CULTURAL AWARENESS

Understanding
Wumpurrarni Ways

Rosemary Narrurlu Plummer, respected local author, poet and Warumungu traditional owner explains why sensitivity is
important when dealing with Aboriginal customs.

This article is about helping papulanji understand wumpurrarni ways. Wumpurrarni is what Warumungu people in Tennant Creek call Aborigines. Papulanji is what Warumungu people in Tennant Creek call non-Aborigines.
We think it is important for papulanji to know how to behave properly towards wumpurrarni people.
Since the arrival of the papulanji wumpurrarni culture has undergone many changes and suffered many losses, but we still maintain wumpurrarni culture.

Greetings
Sometimes when Aboriginal people know someone and they haven't seen that person for a long time, they might hold that person's arm and say, Marnmarr 'Poor thing!' as a greeting. Or they might ask Wanjatta angi apan? 'Which way are you going?' They might ask Piliyi angi? 'How are you?' as a modern greeting.

Shyness
When you go in to a bush community when you talk to women, they are often very shy the first time they see you. When they get used to you then they talk to you. Men may be less shy. You should find ways to approach shy people. If you have to talk to a shy person, try and find someone among their friends and relations who is not shy, and who can sit with that person. Sometimes people from Aboriginal organisations can act as guides.
For example, when people from the Victorian State Library urgently wanted to get an old Warlpiri man living on a town camp to make a killing boomerang for an exhibition "Raiders of the Lost Archives", they contacted the Language Centre, and Rosemary Narrurlu Plummer acted as guide and interpreter for them. Having an interpreter may help you ask fewer silly questions wasting old people's time.

Who to approach
In the past people used to go to manu warlji, the owners of the land, if they wanted to go onto their land. Today wumpurrarni organisations can help you to find the right wumpurrarni person to talk to.
When papulanji want to go out bush onto wumpurrarni land, they can go to the Central Land Council to direct them to the chair-person of community or the councillors for a permit.

Communication and meetings
When having a meeting and talking about things which younger people don't have the authority to talk about, e.g. land claims, sacred sites, then you should sit down with senior people, and have younger people to help. Remember that the person with the authority to answer your questions is not necessarily the person who speaks English the best. If a young person keeps looking at an old person when you are asking them questions, that probably means you should direct your questions to that older person.

Ceremony and reasons
for having to miss work
If you employ wumpurrarni people they might need time off to go to ceremonies, 2-3 weeks for some ceremonies like sorry business. For example, if wumpurrarni women are on the Women's Advisory Council they may have to miss some meetings for ceremonies, including sorry business.

Sorry business
and absence from work
When wumpurrarni pass away, the family have ceremonies called 'sorry business' which might last two or three weeks. Some family members sit in 'sorry camp', and so can't go to work. If there's been a sudden death, a person might walk away from his job without telling the European boss.
If you have to talk to someone who is involved in sorry business, you should not go straight into the sorry camp . You should find some wumpurrarni person in the area of the camp who can talk to the relations in the camp to see if the person can leave the camp to talk to you. Sometimes people in sorry camps are not allowed to talk; they just use handsigns. If you are a man, ask a man to help you. If you are a woman, ask a woman to help you.
You should not talk to a widow about her late husband or about her deceased children, and you should not talk to a widower about his late wife or about his deceased children, because you will make them very upset. If it is very important for you to talk to a family about someone who has passed away, then you should ask the brothers or sisters of that person who you should talk to.
Relations belonging to certain skin groups can't go to the place where the dead person used to be living. For example, husband, wife, mother, father, uncles and aunties can't go to that place, but some others can, for example brothers and sisters.
Sometimes the family will come to the place where a deceased person worked, and sweep it with green leaves, or smoke it.
Some people don't want to see photos or films or videos or listen to taperecordings of their close relations who have passed away.

Names
When someone passes away, you can't call that living person's name any more, because it upsets family members. The close family will not say that name again, but after a while other people can say that name, but not in the hearing of the family. Some people don't want to see the name written down. You can't call rhyming words too. Suppose someone called "Pike" passes away. Probably people won't use the word "bike" or "spike" because it sounds similar. Instead, some people use kumunjayi for that name, and Warumungu people use winijipurtu. Talking about a deceased person in front of that person's relations upsets wumpurrarni people.

