Heather Rosas

She is a tireless worker for her people. In early 2000
her efforts were recognised by the NT Government.
Heather spoke to Naomi Bannister ...

I was born in Rockhampton Downs Station. My parents left Rocky when I was a little girl. We was at Alekarenge for a year or so and then we went to Helen Springs. Most of my life I was brought up at Helen Springs Station and Banka Banka Station.
My Dad was a stockman when he first started. He worked in the stock camp and then eventually moved on from there as a bore mechanic. He worked here and there, especially at Rockhampton Downs Station. He was droving cattle from Newcastle Waters to Townsville before I was born, but he used to tell me about it.
In 1986-87 Anyinginyi Congress health workers went to Townsville for work experience and Dad was one of the board members that came with us. He remembered everything. He was droving before he met my Mum. From there, when he met my Mum they lived at Rockhampton Downs Station, Helen Springs Station and Banka Banka Station.
Rockhampton Downs Station is my Mum's country. Dad's been travelling a lot here and there. They moved around a lot so most of us haven't been born in one place. We've been born here and there. For myself and my older brother and two older sisters, we were born in Rockhampton Downs Station. My younger sister was born in Mt Isa Hospital. Out of my three young brothers, one was born in Helen Springs, the other one in Tennant Creek and the youngest one in Alice Springs.
I went to school at Banka Banka Station. It was real good. You know how kids enjoy it when they first start. It wasn't no drama for us, we just enjoy it in the classroom. A lot of things that we did, like teasing and throwing chalk and rubbers at each other. When the teachers walk in, we used to sit down and pretend that nothing happen. But the teachers could see the rubbish that we made, the chalks and rubbers everywhere on the floor. Then we was told to clean up our rubbish by the teachers.
Some of my schoolmates who were a bit older than me got children and grandchilden of their own. As for me, I haven't got any kids of my own but I helped them bring their kids up.
It was a station school for Aboriginal kids but also we had non-Aboriginals. There's a couple of them that work in town that's been in that school, like Norman Hooker and Walter Hooker. But we was all brought up in the station. Norman and Walter are really like my close brothers because they've always been next to my brothers and been brought up by my parents. We still class each other as sister and brother. They speak Warumungu too and talk little bit of this and that when we meet up together.
I been at the Banka Banka school since I was about seven until I was fourteen. The teacher went and asked my parents if they can send me to college but my parents said no. They wouldn't send me because of my older sister, what has happened to her. She's been one of those children that been taken away. Actually, I seen what happened when I was at Helen Springs Station when the welfare crew came to pick up all these mixed race kids.
One of my cousin sisters, who's still in town, threw me in the rubbish bin and covered me with all the scraps. So, they couldn't take me, they couldn't even see the colour of my skin. I had all that stinkin' smell on me after she threw me in the bin. I was really angry at her at that time but now I'm really grateful to her for what she done for me.
My older sister was taken away and was sent to Adelaide. She was taken when I was about eight or nine years old, maybe ten. We never heard from her until 1975. In 1975 she came back to see Mum and Dad for the first time. She only came to stay for two days. She was about eighteen or nineteen and she came back to ask Dad if she could go back and get married. And Dad said "You're a big girl now, you can do what you like."
Then from that day on we knew that we had contact with her and she knew that she had contact with us. Then she went back, we never seen her again until twenty years later in 1995. That's when I seen her again. She came back and spent two weeks with Mum and Dad. At that time I couldn't spend any time with her because I was ready to go to the Solomon Islands on that Australian Aboriginal Women's Tour. By the time I got back she was already gone.
I been on stations most of my life, in Helen Springs Station, then we went to Banka Banka station. Then we came to live in Tennant Creek and I went to primary school. I only went there a couple of times and my parents pulled me out and we went back to the station. I couldn't tell what year I finished because my parents kept taking me out from school.
From there I stayed on at the station and then I got a job at school as teaching assistant. I never knew much about teaching but at least I could talk to the kids in Warumungu and just teach them here and there. That's including Katrina and Warwick Carr and Phillip and Michelle Cracker. That lasted for two years and then I stayed on without a job. We hardly had jobs at the station, just getting dole. I just been bringing up most of my brother's and sister's kids, my older sister's two daughters and my cousin sister's two daughters. All that time I been there I just been receiving Family Allowance. At that time it was called Child Endowment.
When I was a kid Banka Banka Station was run by Mrs Ward, until the late sixties or early seventies. Then it was run by Norman and Walter's father, Albert Hooker. So we stayed on because he was a very good manager and we really enjoyed staying there because his kids grew up with us. He's been there longer than anyone I ever knew. When he first came to Banka Banka Station he was only a young stockman with three kids. His oldest son, Jimmy, was a teenager when they moved into Banka Banka Station. The other two sons were a bit smaller and went to school with two of my brothers.
He was head stockman and then five or six years later he became manager. Everybody was really happy when they heard that he was manager. My parents still stayed on that station. Dad was working for him as a stock camp cook. He used to be a cook for about thirty stockmen when they used to go out mustering. Uncle Archie used to be the butcher. The meat supply for Tennant Creek came from the station and my Uncle Archie had to bring it in once a week. My father and my uncle worked together. Archie's three kids, Slim, Pauline and Clive, grew up with us at Banka Banka.
