Central Land Council

Joint Land Management | National Parks

Traditional Owners Sharing Knowledge

Alyawarr Country | Talking About Donkeys and Horses

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This article is about a meeting held at the proposed Davenport-Murchison Range National Park in July 2005.

The aim of the meeting was to bring traditional owners and Northern Territory National Parks and Wildlife people together to talk about donkeys and horses. Parks people are worried about the damage these animals do to country and, since 2000, have been shooting them in the national park.

Traditional owners value horses and donkeys and have been offended by the shooting and lack of consultation.

Now that the park is going to be jointly managed by traditional owners and Parks and Wildlife, the Central Land Council (CLC) felt that the two groups should come together to listen to each others’ stories. They felt that parks mob should learn about the history of horses and donkeys on Alyawarr country, and Aboriginal people’s relationship to these animals. CLC also thought that it was important for traditional owners to hear the reasons why Parks and Wildlife want to remove these animals from the national park.

This meeting was seen as the first step towards building positive working relationships for looking after this country together.

The meeting went for two days. Activities that everyone participated in were:

• making a timeline on the ground to document the history of country, and stories about horses and donkeys;
• talking about the changes in country since white people arrived, including the disappearance of some bush animals and the arrival of new ones;
• visiting a number of important waterholes in the area to see how donkeys and horses might be changing these areas;
• talking about the possible ways that horses and donkeys could be removed from the national park.

Stories and photos from this meeting are presented on the following pages.

“When ever they make new roads or any other things in the park now, all works have to be discussed with traditional owners. We want to make sure it’s done right."

Michael Liddle

History of Country - making a timeline on the ground

• Early days – this area was really important because of the big mob of waterholes.
• 1860 onwards – white people came with camels, horses and cattle.
• Early station days – Aboriginal people were shot.
• Big drought – rainmakers made rain for stations.
• 1915 Mining starts – mix up of Aboriginal people living here, maybe 10 tribes.
• 1920 Old lady, Georgina Holmes, born.
• 1933 Mr Bailey born.
• People bring donkeys, important for carrying gear.
• 1939−45 War time and rations.
• 1945 War finished.
• 1947 Mr Holmes born.
• Mining continues – people from Russia, China and Germany. Miners were good to Aboriginal people.
• 1951 Mining finished.
• Pastoralists getting rich because they had horses to do the work.
• 1950s-70s Frankie, Casey and others working on Elkedra station.
• 1974 Mr Whitlam starts talking ‘land rights’ and Central Land Council starts up.
• 1976 Aboriginal Land Rights (NT) Act gets passed by Mr Fraser’s government.
• 1980 Application made for Wakaya/Alyawarr land claim, including Hatches Ck and Kalapitapita area.
• 1992 Title handed back for traditional owners under Anurrete Aboriginal Land Trust 12 years later.
• 1993 Land bought from Kurundi for the Davenport National Park. No one talked to Aboriginal mob when they cut a boundary for the Park and sacred sites were badly damaged.
• 2000 Parks started shooting horses and donkeys.
• No one talked to Aboriginal people about the shooting and people were really upset.
• 2005 Joint Management begins and the start of talking together about donkeys and horses and looking after country.

“All through this timeline here, timeline they call it, they got Captain Cook back here, and up here, big drought on Elkedra, Albert Bailey born here, Stanley Holmes born here, mining finished here, station workers. Then land rights, all this, and national parks. But, that’s all the white man’s line. Through here, right back here, Aborigines from this country have been singing one song for country, all along here while this one’s been changing. Every year they do corroboree - for this country for that country for that animal. Never change, all through that timeline."

Michael Liddle

Old Policemans Waterhole…early days and shooting time

“…Aboriginal name for this place,Thethewe?

“Early days…important place - long time before white people came. Main place for camping and everything. People used to live here…big mob kwaty."

Women

“Big mobs waterhole here, that’s why people camped here…

Dolly Kelly

“…this one old one [police station], this one here before us. This one here 1889, long time…before we.

“Too dangerous here! Too dangerous to camp here. This one cheeky…cheeky white people."