Avoidance
A woman's son-in-law cannot look or speak directly to his mother-in-law. She cannot look or speak directly to him. In Warumungu they are called miyimi or jutarlja. They can't say the name of their miyimi.
People commonly use the word "somebody" as a name for people who took part with them in young men's ceremonies. People can't look or speak directly to their 'somebodies'. They can't say the name of their 'somebodies', and some use initials instead. It is important for papulanji to respect this, because otherwise they may expect people to work together with their somebodies, which will be very embarrassing.

Customary law
and domestic violence
Customary law is a very hard thing to deal with. Papulanji courts often have difficulty in understanding wumpurrarni law. Suppose a young woman goes out with a married man. When the wife finds out, she has the right to fight that young woman. But the police may arrest her for assaulting that young woman.
Wumpurrarni people are living in two worlds. That makes it hard because they are dealing with two laws. Wumpurrarni were brought up with the custom of fighting for their rights, when there was a reason by wumpurrarni law to do so. People still have that way of thinking and doing. Alcohol makes it worse, because it makes people very aggressive, and they fight for no reason. It makes domestic violence worse.
That's why it would be really good to have several wumpurrarni elders working with the magistrate as wumpurrarni magistrates. (This was recommended by the Reconciliation meeting in Tennant Creek this year). The wumpurrarni magistrate can help balance the two laws, looking at what happened from wumpurrarni way, and looking at it from papulanji way. Several people are needed because a wumpurrarni elder couldn't act as magistrate for his "somebody", or for his close family. Community members, like Night Patrol, should be involved with the police in family problems. They can work in with the wumpurrarni magistrates when there are problems.

Rough behaviour
Wumpurrarni people aren't used to people screaming and yelling at them. They want to be treated as people. (See Work place and employment for an example.) Nor are they used to people picking on them. They don't like being used too much. They might just walk away without talking. The boss then shouldn't talk directly to that person, but should approach some relation or friend of theirs to find out the reason why that person just walked away from them.

Work place and employment
One wumpurrarni can't oversee or act as representative for all wumpurrarni. For example if a Warumungu woman goes to Yuendumu (which is Warlpiri country), she can't speak on behalf of Yuendumu women. She has to have with her a Warlpiri woman with authority. She has to be accepted by those Warlpiri people, manu warlji, custodians of the land.
In some cases a papulanji might come across two wumpurrarni people who are not looking at each, not talking to each other, or not taking things from each other. You can find out the reason by asking some other wumpurrarni person. The people might be miyimi or "somebody" for each other. In this case they can't work together, and the papulanji will have to respect this, and find some way around. (See Avoidance section)

Hospital
Men health workers should work with men patients. Women health workers should work with women patients.
A problem for hospitals is that if someone passes away in a room in a hospital, some relations (e.g. brothers-in-
law) may not be able to stay as patients in that room (or even hospital) afterwards, or work as health workers or nurses or doctors. They have to "give room" , that is, in-laws and "somebody" have to keep a respectful distance.
Sick people don't like nurses shouting or talking roughly to them. and touching them in a rough way. Sometimes in the past nurses got hidings from community members because they didn't like being treated roughly. It is not wumpurrarni custom to treat people roughly.
For example, if a nurse starts by saying "How are you, how are you feeling?" and listening to them, that will make the patient feel better. If the nurse just starts straight off: "We're going to put your bandage on; we're going to give you tablets", that will upset the patient.

Schools
Children may be "somebody" or miyimi for a teaching assistant. So the teaching assistant may use the child's initials instead of saying that child's name. And the child should call the teaching assistant by their initials. The teaching assistant cannot punish a child who is their "somebody". Other embarrassments may come if a male and female teaching assistant are asked to work together, and they have had a relationship in the past.

Court house, Police,
Night Patrol and prison
People can't act as prisoners' friend for their miyimi or their "somebody". (See Avoidance section)
For example; someone who is deaf and dumb might need someone to interpret for them using handsigns. It couldn't be their miyimi or their "somebody". Another example is that if the police catch someone drinking in the street. The police aid cannot talk to that person if that person is their "somebody". So he has to get someone else to as go-between for the prisoner and the policeman.

