Manyallaluk, The Dreaming Place

Australia

LocationManyallaluk (pronounced Man-yalla-look) is an Aboriginal community with a population of 150 people situated on two thousand square kilometres of land, one hundred kilometres east of the town of Katherine, in the Northern Territory, Australia. The land borders Arnhem Land, and Nitmiluk and Kakadu National Parks. Much of it is rugged and stony. Tourism in Manyallaluk is promoted by a community-owned-and-operated Aboriginal, cultural tour organization that runs one and two day tours throughout the year. The enterprise also manages an onsite camping ground and a 16-unit, powered-site, caravan park. In addition, the community-owned shop sells artifacts made by the local people, as well as basic goods to the tourists. Most visitors to Manyallaluk come via Darwin. From Darwin south to Katherine by car takes a little more than three hours, over a distance of 310 kilometers. Tour companies arrange for transport from Katherine to Manyallaluk, or you may drive your own vehicle.

Aboriginal guides take visitors through the outback to explore secluded pools, rock art and unique flora and fauna.

Historical Background

In 1985 the Jawoyn Association was formed to represent the interests of the Jawoyn people. The Association was keen to establish business enterprises on Jawoyn-owned land in order to provide employment for local Aboriginal people and minimize their dependency on government funding. In 1988 the Jawoyn Association established Jawaluk Pty Ltd. to develop an Aboriginal-run cultural tourism venture in the area. In 1990, Jawaluk approached Terra Safari Tours, a Darwin-based mainstream tour company, to assist with the development of a tour enterprise at Eva Valley and the training of local people to eventually run the enterprise themselves. In 1990, the year before tourism actually started, there were fewer than 50 people living in the community, and there was no formal work. The quality of the housing was poor and there was no electricity or telephones. In fact, the people had to travel 35 kilometres to Barunga, or even further to Katherine, for shopping and health care. At that time all funding for Eva Valley was administered through the Barunga Community Council, and a 1990 Northern Building Consultant's report described the community as "typical of a remote area ‘minor’ Community, where the provision of services, facilities, housing and infrastructure are provided on an adhoc annual funding basis with little knowledge of the intentions and aspirations of local people and little evidence of forward planning.”

Learning to paint with traditional ochres.

Recent Development

Tourism development at Manyallaluk has focused on sharing the local Aboriginal culture with short-stay visitors. Specific programming has emphasised the "tour". The one-day tour was introduced in 1991, followed by the two-day tour in 1994. As well, from 1992 until 1995, a four-day tour was offered, and in 1996 there was a short experiment with a five-day tour. The current focus emphasizes expanding and consolidating the one and two-day programming. As the Manyallaluk tours developed, it became necessary to construct and upgrade the tourist infrastructure. Roads were improved, tourist accommodation and a toilet and shower block built, an office and shop building constructed, walking paths established and landscaping completed. The cost of these improvements was considerable and only possible through government funding, although much of the actual work was carried out by the local community under the Community Development Enterprise Program (CDEP). New vehicles were also purchased for transporting tourists to and from Katherine, and for taking them to the bush camp on the two day tour. During the first years of operation the majority of tourists visiting Manyallaluk came through an external organization, Terra Safari Tours. While this was a good beginning, revenues were small and it was clear that the challenge for Manyallaluk would be to promote its own tours and increase the number of independent tourists booking directly with Manyallaluk. By 1994, Manyallaluk was having 40,000 brochures printed and distributed annually by a Darwin-based marketing company. As well, the manager and one of the guides regularly attended trade shows in Darwin and Sydney. In 1994, 1995, and 1996, Manyallaluk won several tourism awards for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Tourism and for Cultural and Heritage Tourism. In 1996 it won its third national Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Tourism award, placing it in the Hall of Fame.

Learning traditional pandanus weaving techniques.

Community Development Milestones

The tour enterprise manager and the Manyallaluk Community Council are responsible for ensuring that the community benefits directly from the enterprise, and that there is an appropriate balance between culture and commerce. Importantly, the community population has tripled since tourism began and people have moved from elsewhere to join family members at Manyallaluk because they have heard that Manyallaluk is "a good place to live". Some of the achievements that have contributed to this positive image and community development include the 1993 alcohol ban. It was in this year that the Manyallaluk Community Council decided to become a ‘dry’ community and alcohol was prohibited for everyone, tourists included. This has made the community a healthier and more peaceful place to live. Further, in 1993, Manyallaluk formed its own Aboriginal Corporation and took over the management of the tourism operation from the Jawoyn Association - a major step towards community self determination. The Manyallaluk tourism enterprise is now completely owned and controlled by the Manyallaluk Aboriginal Corporation.

