Fearful residents baulk at order to return home
Sydney Morning Herald
Tuesday March 29, 2011
A GROUP of 102 Aborigines has refused an order by Northern Territory authorities to return to their homes in Yuendumu, 300 kilometres north-west of Alice Springs, saying they fear for their safety there."We will go back when it is ready and safe for our women and children," a group leader, Robin Granites, said yesterday."We don't want white people forcing us ... This problem could have been resolved seven months ago if we had been allowed to sort it out in the cultural way, with traditional payback," Mr Granites said.The group, which includes 35 children and two new-born babies, left Yuendumu in September after inter-clan violence erupted in the community following the death of a man in an Alice Springs town camp.The NT government and police refused to allow elders in the community to organise traditional punishment, which could have involved spearing a leg.Many members of the group, including women and children, spent most of yesterday in bushland after being told they could no longer stay in an $11 million government temporary visitor centre that opened in Alice Springs last month.The group had been staying at the centre for two weeks after travelling from Adelaide, where they had spent several months since leaving Yuendumu. The centre does not allow stays longer than two weeks.The group, which includes two new-born babies and 35 other children, agreed a few days ago to return to Yuendumu, and arrangements were in place for its arrival, including police protection, a government official said last night.But group members changed their minds by the time five buses arrived yesterday morning to pick-them up.Government officials arranged temporary accommodation for the group in Alice Springs last night. An official said group members promised they would return to Yuendumu today.
© 2011 Sydney Morning Herald