* * *

I hope this article has helped you understand something about wumpurrarni ways. If you want more information, contact Papulu Apparr-kari, the Tennant Creek Language Centre on (08) 8962 3270 or Fax (08) 8962 1380.
© Rosemary Narrurlu Plummer 1997

Understanding Wumpurrarni Ways Rosemary Narrurlu Plummer, respected local author, poet and Warumungu traditional owner explains why sensitivity is important when dealing with Aboriginal customs. This article is about helping papulanji understand wumpurrarni ways. Wumpurrarni is what Warumungu people in Tennant Creek call Aborigines. Papulanji is what Warumungu people in Tennant Creek call non-Aborigines. We think it is important for papulanji to know how to behave properly towards wumpurrarni people. Since the arrival of the papulanji wumpurrarni culture has undergone many changes and suffered many losses, but we still maintain wumpurrarni culture. Greetings Sometimes when Aboriginal people know someone and they haven't seen that person for a long time, they might hold that person's arm and say, Marnmarr 'Poor thing!' as a greeting. Or they might ask Wanjatta angi apan? 'Which way are you going?' They might ask Piliyi angi? 'How are you?' as a modern greeting. Shyness When you go in to a bush community when you talk to women, they are often very shy the first time they see you. When they get used to you then they talk to you. Men may be less shy. You should find ways to approach shy people. If you have to talk to a shy person, try and find someone among their friends and relations who is not shy, and who can sit with that person. Sometimes people from Aboriginal organisations can act as guides. For example, when people from the Victorian State Library urgently wanted to get an old Warlpiri man living on a town camp to make a killing boomerang for an exhibition "Raiders of the Lost Archives", they contacted the Language Centre, and Rosemary Narrurlu Plummer acted as guide and interpreter for them. Having an interpreter may help you ask fewer silly questions wasting old people's time. Who to approach In the past people used to go to manu warlji, the owners of the land, if they wanted to go onto their land. Today wumpurrarni organisations can help you to find the right wumpurrarni person to talk to. When papulanji want to go out bush onto wumpurrarni land, they can go to the Central Land Council to direct them to the chair-person of community or the councillors for a permit. Communication and meetings When having a meeting and talking about things which younger people don't have the authority to talk about, e.g. land claims, sacred sites, then you should sit down with senior people, and have younger people to help. Remember that the person with the authority to answer your questions is not necessarily the person who speaks English the best. If a young person keeps looking at an old person when you are asking them questions, that probably means you should direct your questions to that older person. Ceremony and reasons for having to miss work If you employ wumpurrarni people they might need time off to go to ceremonies, 2-3 weeks for some ceremonies like sorry business. For example, if wumpurrarni women are on the Women's Advisory Council they may have to miss some meetings for ceremonies, including sorry business. Sorry business and absence from work When wumpurrarni pass away, the family have ceremonies called 'sorry business' which might last two or three weeks. Some family members sit in 'sorry camp', and so can't go to work. If there's been a sudden death, a person might walk away from his job without telling the European boss. If you have to talk to someone who is involved in sorry business, you should not go straight into the sorry camp . You should find some wumpurrarni person in the area of the camp who can talk to the relations in the camp to see if the person can leave the camp to talk to you. Sometimes people in sorry camps are not allowed to talk; they just use handsigns. If you are a man, ask a man to help you. If you are a woman, ask a woman to help you. You should not talk to a widow about her late husband or about her deceased children, and you should not talk to a widower about his late wife or about his deceased children, because you will make them very upset. If it is very important for you to talk to a family about someone who has passed away, then you should ask the brothers or sisters of that person who you should talk to. Relations belonging to certain skin groups can't go to the place where the dead person used to be living. For example, husband, wife, mother, father, uncles and aunties can't go to that place, but some others can, for example brothers and sisters. Sometimes the family will come to the place where a deceased person worked, and sweep it with green leaves, or smoke it. Some people don't want to see photos or films or videos or listen to taperecordings of their close relations who have passed away. Names When someone passes away, you can't call that living person's name any more, because it upsets family members. The close family will not say that name again, but after a while other people can say that name, but not in the hearing of the family. Some people don't want to see the name written down. You can't call rhyming words too. Suppose someone called "Pike" passes away. Probably people won't use the word "bike" or "spike" because it sounds similar. Instead, some people use kumunjayi for that name, and Warumungu people use winijipurtu. Talking about a deceased person in front