2014 Cultural Immersion Camp - A Reflection by Richard Fejo
There was a lot of excitement and build up surrounding the 2014 Cultural Immersion Camps. This year they were held at Tarntipi Homelands on Bathurst Island and hosted by the Traditional Owner Mr Edward “Teddy” Portaminni with his wife Mrs Teresia Portaminni and family. Cultural Educator Elisabeth Heenan is Teddy’s Sister-in-Law and was paramount in negotiations between NTGPE and Teddy to host this year’s camps.
I was feeling super excited about mixing with and learning from the Tiwi people. I wondered ‘could it actually be that different from the old ways in Darwin that I remember’. I reflected on this over a few days as my anticipation built up prior to departure.
In the build up to this year’s camp there was also keen interest to attend by our GPRs and I could see how this was affecting Elisabeth in the days before the camp. Both the excitement and the pride of hosting the camp was generating so much anticipation in Elisabeth that closer to the day she was ringing around wanting everything to be perfect for the camp and all of their effort certainly paid off.
Elizabeth, Garry Lambert (NTGPE’s Executive Manager Support Services) and Paul Bubb (Cultural Immersion Camp Coordinator) flew out to Wurumiyanga on the Wednesday for final preparations. I was to meet the GPRs at Fly Tiwi early the next morning where on arrival I was instructed by Paul to hand out folders containing the activity schedule and readings for the camp. The participants turned up one-by-one and were rewarded with the honour of first (NTGPE’s Marketing and Communications Officer Lisa Taylor), second (Dr Mindy Crowe), third (Dr Mick Tong), four (Dr Suzanne Conden) and last (Dr Iyngaranathan Selvaratnam) place as I played ‘The Amazing Race’ with them.
The flight with Fly Tiwi produced some stunning views of Darwin and the Tiwi Islands. The GPRs were in awe, which was shown by the fact that everyone had their cameras out to take photos for the whole flight! We were greeted by Elizabeth, Garry and Paul, who drove us out to the Tarntipi Homelands and our campsite for the next two nights. A welcoming Teddy and family were met and Teddy did a ‘Welcome to Country’ that called out to his ancestors to allow his visitors safe passage. ‘Welcome to Country’ is significant to all Indigenous people and seeing Teddy call out to his ancestors in Tiwi language and explain what he was doing brought a nice ease over the group.
Our first task once arriving was to set up – this included putting up tents in separate women’s and gentlemen’s camps (that took a while, not the easiest to put together!), the kitchen station, the rustic shower cubicle and the temporary toilet block. After a good workout and a sandwich or two, we all went to the beautiful local beach where the women headed through the mangroves to hunt for mud mussels and mangrove worms and the men searched for spears. I tried a mangrove worm for the first time later that day, which tasted like oyster but had the feel of squid. I was relieved that I had achieved my goal of trying something new.
Later I taught the GPRs the desert kinship through role plays and then Teddy told us about the kinship of the Tiwi people in the late afternoon. Prior to a hearty meal of stew and a barbeque cooked by Paul and Garry the women and men separately visited the freshwater waterhole nearby for a refreshing swim. The evening was filled with singing and reflections of the day and finally everyone headed to bed with heavy eyes.
The next morning involved heading off early to the Health Centre for a scheduled Prevocational General Practical Placement Program (PGPPP) teleconference. While I was dialling into this the GPRs visited the Mulakunya Flexible Aged Care Services and once the teleconference was completed I met the GPRs to tour the Julanimawu Health Centre and then Tiwi Art and Design and a quick look around the community.
Once returning to the camp site in the afternoon the women had a chance to try basket weaving while the men checked the crab pots (no luck!) and worked on their spears. A surprise for the late afternoon was joining in on the collection of ‘sugar bag’ honey. It was a special treat for us all; everyone enjoyed sampling the sweet honey that could not be matched by any supermarket bought honey. It was also a real pleasure to see the excitement on the local kids’ faces as they raced to get a feed. The night ended with a big meal cooked by the GPRs, toasting marshmallows (thanks to me managing to grab the last bag at the local supermarket that day), reflecting on the day and then some of us finishing by possum hunting (it escaped us).
Our last morning involved packing up camp and saying our farewells. The flight home with Fly Tiwi was just as spectacular as the one across; however all of us had heavy hearts that we were leaving the Tiwi Islands and our new found Tiwi friends in Teddy and family. Without a doubt, all of us will be back and will be welcomed with open arms.
Thank you to Elizabeth, Garry and Paul on making the camp a success, as well as to Teddy and his family for such a wonderful experience and teaching us about Tiwi life.