[Dialogue] Healing homelands down under

[Wayne Nelson]

Looks to me like Fish River Station is the property just west of Forrest River Station, Oombulgurri.  These are huge places  - like a small US state - and i didn't take enough time to find a detailed map.  

The people are closely related - linguistically and culturally and almost certainly many of  the families are related.  Kinship traditions would almost decree it. 

I think it would be totally amazing to do the sort of Human Development projects now. With the general rise in awareness, formal education, sense of community selfhood and personal empowerment -  increased sensitivity to the natural world and the structural openness to collaborative relationships, it would be a totally different experience. Just imagine playing a role in that process. The intensity of coming-true-dreams would be a complete rush. 

I do not think it would be at all fanciful to suggest that our work in the area contributed to development / enhancement of the capacity to engage in a sophisticated project of that nature. I did have this conversation with Craig Cromelin, the big dog of the Murrin Bridge Land Council. He said, with very little prompting, much the same thing. He felt the value of our work in the community has more to do with the effect on the people than it did with any of the physical 'projects'. He said it in his own way, but, without question, that was his point. He said they were 'changed people.' There are a core of people there who are fully committed to continued locally initiated and managed development. 

Thanks,

\\/


- - - - - - - - - - Wayne Nelson
wnelson at ica-associates.ca
O - 416-691-2316
M - 647-229-6910




On 2012-03-27, at 7:16 PM, Len Hockley wrote:

> Hey, Anyone connected to Oombulgurri must need see this article on "Fish River Station" in  the current Nature Conservancy magazine:
> 
> http://magazine.nature.org/features/home-country.xml
> 
> Len
> 
> 
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