Writing Our History

Kathleen Fitz Nappanangka, Eileen Nelson Nappanangka, Edith Graham Nakkamarra, Judy Nixon Nakkamarra, Dora Dawson Nangali, and DW Nakkamarra wanted to record stories about their lives, families, country and relatives for their children and grandchildren. They had all been part of various projects with the Land Council and the Language Centre in town through which they recorded parts of their stories. But they wanted a book. Their book. In 1995 this group of women met Kimberly Christen, a graduate student from the United States. Kimberly agreed to collaborate with the women to help realize their goal. Over the next decade they traveled throughout Warumungu country taking photos, recording audio and video and creating hand drawn sketches. During that time other men and women joined the project adding their own stories about Warumungu country and history including some oral histories and specific family stories.

This project, then, reflects stories from several generations of Warumungu people. Although the project was initially thought of as a history project—collecting and preserving stories from the past. What became evident as they traveled together over several years and recorded people's stories was that this is a story about the connection between the past, present, and the future of the Warumungu community in and around present-day Tennant Creek. Especially after several of the senior women involved in the project passed away, their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren wanted a way to access their stories, voices, photos and knowledge on their phones and tablets. This online version of these stories is both a tribute to the people involved and a gift they left for future generations.

Story Sections

The stories collected are all from specific places. Over the years we took dozens of bush trips to country around Tennant Creek. At each of these places people told many types of stories: tales from when they were young, dreaming stories, current events and history about each place. Women remembered growing up, traveling throughout the country, working, having families, moving to town, holding up their country through ceremonies, and being moved around by the government. Many men recalled stories from living and working on stations, mines and in town. Each time we traveled to a specific country women and men described their lives and experiences with other Aboriginal people, white settlers, and their relatives. The stories in each section, although they may be separated by decades, are all grounded in place.

In addition to our travels to record stories, many individuals involved in this project also made trips to the National Archives in Darwin to retrieve historical records about Warumungu people in and around Tennant Creek. There they encountered documents detailing the movements of people from missions to cattle stations; ledgers that accounted for rations people received on stations; work permits for men and women; police reports listing people camped near town, and so on. The documents from the archives told the story of the same places, but from papulanji points of view. After going to the archives, people decided it would be a good idea to put those “paper” stories alongside Wumpurrarni stories. Therefore, there are brief “paper history” sections that sketch the contours of the recorded national history. This layering of histories is meant to show the interconnection of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal lives and histories. Although many of these stories highlight loss and tragedy, they are also filled with joy, kinship relations, on-going traditions and a dedication to a future defined by Warumungu ways.