Casey Holmes

“When they found out that the old station people were shooting the Aboriginal people, the Government welfare or whatever sent the policeman here to keep control. That was trouble days, that’s when they went, ’Lookout! Don’t drink that water you black bastard’, and boom, shoot ‘em."

Michael Liddle

“Shoot the husband and then have the wife - that’s what they do. Easy life today, not like before - different."

Frankie Holmes

“All the Aborigines walked on the top of the hills because they were too frighten to walk down - they’d get shot."

Michael Liddle

“All the man walking ‘round on the hill there - looking for their wife, trying to get ‘im back!"

Stanley Holmes

Early Station Days, horses and Station Work

“With the cattle station, all the horse came. The cattle station had all the horse."

Albert Bailey

“Cattle stations can’t go, people get shot."

Men

“Our old people been eatin’ two horse. That one bloke lookin’ ‘round for two horse again, get ‘im for work. I’m the one been tell ‘im, ‘They were here, they somewhere here’. But they [the old people] already been eat ‘im!"

Casey Holmes

“1951-1974. All them years, you men was working at [new] Elkedra somewhere, Kurundi Station."

Michael Liddle

“We been ridin’ horses for long time. Minding cattle, droving."

Stanley Holmes

“Horse, cattlework - droving. Taking cattle from west across the Territory to Queensland. Walking cattle with horse, before the cattle train…"

Frankie Holmes

“They gunna shoot the horse now, poor buggers - they done a lot of jobs. Horse been making you people rich in Australia."

Stanley Holmes

“Yeah, horse has done a big job there. See we’re not gunna shoot horse!"

Frankie Holmes

Big drought & Old Lame Tommy the Rain Maker

“I’ll tell you a story. When the big drought come, station owner he worry about that, ‘ey. Well, he think about, and he go and see the rainmaker,

‘Old man rainmaker, here the flour for you, here the sugar, here the tea, here the tobacco, here the salt meat, can you make a rain for me?’

No worries. That’s long time ago, but not now, today, no one doing that, that’s been happen long time. We seen ‘im too, we seen ‘im. Look, cranky manager, he take a ration to old Lame Tommy, he keep all that. He been making rain for ‘im. He dead. Makin’ rain, makin’ station owner rich - cattle fat, green grass …

Frankie Holmes.

“We can do that, we know that Law."

Stanley Holmes

“Well, if station owner do good for us, we do the right thing. If he not do good for us…"

Frankie Holmes

“That old fella was just talking here…one time this place was just drought, no water. This was all dry from there right through, right along the river. And all round the main rockhole was dry - everywhere. You only can see a little bit of soakage. You only get a little bit of water, one time. As that old fella was saying, everything was dying along here, all the time, right down to Epenarra. Everything was dying - horse, donkeys. Everything was dying - no water. Pastoralist come from there to Hatches Creek looking for that old man, for that old Lame Tommy, old fella from Arrawajin, ‘Where’s he?’ ‘Oh he’s over there’. So, he brought ‘im meat, tucker, tea, sugar, salt meat. ‘Next time I’ll get you killer’. He give him a killer.

That old man from Arrawajin start make a rain and all these things were flooded and all the rockhole was filled again.

People can do that, us fellas, we can make the rain - some of us here, somebody here. It was drought one time, big drought! Some of the bore … you couldn’t keep him up, the water was keep drainin’. Trying to keep ‘im cattle in one or two bore, trying to keep him ‘live. Only when you make a rain, that cattle, donkey any animal got water, after you make a rain…

Leslie Foster

Donkeys on Alyawarr country

“When that first whitefella came from Top End, trying to find his land to put his cattle, he come all the way from the north, and he had all that donkeys, horses - seven donkeys. He been walking a coupla cattle, back to Gosse River. First ever donkeys in there…"

Mr Foster

“People never ate donkey, only use him…Use him for carrying anything."

Women

“He carried Jesus too. Jesus rode on the donkey’s back. He carried him to the promised land."

Michael Liddle

“Story donkey…they been quiet donkey, they been using quiet one, black one."

Edie Holmes

“We used to go ‘round with them donkeys and have a ride. I used to go around with them donkeys."

Stanley Holmes

“Donkeys are a really important animal. All of these old ladies and men feel the same."