of that person's relations upsets wumpurrarni people. Avoidance A woman's son-in-law cannot look or speak directly to his mother-in-law. She cannot look or speak directly to him. In Warumungu they are called miyimi or jutarlja. They can't say the name of their miyimi. People commonly use the word "somebody" as a name for people who took part with them in young men's ceremonies. People can't look or speak directly to their 'somebodies'. They can't say the name of their 'somebodies', and some use initials instead. It is important for papulanji to respect this, because otherwise they may expect people to work together with their somebodies, which will be very embarrassing. Customary law and domestic violence Customary law is a very hard thing to deal with. Papulanji courts often have difficulty in understanding wumpurrarni law. Suppose a young woman goes out with a married man. When the wife finds out, she has the right to fight that young woman. But the police may arrest her for assaulting that young woman. Wumpurrarni people are living in two worlds. That makes it hard because they are dealing with two laws. Wumpurrarni were brought up with the custom of fighting for their rights, when there was a reason by wumpurrarni law to do so. People still have that way of thinking and doing. Alcohol makes it worse, because it makes people very aggressive, and they fight for no reason. It makes domestic violence worse. That's why it would be really good to have several wumpurrarni elders working with the magistrate as wumpurrarni magistrates. (This was recommended by the Reconciliation meeting in Tennant Creek this year). The wumpurrarni magistrate can help balance the two laws, looking at what happened from wumpurrarni way, and looking at it from papulanji way. Several people are needed because a wumpurrarni elder couldn't act as magistrate for his "somebody", or for his close family. Community members, like Night Patrol, should be involved with the police in family problems. They can work in with the wumpurrarni magistrates when there are problems. Rough behaviour Wumpurrarni people aren't used to people screaming and yelling at them. They want to be treated as people. (See Work place and employment for an example.) Nor are they used to people picking on them. They don't like being used too much. They might just walk away without talking. The boss then shouldn't talk directly to that person, but should approach some relation or friend of theirs to find out the reason why that person just walked away from them. Work place and employment One wumpurrarni can't oversee or act as representative for all wumpurrarni. For example if a Warumungu woman goes to Yuendumu (which is Warlpiri country), she can't speak on behalf of Yuendumu women. She has to have with her a Warlpiri woman with authority. She has to be accepted by those Warlpiri people, manu warlji, custodians of the land. In some cases a papulanji might come across two wumpurrarni people who are not looking at each, not talking to each other, or not taking things from each other. You can find out the reason by asking some other wumpurrarni person. The people might be miyimi or "somebody" for each other. In this case they can't work together, and the papulanji will have to respect this, and find some way around. (See Avoidance section) Hospital Men health workers should work with men patients. Women health workers should work with women patients. A problem for hospitals is that if someone passes away in a room in a hospital, some relations (e.g. brothers-in- law) may not be able to stay as patients in that room (or even hospital) afterwards, or work as health workers or nurses or doctors. They have to "give room" , that is, in-laws and "somebody" have to keep a respectful distance. Sick people don't like nurses shouting or talking roughly to them. and touching them in a rough way. Sometimes in the past nurses got hidings from community members because they didn't like being treated roughly. It is not wumpurrarni custom to treat people roughly. For example, if a nurse starts by saying "How are you, how are you feeling?" and listening to them, that will make the patient feel better. If the nurse just starts straight off: "We're going to put your bandage on; we're going to give you tablets", that will upset the patient. Schools Children may be "somebody" or miyimi for a teaching assistant. So the teaching assistant may use the child's initials instead of saying that child's name. And the child should call the teaching assistant by their initials. The teaching assistant cannot punish a child who is their "somebody". Other embarrassments may come if a male and female teaching assistant are asked to work together, and they have had a relationship in the past. Court house, Police, Night Patrol and prison People can't act as prisoners' friend for their miyimi or their "somebody". (See Avoidance section) For example; someone who is deaf and dumb might need someone to interpret for them using handsigns. It couldn't be their miyimi or their "somebody". Another example is that if the police catch someone drinking in the street. The police aid cannot talk to that person if that person is their "somebody". So he has to get someone else to as go-between for the prisoner and the policeman. * * * I hope this article has helped you understand something about wumpurrarni ways. If you want more information, contact Papulu Apparr-kari, the Tennant Creek Language Centre on (08) 8962 3270 or Fax (08) 8962 1380. © Rosemary Narrurlu Plummer 1997