a way that would make sense to readers. Not only has Wamut Richard done this, he has gone on to explain the role that other Australians can play in helping us overcome these problems. This was the other part of the job that I gave him. Good job mate.

By writing the book the way he has, I can see he has listened more to the voice of the elders of Arnhem Land than to the criticism that has come to him in the past or will come in the future. It is hard sometimes to write about the truth but again mate you have done it.

The situation in Arnhem Land is in a very bad way. In the 1970's we thought we would get some independence as we took over from the mission and as 'Land Rights' were given to us. But now there are more non-Aboriginal people than ever in Arnhem Land and we seem to be losing control of everything.

Our young people are confused and are not interested in learning our law anymore. Their confusion is about how the modern world works, the world of non-Aboriginal people. It is not our culture so to us it is very strange. All the young people seem to be interested in now is taking drugs. Many of them are now committing suicide, which just breaks the spirit of whole communities. Again, this is not part of our culture - so where does it come from?

Many Yolngu elders have given up saying, "It's just too hard to understand the white man's world." Some have even gone mad trying to understand it. Other Yolngu adults have gone to Western education hoping to learn how the modern world works. They get their Certificate, but they are still confused. Many walk away and just get drunk - again thinking the white man's world is impossible to understand.
You see we have been conquered in many ways. Our minds have been conquered along with our lands. As a Yolngu man I can understand the confusion of our people because I have lived a lifetime of it. Wamut, Richard is the only white man that I know of who has understood this confusion and together with us has found ways to break through it. But he is just one man. We need others to commit their lives to learn our language, law and cultural ways so we can have more people to help us fight this difficult battle together.

The book is written so that many will know how to support in a helpful way. It is written around the health and education problems we are having. It explains why so many programs are not working. It gives the history of how Yolngu people have moved from economic independence when we traded with our Macassan neighbours, to where dependency is now one of our biggest diseases.

Then the book gives some direction. Not just some theory, but true direction based on what we know works on the ground with the people in everyday situations.

Wamut Richard has learnt well from our Yolngu universities - or what people usually just call "ceremonies". We now use that information to teach contemporary knowledge in the areas of health, economics and law.

I hope this book will make a real difference so that Yolnqu people can stand tall - as equals with other Australians.

This book speaks of our struggle - I invite all Australians to read it.