In 1980 I decided to leave Banka Banka and live in Tennant Creek. I was in town for about six months or so, then I left. I started travelling here and there and really enjoyed it. In 1982 I came back to Tennant Creek, and I've stayed ever since.
In 1984, I started looking after kids again. In 1985 Anyinginyi Congress was started and that was my first job. I worked with them for six years and in 1991 I left. In 1991-92, I went and worked for Julalikari Home and Community Care and Homemakers. At that time HACC and Homemakers were in the one building. I was there for about six months.
I stopped working after that. I just stayed at home with my foster Mum, she had renal failure. I wanted to be with her more than working.
In 1992 I started doing Night Patrol just now and then. In 1993 I stopped doing Night Patrol and started again at the end of 1994. In 1995 we went for Aboriginal Women's Tour to Solomon Islands and when we came back I got a job at Anyinginyi Congress with Alcohol AfterCare for three months. Then I moved on to Julalikari again and I became the Night Patrol Coordinator there. All those years we've been doing Night Patrol from six in the afternoon to six in the morning before the alcohol restrictions.
It was pretty wild back then. For me and Valda we've always been on our toes. People always looked up to us for help, especially the Night Patrollers that came and asked us to do patrol with them. Some of the old ladies who wanted to go on patrol, they'd say "We want Heather and Valda". We'd go out with them. We used to go until the early hours of the morning and then go back and have two or three hours rest and then go to work the next day.
At that time Valda was the Community Development Officer. I worked from late 1995 to early 1997. Then I retired, left and went to Katherine and got married. Lived in Katherine for about a year and came back to work with Julalikari as Night Patrol Coordinator and have been with them since. Early last year I moved on to Community Development Officer and liaising between the Aboriginal organisations and the community, government and non-government departments. Also with the ambulance and police.
Actually, it was going real good since that alcohol restriction. Everything sort of dropped because in the past there was domestic violence. About 90% of women with children used to go to the refuge. Also about 90% of men went to jail and there was violence here and there with the alcohol. After the alcohol restrictions it dropped down to about 5-10% and it was real good.
I never walk the street now, so I can't talk about it much. The problems I see now is most of the time with kids. Young kids drinking, smoking, breaking in, smashing cars, smashing bottles, whatever. That's the biggest problem that I see, it's the teenagers.
When the alcohol restrictions first came in, there used to be a lot for young kids to do. The police used to hold Blue Light Discos at Anyinginyi Sport and Rec. We had a youth worker who used to take them out hunting and Nigel used to take them out in the bus. We had young teenagers on patrol too, as work experience.
Even though they've got JPET and Patrick from Anyinginyi, they should still have Blue Light Discos. And they should close the games shop. It gets the kids in and when it closes they don't leave the street. They stay around and get drunk, and it starts off in that games shop. TC Raiders should open at 3 pm and close early, say 7, from Monday to Thursday. Then on Friday and Saturday nights it could go until 10.
We've got JPET going, which is good. It's keeping some teenagers off the street because they know they have to go back to work the next day. Also we got Patrick who's working with Anyinginyi. He's one of those people that's working with the juveniles to help get them off the street. He also supports them in court. But you know, after they've finished doing these things, they're still back on the streets late at night.
I can't think of anything in the way to deal with the kids. For me, I'd like to see the parents start pulling themselves together. Parents should wake up and say "My kid's on the street now. No-one can help me and I'm still in town. Maybe I should deal with it myself, take them kids out to the community".
Some of the meetings that I've been to, I've heard people saying it's the parent's responsibility, which is true. On the other hand, I agree, discipline starts at home, then again there's a new system. If the parents try to discipline their kids at home the kids go to the police and they tell the police that they've got hit and the parents will go to court for child abuse. I mean, what else can we do? How we going to discipline our kids?
I enjoy working for Julalikari, enjoy helping my people, here and there. I've moved on from the main office and have started at Julalikari JobPlace. I've worked two ways in Julalikari. I was a Community Development Officer but then again after hours I would help the Night Patrollers because we didn't have any coordinator. That made the people come back to me so therefore I was wearing another hat after hours, making it hard for me. I didn't mind doing it because I helped my people.
I speak two to three languages. I can speak Warumungu, Warlpiri and Warlmanpa plus I understand Jingili/Mudburra and speak a bit. Plus I speak Kriol and English.
I stayed on with Julalikari for a lot of reasons. Julalikari is doing a lot and it's the strongest organisation I've ever known. When I started working with them they only had CDEP, HACC, Homemakers, Housing and Night Patrol. But all those years I've been with them, they've started to build up and get stronger and stronger, having more places to work. Now they've got a chook farm, nursery, recycling, the tip, Disability Services and JPET. They got workers on the street. Also they've got Job Place in Tennant Creek, Katherine and Borroloola. And they've got Julalikari Buramana servicing the outstations. I'm really impressed with Julalikari.