Daguragu community meeting, 13 May 1999 - notes
The Daguragu Community was set up after the Walk-Off in 1967. The Walpiri people live at Kalkaringi and the Gurindji people live at Daguragu.
Most of the community resources are located at Kalkaringi although the CDEP program operates from Daguragu. The primary school is located at Kalkaringi. There is no secondary school. Children wanting to continue to secondary school are sent away to Kormilda College or Yirara College. One child is engaged in secondary education in Kalkaringi through correspondence school.
Access to education
"Most of the children here do nothing. We need to tell everyone in Australia that we need to look into education here because there is no secondary education. Our kids have a primary school at Kalkaringi, but they don't have a high school. So they go to Kormilda or Yirara and then they get homesick. They come back and then they do nothing. We are looking to the parents to push this issue because they are the ones with concern for the kids."
"When these kids get to another college they get mixed up with Walpiri people and they start fighting. That's no good. We're not like white people. You have your kids over there and you have your school for them and the kids have got to go right through school. But here, everybody is sent away to Kormilda or Yirara."
"If we had a district school we would want our kids to go to the local primary school here and then we would like them to go to Katherine so that they can be together."
"We want our school at Katherine to be a boarding school that our kids could stay at. Katherine is very close. It would be the best place for the school. There are Gurindji people living in Katherine and so it is better for our kids. Yirara is too far away for us to see our children."
"If the children are homesick it is only a four hour drive from here to see them. And there is family there. The Gurindji and the Walpiri people who live in Katherine are family. When the kids are in Katherine we have people and family travelling there all the time. They feel closer to their family and their traditional land."
"In the past our children used to go to Alice Springs for School, but they don't go there now."
"My daughter needs to be close to me. When she was at Kormilda it was too far away. She needs to be with me. It takes too long to get plane tickets to bring the homesick children home. Then when they are home they worry about getting back to school though sometimes this takes weeks."
Attendance
"We have a good primary school here but there is poor attendance. I think the idea of working towards getting a high school is good and worthy, but I think we've got to work towards getting them to a high school standard first. We need to work together with the school and the community to improve this situation, we have to make more of the opportunity that we have. We have an excellent facility at the school as I understand. To me it seems like a tragedy that we have a good school here but it is not being used to anything like its full capacity. Talking about getting kids to high school is a bit of a dream if we can't get them to Year 6 or 7."
Schooling away from home
"Children are sent away from home for their secondary schooling due to social reasons and also so that the children can have the opportunity to engage in sport."
"In some cases girls of 12, 13, and 14 are sent away from the community to avoid a promised marriage to an older man. This can cause tension in the community."
Disability
"There is one child from the Daguragu community with special needs. He is participating in mainstream classes with a special education teacher. The child has learned how to sign."
"Ear and eye problems are common amongst the children in Daguragu. Hearing is tested through the school. Trachoma is also evident in the community."
School incentive programs
"The Land Council is planning a meeting of parents with school age children. The school wants to work with the Land Council and the community to develop incentive programs through recreation. Other incentives may include privileges through education such as access to the shop. Children not attending school would be denied access to the shop."
Community concerns
Participants at the meetings in both Daguragu and Kalkaringi discussed issues relating to cultural disjuncture between school life and community life. The Western system of schooling is in many respects at odds with traditional Aboriginal life. Thirteen to fourteen year old people are considered adults in some Aboriginal communities. These young people may have been through ceremony, and some may have children of their own. Within their home community these young people may be participating in community life as young adults.
Western value systems and Western education reinforce the notion that at this age group, young people are not yet adults. The structures of discipline, paternalism and control can be very insulting to young people who may consider themselves adults.
Literacy levels are very low amongst the children in the community. There are many skilled people in their 30s and 40s in the community but the community is concerned that there is a lack of skilled young people to take over the leadership roles. Community elders fear the loss of Aboriginalisation of the community. They fear that the traditional ways will be eroded if leadership does not emerge through the younger people.
Last updated 2 December 2001.
