Language
groups and homelands
There
are 7 recognisable language groups, namely the Ayapathu, Kaanju
(Northern and Southern), Olkala, Umpila, Lamalama and Wik-Mungkan. The
traditional lands or Homelands of these groups extend for a roughly
100 km radius around Coen. Today there are Outstations or settlements
on these Homelands named Glengarland (South), Stoney
Creek, Blue Mountain and Chuula (North), Puntimu, Yintjintgga (also known as Silver
Plains), Mojeeba and Theethinji to the East. Meripah homeland (West) has been incorporated into a National Park. See Chuulangun
for an example of Homeland development.
After the "Frontier War"
Displaced by miners and graziers, most of the inland native people adapted
by moving onto cattle stations or around mining camps to find work and
survive. (Those in coastal areas mostly moved onto Missions). In fact,
Aboriginal labour became the low-paid backbone of the pastoral industry,
men (and some women) working as stockmen, and women mainly at domestic
tasks. But it meant that they could remain on or near their land as
well as meet with other "mobs" on cattle runs. And the men
were proud of their skills. This
continued until the late 1960's when moves towards Equal Pay made it
uneconomical to employ them as well as feed their families. Queensland
resisted enacting Equal Pay legislation until 1986 although it made
it illegal to pay less than award wages in 1975. See "Stolen
Wages".
The Welfare trap
So the families then began to move to town, where they lived on the
Reserve as they were required to do until the restriction was lifted
in 1971. Many of the men remained at work on the land, but family connections
and self-esteem suffered. Initially "Welfare" was limited
to below-award
wages for work done, disbursed at the discretion
of the Police or Reserve Managers ("Protectors") as cash or
ration vouchers. Access to alcohol was restricted or prohibited. But
when in 1972 they were given control of their own money (initially simply
allowed to see their bank books) and were able to buy alcohol, well-meaning
activists encouraged them to assert their rights, and the roots of the
alcohol problem were sown. Idleness, "sit-down money", and
the inability to use alcohol wisely have led to worsening self-esteem,
community violence, and ill-health or early death for many. But not
all indigenous people have a problem with alcohol; in fact the proportion
indulging in "risky drinking" is estimated to be the same
or less than in non-indigenous people (Australian
Bureau of Statistics, 2002).
The way forward
These are complex problems and solutions are not clearly apparent. Among
many programs initiated by State and Federal governments and other agencies,
the Coen Regional Aboriginal Corporation (CRAC) sustains a number
of Enterprises for community
development. Read more on development here.
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