"Much trouble has come from people forgetting the land.."

Nganyinytja

Nganyinytja is an elder of the Pitjantjatjara people of Central Australia. The Australian aboriginal people have lived in harmony with this huge and mainly desert continent for many thousands of years. They know the secrets of the land and they respect and care for it.



Here Nganyinytja speaks to Diana James about her understanding of the law of the land, and of her vision of sharing her knowledge with the wider community of Australia and of the world.




	"Much trouble has come from people forgetting the land, the spirit.
Many people are sick and have lost their spirit. The white government has
cut their culture; we grieve for them. But we can all learn and make our
spirit strong. My teaching is about opening your spirit, working together
to build understanding. Opening our way, opening our hearts to share the
spirit of the land with all who want to learn.



		Reconciliation means bringing two cultures together: maru munu piranpa
tjun-gurin-ganyi, black and white coming together. The two laws need
to become one to keep the land. We, the Pitjantjatjara people, have always
kept our land and looked after it and made it grow.




	At first white people did not understand us, they shot the black fella
and the black fella speared the white fella. I do not speak badly of those
people who do not understand. I want to teach all people, black and white,
about the land and our way of living with it. Ignorance is the reason for
a lot of racism. If people will listen to our way, they will understand
why we live in the country of our grandparents and why we must have strong
land rights. If people lose their land, their law is broken and their spirit
dies.








		Anangu Tjukurpa (Aboriginal law) needs to be kept strong. On Pitjantjatjara
land our council keeps the land rights law strong. If people wish to come
and learn our way, they can come on a trip to my homeland Angatja. My family
runs a bush college teaching our law and lifestyle. Many people come ignorant
of our way, wanting to learn. Office workers, teachers, doctors, nurse.
Aboriginal people from the cities come to learn - those whose land and culture
have been taken away from them. It makes me very sad to hear of what they
have lost.



		Now lots of people, black and white, are wanting to learn about the old
law, from our grandmothers and grandfathers. People are happy to learn from
me and my family. We are happy to share our way and pleased that they are
taking back this new knowledge to their homes and teaching others. We need
to keep the cultures strong, need the two laws to work together. All people
whose hearts are open to understanding each other's culture should come
together. We can work to increase the understanding and open-hearted acceptance
of each other. Kulintja tjuta pakakni kuwari - many people who listen
with understanding are rising up now. They want to keep the culture, ours
and theirs, keep the two ways strong.



		The Mabo decision is good. The land is the centre of culture and spirit
for Aboriginal people. Those people whose land was taken from them, where
the big cities like Sydney and Adelaide were built, those people need to
be helped. They need land for their culture and spirit to be strong again.



		White people need to understand Aboriginal law and that Tjukurpa
is in the land. People need to not just talk mining, money, cars and cattle.
They need to open their hearts, let the wind that blows across my country
talk to them. Understand that anangu maru are alive and living on
our land, looking after it as our grandmothers and grandfathers did, following
the law.




	
	People need to realise that we all share the same spirit that comes from
God and from the earth."





(translated by Diana James, who is writing Nganyinytja's biography)











See also~ Diana James writes a fascinating acount of the experience of participating in
Nganyinytja's open air college in the Central Desert.






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