Michael Liddle

“Donkeys were like a pack horse."

Dolly Kelly

Mining times, war time and rations 1915-1951

“They started mining here in 1916. All the white people there first, Chinamen after…after that Katherine bombed, after that, one Chinaman came."

Albert Bailey

“Aboriginal people from all over, different tribes, different language, were living in this area when the mining was happening. They worked - Alyawarr, Warlpiri, Warumungu, Kaytetye, Pitjantjatjarra, Arrernte. Welfare days, rations, mining…"

“People come from other places for the work [mining] because Aboriginal people were gettin’ shot in other places."

Men and women

“All the miners were alright - he look after us we worked for them."

Casey Holmes

“They [miners] come from overseas, everywhere - Chinamen big mob, Russian people working here, German, Afghans…"

Men and women

“Long time we been gettin’ that rations from police station, Hatches Creek, that’s where we get that ration - Kangaroo hole."

Casey Holmes

“Work for them whitefellas in the mine and get paid. Go to the store, buy some food…"

Stanley Holmes

“Wolfram they been carting from here. Camels been carrying from here to Cloncurry - wartime, 1940s, second war."

Stanley Holmes

“Mining finished 1951. Mining was happening all ‘round, all ‘round this country."

Anurrete ALT Hand Back 1992

“They gave this land back – Anurrete ALT - in the 90’s. Land council law started then."

Men

National Park Proposed 1993

“Government decided to buy this country for national park. Well, we had to move around for sacred site - look around, drove around…"

Casey Holmes

“The Proposed Davenport Ranges National Park was set up in 1993. The Park consists of 1120km2.. The land was pastoral lease and the Government bought the lease. [In 1995 the Central Land Council, on behalf of native title holders, lodged an application for the determination of native title with the National Native Title Tribunal]. In 1998, Parks and Wildlife put a fence around the park. Then in 2000, they started shooting the horses and donkeys."

Jason Barnetson (Parks and Wildlife Ranger)

Shooting Horses and Donkeys 2000-2003

“When we saw them [dead animals] we felt bad, very bad. We were driving out from one meeting, first time, and all these people were real sad. All on the road – horses and donkeys. We coming along the road, ’Oh look at the donkeys, horse lying there’…killed on the road."

Men

“Not four or five, twenty, thirty, laying on the
road"

Stanley Holmes

“Never asked permission. Anything you gotta shoot, talk about first."

Frankie Holmes

Horses and donkeys have a life too. We worry about our life…God’s creation?."

Stanley Holmes

“We were really sad, sad for donkey and horse."

Women

“You think about these horse and cattle station…what’s been making them rich? Horses. Before they had toyota, before helicopter, they had horses, always. That’s me. We’re not gunna shoot horse ‘cause we know what the horse can do."

Frankie Holmes

“National park…push ‘im out horse and donkey – easy way. Don’t shoot ‘em. Don’t shoot donkeys and horses. Push ‘im out. Mustering, onto our land, Aboriginal land. That’s our idea, proper way, our way."

Frankie Holmes

“National Park, before they shoot the donkeys and horses, why couldn’t they put the fence out first? Push them out, put the fence right ’ round where the national park is. Then, where there is the national park, push out donkeys, horses and wild cattle. Push them out onto Aboriginal land. Why couldn’t they do that in the first place? Were they too broke?…needing money and fences?…"

Blackhat

Why Parks and Wildlife shoot horses and donkeys

“These are some of the reasons why Parks don’t want horses and donkeys in the national park -

Horses and donkeys stir up the waterholes, drink a lot of water and trample and eat native plants that grow near the waterholes, including bushtucker plants. Sometimes, horses and bullocks die in the water.

There are special fish living in the waterholes that only live here, nowhere else! We are worried that if the water gets too stirred up, these fish might start to die off.

If there are too many horses and donkeys, they eat a lot of the tucker of other bush animals. This makes it harder for animals like kangroos to survive hard times and droughts.

Some of the native plants that live in this park aren’t found anywhere else. We are worried that some of these native plants will disappear if the horses and donkeys eat them.

We believe that native animals and plants are important and we want to protect them. Horses and donkeys are changing the country too much."

