#wadeye

[newguineatribalart]

Australian Aboriginal Art from Port Keats

[slyapartment]

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United scum rules #patches #ghettoblaster #nopasaran #wadeye #thecrashmats #dryretch #riggots #hummer #pardonus #stupidstupidhenchmen #thekirkz #heideroosjes #pms84 #wetheheathens #diyordie https://www.instagram.com/p/CN3KTNZjpTx/?igshid=noidx2y5mwap

[abcnewsgathering-blog]

(’Five days in Wadeye’ - this video goes behind the scenes of the ABC news team’s trip to the remote Northern Territory Indigenous community)

FIVE DAYS IN WADEYE 

The remote Northern Territory indigenous community of Wadeye, 800 kilometres from Darwin, often makes news for all the wrong reasons, but during five days on the ground an ABC news team found some good stories to tell. During the whirlwind trip, reporters Avani Dias and Kristy O’Brien and camera operator Ian ‘Jumbuck’ Redfearn gathered 14 stories to roll out on multiple platforms and along the way provided a bit of roadside assistance to a stranded motorist.

(Kristy O’Brien, Avani Dias and Ian ‘Jumbuck’ Redfearn on the road in Wadeye - Photo: Kristy O’Brien)

By Avani Dias

"We got engine problems, can you mob help us?" 

We were nearing the Aboriginal community of Wadeye after a drive of more than 400 kilometres, down a bumpy dirt track, when a group of locals packed into a broken down ute waved us down.  One of them told us they were trying to get to a nearby community and they weren't having much luck.  After a few attempts at helping them restart the car, we decided that the only option was to tow them to their destination.  But it wasn’t a smooth run.  We hit a wet patch and the towing rope snapped, and after some innovative bush mechanic work, we finally made it to Wadeye. 

This was our initial and very memorable introduction to the community - one of the biggest in Australia which encapsulates strong, historical identity and complex social structures.  But it's impossible to understand tens of thousands of years of customs, rifts, and traditions during the five days we were assigned to be there. It's a short time to spend in a community with such a strong history, but a long time for journalists who usually fly-in-and-fly-out with just hours to gather stories on the ground. Our task was to gather as many stories as we could during this rare opportunity.

Like any small place, news travels fast in Wadeye.  By day two, it felt like all 2,000 people in the community knew the ABC team had arrived.  People would seek us out to relate their incredible stories that they wanted us to cover. They told us about the burgeoning softball competition eradicating boredom for women in the community and the young man who had learnt to be a barista through an exchange program in Victoria and wanted to start a cafe in Wadeye.  These were fascinating stories - tales we'd never be able to pick up from our desks in Darwin. 

We had leads for a huge number of stories - but how many of these would actually eventuate was the big question. We'd wake up at sun rise, roll up our swags, break only for a quick sausage roll for lunch from the local store, and shoot as much content as possible until the sun went down. One of us would take cameraman Ian Redfearn (also known as Jumbuck) to shoot the longer form pieces for Australia Wide and Landline, while the other would take the VJ kit to gather smaller news stories at the same time. 

By the end of the week, we gathered 14 stories and a behind the scenes video (above) of our time on the road.  We've been filing our stories progressively since we returned between our daily news commitments.  From the nun who has helped retain the local language through her bilingual literacy program, to the women developing the humble Kakadu Plum industry. 

A non-Indigenous man who had lived in the community for ten years doing different jobs said he hadn't seen one positive story about Wadeye in the time he'd lived there. Wadeye's gang related violence has been the subject of countless media reports, university research and television documentaries.  By the end of our five days, we may have only scratched the surface of this complicated place, but one message from everyone we spoke to was clear, Wadeye is moving forward.

Below are some of the stories from Wadeye:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-06-08/bilingual-educator-sister-tess-ward-receives-oam/7488430 

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-05-17/2016-barra-classic-kicks-off-in-the-top-end-fishing-contest/7422008

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-07-05/fears-powerful-boats-damaging-daly-river-and-sacred-sites/7571904 

More indigenous Back Story posts here.

Click here to return to the Back Story home page or check out stories from the past three years on our archive page here.

[daisylegs]

We were lucky enough to go on another trip with @reddustoz last week at #wadeye . These kids know how to paint! Check out the great things Red Dust is doing.