The Tourism Experience

The one-day tour is the core tourist experience at Manyallaluk. It also provides the platform for the first day of the two-day tour. The tour is run by a group of men and women guides and provides tourists with plenty of opportunity for informal interaction. During the morning of the one-day tour, tourists are taken on a bush walk where they are shown bush tucker and bush medicines, told about the cultural significance of the local plants, taught their Aboriginal language names, and given details on how the plants are collected, prepared and used. After a barbecue lunch of kangaroo and beef, along with salads and home-made damper, tourists are given a 'hands on' introduction to traditional skills, including spear throwing, basket making, fire making, painting, and playing the didgeridoo. At the end of the day, tourists on the two day tour travel in a four-wheel drive vehicle to a bush camp, in a picturesque setting next to a large waterhole. They spend the second day in the company of an Aboriginal guide walking in the bush and viewing rock art sites in the area. These sites connect with the large number of rock art sites located along the rocky escarpments throughout Kakadu National Park and Arnhem Land.

The Market

Manyallaluk is accessible all year with an ordinary two-wheel drive vehicle. This gives it a great advantage since most remotely-situated Aboriginal tour enterprises in the Northern Territory are not accessible by self-drive vehicles. Approximately 1,750 tourists visit Manyallaluk each year, with more than 80 percent of them taking the one-day tour. Over 65 per cent are international tourists with the three main markets being the United Kingdom, the United States, and Germany. More than 85 per cent of the visitors travel independently, while just 14 per cent are part of an organized tour group.

Community Participation and CDEP

The tour enterprise is the focus of the Manyallaluk CDEP program. Often as many as 20 people are working as guides and up to 50 are employed full or part-time through CDEP. Other CDEP jobs include mechanical, building and maintenance work, horticultural jobs, and work in the office and shop. Those who do not work directly with tourists support the enterprise by keeping equipment maintained and making Manyallaluk an attractive place to visit. The community has a 'no work, no pay' policy, and the pay structure rewards commitment and seniority through the top-up of wages from tourism income. Manuel Pamkal, one of the guides at Manyallaluk, links tourism and work opportunities to an improved lifestyle at Manyallaluk. "People want to stay here and work. [Manyallaluk has a] restricted area for alcohol. [In] other places they're drinking much and fighting too much. We've got lots of jobs.....garbage run, creche, multi-purpose centre, buffalo catching, mud brick machine to make own house, fencing. Tourism is a really big one for us." Women have played a major role in the development of the Manyallaluk tour enterprise and CDEP wages mean that some families now enjoy two incomes. There is a creche for women with young children, and older children now attend school each day at Barunga. Several women have completed child care courses, and some women have passed their driving tests, something that significantly affects their opportunities. There are new opportunities for young people as well, and several young men and women have become trainee guides. Though some young people may still experience difficulties, this future does hold potential for paid employment and parents are active role models in this regard. All this represents a major change in less than a decade.

Economic benefits

Visitor numbers continue to grow, though income from tourism has risen more rapidly because Manyallaluk is less dependent on outside tour operators. Currently, 75 percent of all tourists visiting Manyallaluk make direct bookings. This has drastically reduced commissions paid to external operators.. Before the growth of tourism, there was no local store at Manyallaluk. Consequently any money local people had was spent outside the community. Now residents shop at the community-owned store, and profits have been used to build a cool room and purchase other equipment for the community. Income from the sale of artifacts produced by residents has also increased dramatically since tourists started coming to Manyallaluk. In 1995 the shop earned AU$13,000 gross on the sale of artifacts alone. Only permanent residents of the community are eligible for membership in the Manyallaluk Aboriginal Corporation and to participate in community decision-making. This means that all benefits from the tourism business accrue directly to the local community. Also, no individuals, inside or outside the community, are paid dividends from the profits of the tourism enterprise.