Jason Barnetson (Ranger)

“We’re sorry that the shooting happened in the past, but now we will be looking after the park together we can talk about different ways."

Jason Barnetson

“Parks mob don’t like killing animals either – it’s a last option. Parks want to look after country so it can support as many different kinds of native animals as that country can. So we really want to get rid of the horses and donkeys. We don’t want to kill them. If there’s a way to make money….maybe we can muster them out and make money for the community, maybe people want to keep them, pet meat or meat so there’s no waste. I know we do it, but we shoot them as a last option. Hopefully we can work something out together that’s a better way."

Mac Moyses (Parks and Wildlife)

Joint Management – looking after country together

“Twelve national parks in the Northern Territory, including this one, are going to have Aboriginal Land Rights Title. There will be an Aboriginal Land Trust set up over this park, called Etwelapentye – the name you all came up with last time. The Etwelapentye Land Trust will then sit over the park. A lease will be signed that goes to the Government to say that Traditional Owners agree to keep this running as a park. The park will be leased to the Government and it will be managed together. That’s what whitefellas call ‘Joint Management’ – looking after this country together. Traditional Owners can now sit down at the table as an equal voice with the Government. Parks mob now want to sit down and listen to Traditional Owners.

In the past donkeys and horses were shot by parks mob without asking and this has caused a lot of unhappiness. Everything is going to be done differently now – decisions are going to be made equally. A new book of rules will be made together, called a Plan of Management. This book will talk about looking after sites, when and where burning will happen, about living areas, what happens with horses and donkeys, looking after other animals and plants, stories you might want to share with tourists to help them understand and respect Aboriginal culture. Better rules, new rules, written tighter."

Jenny Atkins, Central Land Council

“Round this country, big mob of sacred sites – all around this country. It’s really important that we look after Joint Management properly. If we talk about Joint Managment, we got to do it properly."

Michael Liddle

“We still got to get rid of donkeys, horses and cattle. That’s what we’re talking about, one way. We’re making a good arrangement here. Rangers, us fellas, all working together. One arrangement, all looking after this country. We’re not making it hard, we’re making it a good way for ranger mob."

Casey Holmes

People’s ideas for animal control

Muster the animals out of the national park…

Traditional Owners made it very clear that they don’t want Parks to shoot the donkeys and horses. Their preferred option is to muster the horses and donkeys out of the National Park and onto Aboriginal Land:

“National park….push ‘im out horse and donkey. Easy way. Don’t shoot ‘em. Don’t shoot donkeys and horses. Push ‘im out. Mustering…onto our land, Aboriginal land. That’s our idea. Proper way, our way.

“Push them out and if they come back inside again, push them out again. Keep trying."

Mac Moyses raised the issue of the difficulty of mustering in this type of country. He asked if it would be OK to shoot some animals in the most rugged areas or in places where it is too far to push animals out to trucks or yards. At first people said no to any shooting, and that Parks would just have to keep trying. Michael Liddle asked the same question the next day. This time, most people agreed that it would be OK for parks to shoot the left over animals, as long as they made a good attempt to get them out first:

“Yep, that’s alright, as long as you get [muster out] most of them.

Fence off the national park…

The men thought that putting up a fence between the Anurrete ALT and the national park was the only way to stop the animals coming back in, and the best way of solving the issue in the long-run:

“We want to push out all the donkeys. Put in a fence and push them out. Good fence. Rubbish fence – they still come back.

“Fence first, then good clean muster.

The women thought that just fencing the northern and eastern boundary of the park wouldn’t be enough to keep the horses and donkeys out.

Linda Dobbs said:

“Once you make a fence, those donkeys and horses will go around. They’re tricky ones, they go everywhere. They go through gaps in the hills."

Edie Holmes thought that putting traps at waterholes would also be a good idea:

“Need a good fence to trap them near the waterholes. They should get them out of the national park because they die in the waterholes."

Leslie Foster questioned why the park wasn’t fenced when it was first created:

“National Park, before they shoot the donkeys and horses, why couldn’t they put the fence out first? Push them out, put the fence right ’round where the national park is. Then where there is the national park, push out donkeys, horses and wild cattle. Push them out onto Aboriginal land. Why couldn’t they do that in the first place? Were they too broke?"

