Nulla Wimila Kutju Regional Council

We will promote unity and equity for us all, working together to achieve self reliance, preserving, respecting and recognising our land and culture, creating a future where we can live in peace, being proud of our heritage and committed to sharing the prosperity of this land.

A little more than 150 years ago this, our Land, was managed according to Aboriginal Law. There were no mining activities, sheep stations or towns.

The land was divided into areas, the boundaries of which were known, not through the placement of fences but through careful descriptions which were handed from one generation to the next through the Dreamings. Each area was managed by a particular or extended family group, membership of which was determined by parentage based on a complex kinship system.

The traditional custodians did not consider themselves owners of the land, more the opposite, the land owned them. They were responsible for the management and maintenance of the land during their life on earth. It was also their responsibility to ensure that the methods of management and maintenance passed from one generation to the next. Contentment in old age was achieved by ensuring things were done properly during the course of one's life. Responsibility for the management and maintenance of the land involved hunting and gathering for plant and animal foods in a manner that did not deplete the resources. It meant burning regularly to ensure regeneration of plant species. It also meant performing the correct ceremonies and dances and learning the correct song lines to ensure a proper knowledge of the area.

The attitudes and beliefs of Aboriginal ancestors meant that everyone had enough work to do, young people were properly educated to look after their land and Aboriginal people had good health. There was no crime as is today.

The land picture was very different from today. There were no cattle, no sheep, no goats, no rabbits and no cats. Erosion problems were minimal. Careful use and management of the land not only ensured the survival of our people but also the survival of the land.

The arrival of non-Aboriginal people began to change all of these things. Initially these changes were small but as increasing numbers of other people began to settle in the region, changes became more rapid. The newcomers knew little of our culture or indeed of Aboriginal people. They saw Aboriginals as people without material possessions and in most cases they refocused to acknowledge our management or ownership rights over land. The newcomers' notions of land ownerships and rights were very different to those of the traditional owners. This created tensions.

These tensions created misunderstandings and the victims of this misunderstanding were invariably our people. The consequence of this for Aboriginals was the loss of our rights to the land. It was the land that other people wanted and the fact that Aboriginal people could not effectively communicate or display our ownership rights in ways that those other people could understand meant that we began to lose our land.

It has been documented that land ownership, its maintenance and management are central themes of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and when Indigenous people are dispossessed of their land or dispersed from areas they traditionally inhabited, other aspects of their culture become much more difficult to maintain. The effects of colonisation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander lands by other people and the detrimental consequences of that colonisation are the subject of many of the strategies in the Regional Plan designed to restore our position to one that is in tune with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures.

The majority of Indigenous people who now reside within the region are descendants of traditional custodians of the land and therefore are traditional custodians themselves. It is their country by birthright. Despite the fact that this is still acknowledged by most other people, the traditional custodians are keen to see that this situation is corrected.

With the advent of non-Aboriginal intervention into Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Societies, the pure traditional culture that was known 150 years ago, began to change at that time. Today Aboriginal people of the Nulla Wimila Kutju Region have evolved from a totally traditional people into a group that confronts the modern western type world but still hold strong links with their cultural customs of the past.

Goals

1: Communication
Create strong and consistent communications links throughout the Region.

2: Partnerships/Network
Develop and foster partnerships and networking arrangements with other agencies.

3: Social Needs
Continuously improve and monitor services provided to meet the important social needs in our Region.

4: Community Development
Support and encourage communities to develop their skills in community planning and responding to individual community needs.

5: Leadership
Continue to develop the Regional Council as effective representatives for us all.

6: Housing
Increase the quality and quantity of housing in the Region.

7: Self Reliance
Encourage our people to develop income ventures.

8: Education and Employment
Create increased opportunities for meaningful education and employment.

9: Land
Protect our land and coastline and acquire it for traditional, cultural, recreational and business purposes.

10: Heritage and Culture
Preserve and promote our heritage and culture (traditional and contemporary). Put in place critical needs of the Region for adequate infrastructure.

12: Law and Justice
Continue to support the recommendation of the Aboriginal 'Death's in Custody' report.

13: Health
Support the expansion of health services in our Region.