Promoting Local Culture and Traditional Heritage

The development of tourism at Manyallaluk has provided new opportunities for the promotion and practice of aboriginal culture and generated new interest in the display and interpretation of heritage. Specifically, tourism has helped strengthen regional identity. Typically tourists know very little about the regional differences of the native peoples, and international tourists, in particular, think that all Aboriginal people have boomerangs, or didgeridoos. The tours at Manyallaluk teach tourists about the distinctive regional culture shared by the people of Arnhem land. Tourism has also strengthened traditional skills. Before the development of tourism, people lived at Manyallaluk in order to access the plentiful supply of natural resources. The residents were keen hunters and foragers, and at least one of the older men reportedly still used a spear, as well as a gun. When tourism began to develop, many of these men and women became guides and began teaching their skills to tourists. Now, the older people are passing their skills on to the young people, some of whom have spent most of their lives living in towns rather than the bush. Tourism has enabled community members to practice their skills to the point where several of the guides have recently won art and spear throwing competitions at the annual Barunga festival, one of the largest indigenous festivals in Australia. Tourism has also had a direct effect on language and art. Often, tourists are keen to hear Aboriginal languages and learn a few words. The guides at Manyallaluk teach the tourists about the community languages and also about Kriol, the local Aboriginal English. Younger members of the community who knew very little of the language are now learning it so they can work with the tourists. There are 200 art sites on Manyallaluk, many of them not yet recorded. Since tourism started, guides have a greater opportunity to visit country away from the community and take an active custodial role over the sites. In addition to this, several of the guides are skilled story tellers and their role includes telling tourists some of the regional stories from the “Dreaming”. Younger guides are now learning to tell those stories.

Environmental Sustainability

The Manyallaluk area is quite large, and tourists are only permitted to visit a very small portion. That means with careful management and by regularly changing routes and sites, the community is able to minimize environmental impact. Also, tourists must always be accompanied by a guide when away from the tourist area. This reduces the possibility of damage to sites of specific significance, and to the landscape more generally. Several of the guides have lived at Manyallaluk all of their lives and are always on the lookout for the smallest changes. The guides are careful to monitor the use of natural resources. The pandanus used for weaving, and other raw materials growing near the community, are used with tourists, while community members travel further away to collect raw materials for their own use. Similarly, kangaroo meat for the tourists' lunch is bought at the butcher shop in Katherine, while community members hunt for themselves on Manyallaluk land. Consistent efforts are made to manage the community and tourist areas from an environmental perspective. Since 1991 many trees have been planted and the area has been generally cleaned up. Hot water is heated using solar panels and, where possible, materials are recycled. Even the cardboard boxes from the shop are used as mulch under trees.

Social Sustainability

The Manyallaluk community is developing a tourist enterprise to provide long-term economic independence and self-determination for its people. Each stage in the development of the tourist enterprise is discussed by the community as a whole. The tourism manager is responsible for the day-to-day operation, but strategic decisions are made through the elected council. As a result, the pace and style of development is controlled, ensuring its overall sustainability. The community area is separate and out of sight from the tourist area, and tourists are not permitted to visit it. This ensures community privacy and allows guides to go home and relax at the end of the day without being permanently on display. The community council has also decided there will be no photography of the community homes. Manyallaluk has developed an innovative work structure which has been one of the keys to the success of the enterprise. Guides work in two groups, which are basically two extended families. Each group works seven days on and then has seven days off. This gives the guides time to maintain family responsibilities and engage in other activities, such as shopping, hunting and artifact production. These groups are also large enough to allow the guides to adhere to the cultural rules governing kin relationships and speech avoidance, where, in some instances, family members are not permitted to name each other, speak directly to each other, or be alone together. The development and operation of tourism at Manyallaluk is, of course, not without challenges. As mentioned earlier, two of the Manyallaluk tour products were withdrawn from the market. Determining what tourists want, and what the community is able to provide while retaining its internal priorities is always challenging. In addition, it is difficult to fill all management positions because numeracy and literacy skills are generally low. At this stage Manyallaluk continues to employ non-Aboriginals in certain training and management roles.

Lessons Learned

In community-based cultural tourism, it is necessary to have a core group of guides or interpreters who really do enjoy working with tourists. In Australia, it is important to recognize that not all Aboriginals want to, or are are suited to, work as tour guides. The development of a core group of guides is critical to success at Manyallaluk, and generally at many community-based tourism programs.

In addition, ensuring the security of the natural environment, plus the re-development of cultural heritage, is critical for the development of the industry. Comments from recent visitors attest to the important elements of the experience.

This has been the most exciting stay of our Australian tour with a lot of exciting experiences and traveling with a lot of friendly and smiling locals. Many thanks. Alie and Allan Andersen, Denmark

I learned so much and it was a privilege to meet you good people. May the world learn from your wise ways of taking care of our planet.

Estell Field, U.S.A.

This was the most interesting day I've spent in Australia so far. Our hosts were very kind and informative. I feel privileged to learn about Aboriginal culture as it is such a natural way of life in harmony with the environment.

Caroline Buckley, London, United Kingdom

Contact:

Nick De Candilo

Manager

Manyallaluk Aboriginal Cultural Tours

PMB 134

Katherine, Northern Territory,

Australia, 0851

61 8 8975-4727 (Phone)

61 8 8975-4724 (Fax)http://www.tourism.gov.au/publications/talent/manyallaluk.html

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Source:http://www.community-tourism.org