Jason and Mac explained that there isn’t much money available for fencing national parks and maybe only one or two parks get fenced every year. Everyone agreed that fencing this park should be number one priority for Parks and Wildlife. The issue of feral animal control in this region has been contentious and funding the fence would be seen as a positive step towards resolving the issue. It would also help to build better relationships between Parks and traditional owners so they can work together to manage the park.

As Casey Holmes put it:

“We still got to get rid of donkeys, horses and cattle. That’s what we’re talking about, one way. We’re making a good arrangement here. Rangers, us fellas, all working together. One arrangement, all looking after this country. We’re not making it hard, we’re making it a good way for ranger mob.

Employing Aboriginal people to do the fencing…

Michael Liddle raised the point that the men are experienced fencers and should be employed to do the fencing work:

“You know when they make that fence, can I suggest that you employ these people here to do it, instead of getting other people from Alice Springs. That’s the one way to do it to get these blokes working. Mr Wickham here, he knows the fencing game. He’s got a bunch of young fellas willing to work, it’s their country. Don’t worry about a tender or nothing. You’ve got obligations to people who own the land trust to give these blokes a job. One idea to kick around; we’ve got a mob of young blokes who want to work and they’d be working on their country.

The other men agreed:

“You’re the ones gotta find the money for the fence. We’re broke! We can’t do that. We’ll help you make the fence. We’re happy with that one.

“We’re keen to make the fence. No worries for us.

What about the impacts of too many donkeys and horses on Aboriginal land…

People were asked if they thought that by pushing all the animals out of the national park there would be too many on the Anurrete ALT and they might ruin that country. The general response of the group was that they weren’t worried about this and that once the animals were on the ALT it’s their problem anyway:

“We’ll handle that, that’s our worry. This is your worry here. Too many horses, we’ll give them to Aboriginal cattle stations.

At Junction waterhole, the men were asked whether they were worried about the effects of donkeys and horses on the waterholes in general, and on water quality. Frankie Holmes said:

“For us, that water’s OK. We drink it. Bullock drink first, then us after. But for you mob, that’s not alright. You mob like clean water!?

The women were asked if they were concerned about the impacts buffel grass, donkeys and horses were having on bushtucker and medicine species. They said that many of the grasses that used to grow around the waterholes are gone now. The women went for a walk around the edge of Junction waterhole to look for bush onions, but couldn’t find any. Later on as we were driving along Edie Holmes said:

“Can you stop here so we can pick some bush medicine. There wasn’t any back there. Those donkeys and horses are making a mess of our bush tucker and medicines.

What about pet meating?…

On day two, people talked more about the options for dealing with the animals if they were mustered out of the park and onto the Anurrete Land Trust. The men said that they would sort the horses that came off the park, keeping the good ones to break in for cattle work and shipping the other ones out for sale. People were also agreeable to the idea of pet-meating donkeys if there were too many of them building up on their country, especially if they could make some money out of it. Some people thought there may not be enough donkeys and horses to make it profitable for pet-meaters to come out. The distance from major towns and bad condition of the roads were also thought to be problems. CLC agreed to find out as much information as possible about pet-meating, like how much they pay for a horse, a camel and a donkey, and how many animals are needed to make it profitable for the pet-meaters. All of this information is on the last page of this report.

What about the cost of mustering?…

Parks people said they didn’t really like killing horses and donkeys either, but it is often the only way they can reduce the numbers of horses and donkeys on the park because it is cheaper than mustering, which takes a lot longer in rugged terrain. Jason said that it costs $2,000 each day to hire a helicopter, and to push the animals out of the park would probably cost around $20,000. He said maybe parks could find the money for it.

Cattle enterprise development proposals for the Anurrete ALT…

The CLC Rural Enterprise Unit co-ordinator, Adrian Winwood-Smith said that it will be difficult to make a go of new cattle developments on Anurrete ALT if people are not prepared to control animals like horses and donkeys. These animals eat too much of the bullock’s tucker and make it harder for the cattle enterprise to succeed.

Recommendations

1. Build the fence along the road between the National Park (newly added portion) and Anurrete ALT (see map), employing senior and young Aboriginal people as contractors. The District Manager for parks, Steve Nicholson, said that he has put the fencing up as a minor works project for next year and will try to make it happen. If Parks can’t get the money for the fence, Parks and CLC should look for funding through the ILC and other sources.
2. Apply for a grant to develop a feral animal management strategy for this region (including Davenport-Murchison National Park and Anurrete ALT). Developing such a strategy would require traditional owners, CLC and Parks people working together to come up with a good plan of how to deal with the issue of horse and donkey control. The plan could include identified areas where people want horse and donkeys to be left, and areas where people have agreed it’s alright to remove them.
3. As part of developing a management strategy, or as a separate process, traditional owners, CLC and Parks people could together develop possible trade-off packages offering living areas, employment, training, support for tourism ventures and other benefits for Aboriginal people in exchange for Park’s mob removing horses and donkeys from the national park.

Bush animals

“Pussycats here long time, always pussycats. Dreaming for that pussycat from around here, and the emu, kangaroo and dingo."

Men

“Aker wamper (possum)."

Georgina Holmes

“[Wamper] no more ‘round here. Long time you know, I been eat him, but they’re not here now."

Frankie Holmes

“Used to be lots of them [wamper] when we were kids. They lived all around, everywhere, in the aper (river red gums)."

Men and women

“They all disappeared them things [old animals]."

Edie Holmes

“This country is named after the arrwe [black-footed rock-wallaby]. Still plenty around."

Men

“Ampurte [mulgara] good meat, still some around."

Women

“Little bit of ahere [bilby] at Murray Downs."

Men and women

New Animals

“Camel, horse, bullock, they from overseas. Whitefellas brought them."

Stanley Holmes

“You mob bringin’ too much animal from overseas. Now all the animal belong us, they gone!"

Casey Holeses

“…white people – they been bring all the donkey probably."

Albert Bailey

“Rabbit, he’s from somewhere overseas. We got no business for him."

Men

[The men said they would like to have possums back on their country.]

Ikarle the fresh water crab

“Ikarle is a good medicine. Long time, when kids got sick, and some old people, we used to eat ikarle. We’d get lots of them. To cook them, we throw them in the hot coals. They only live in big waterholes like this."

Edie Holmes

“They have babies there…underneath, under this one, they have babies under there [under the flap]. You can easily lift it up. They have them under there. That’s where they have babies, when they’re ready to have little ones."

Edie Holmes and Dolly Kelly

Kangaroo Waterhole

“Good aker that one.

Linda Dobbs

“My children still eat those. When we take them swimming they just like to dig up crabs."

Edie Holmes

“Ahh no…don’t bite, we just want to look! Lets put him back now."

Dolly Kelly

Information about Pet-meating

The Howard Springs Pet-meating company produces meat for crocodile farms and general pet food. They mostly operate within the Top End during the dry season, but will come south during the wet. Donkeys are not their preferred choice of animal because their meat is really oily and people don’t like feeding it to their dogs. Donkeys also don’t have a lot of meat on them compared to horses and camels. The bloke from this company, Wayne, said they would come and get donkeys from the Anurrete Land Trust area during the dry when their meat supplies run low, as long as there are enough animals to cover their expenses. He said they need between 300 and 400 donkeys to make it profitable for them.

They pay between $5 and $10 per donkey, depending on the size and condition of the animal. That could mean a profit of between $1500 and $4000 for 300−400 donkeys. Wayne also said their company likes to employ local people to work with them, so there is an option for wages for some people too (probably about a week’s work).

They pay between $10 and $15 dollars for a horse, and around $15 for a camel.

Acknowledgements

Thanks to the following people for the use of images in this book: David Hancock (most of the photos of people and landscape shoots from the Davenport Ranges area), Michael Barrett (close up of donkey, mob of horses and bullock), Nic Gambold (lone horse, dingo, emus, black-footed rock-wallaby and camel), Peter Canty (mulgara), Neil Armstrong (Frew River Mogurnda) and Dave Berman (horses in waterhole). Images of other animals were taken from Strahan, R. (2005). Mammals of Australia.

This book was compiled by Ada Nano.