February & March 2008 Newsletter from didjshop.com

Editorial

This Didjshop newsletter edition is probably the biggest ever issue and rightly so because we are celebrating a double anniversary: sixteen years in the didgeridoo industry and eight years on the internet.

The best anniversary present for us is that Australia's new prime minister Kevin Rudd has said 'Sorry' to Australia's indigenous people for the past wrongs committed (see article below).

As a 'thank you' for being involved in this global didgeridoo community and as a 'thank you' to everyone who has helped Didjshop.com to become the industry leader we decided to offer you several Anniversary Super Specials. Since we have been wholesaling since sixteen years and retailing since eight years on the internet, we decided to allow our retail customers to buy from us at wholesale prices for a short time. For sixteen days only you can buy from Didjshop.com at up to 50% discount!!! (more below)

Our second 'thank you' present to all of you is a new advanced didj playing page teaching most of the sounds you can hear in our individual sound files. Many of you have asked us for advanced playing guides and were even prepared to pay for it, so here they are for free!

In return we like to ask all of you for a favour and that is to please play your didj at sunset on 20th March and join the global didj circle for the equinox mediation, not just for us but also in memory of Alan Dargin.

I am very sad to report that didgeridoo legend Alan Dargin died on 25th February after suffering a stroke, aged only 40. Alan was one of the world's very best didgeridoo players and became famous for his album Bloodwood.
Some of you might have met Alan busking at Sydney's Circular Quay, which he did frequently. But most people walking past him there would not have realised that Alan travelled the world and gave performances with the Vienna and London symphony orchestra, before the King of Norway, Francois Mitterand and in many countries around the world. Recently Alan went to Korea on behalf of the Australian Foreign Department. He also had roles in several films, including Fringe Dwellers and The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. Alan was working on his latest album together with with James Morrison and Tommy Emmanuel, which hopefully will be released later this year.
Alan will be missed by many didgeridoo friends around the world and we wish to dedicate the next worldwide didgeridoo meditation to Alan Dargin, may he rest in peace. Please join in to give him a good send-off, thanks.

Back to the worldwide equinox didgeridoo meditation, we have created a new map of the world that shows all the participants who have already registered for the next meditation event. We hope that this will allow more of you to didj together. There are already about 150 locations around the world where the didj will be played. Please add yourself to the map and help to send a loud and strong wave of didj sound ringing around this beautiful planet. May our didjes speak for the land and raise global awareness for the need to respect our environment. And may our didjes be inspired by Alan Dargin's gentle but powerful spirit...

Talking about didgeridoo legends, David Hudson told me a couple of weeks ago that he is going back to the Tjapukai dance theatre as their creative director. David helped to start Tjapukai in the eighties but went his own ways in the early to mid nineties to become a world-renown musician, entertainer and actor. In our 2006 visitor survey, David was voted most famous didgeridoo player. David continues his musical career with an independent label and you might want to check out his recent and upcoming releases. It is exiting to see David go back to Tjapukai and he is sure to rejuvenate the place and bring new ideas and dances to the show. So next time you come to Cairns, make sure you check out his new show.

We have also added over fifty new didjes to our online shop, all with individual pictures and most with individual sound files as usual.

Next our customer questionnaire has closed and you can read about the winner below. In this month winners section you can also see who the two monthly winners are and read about Ilya in Russia who won last years prize didj.
The results of our customer results were an overwhelming endorsement of Didjshop didjes, but check them out yourself below!

While I am talking about local issues, here a bit of trivia: I got involved in a community group wanting to find sustainable transport options in our region and there is certainly something we can learn from Aboriginal communities: in Far North Queensland about 6.5% of people walk to work. This varies from as low as 4.3% in Cairns to 11.8% in Port Douglas. However in Yarrabah (an Aboriginal community across the inlet from Cairns which is not much smaller than some of the other townships) 40% of people walk to work and in Wujul Wujul nearly 60% walk to work! Now that is what I call sustainable transport!

Enjoy the rest of the newsletter....

Svargo

Saying Sorry - a Historic Moment

On February 12th the 42nd Australian parliament met for the first time since the election in November.
In a historic change to tradition, a Welcome to Country by local Aboriginal Traditional Owner and Ngambri elder Matilda House Williams preceded the swearing in of the members of parliament. Members of Aboriginal communities around Australia were involved in the ceremony.
This was probably the first time ever that the sounds of the didgeridoo were heard in the halls of the Australian parliament!
Both sides of parliament agreed to always start future parliaments with such a Welcome to Country, which is wonderful news and gives Australian Aboriginal people an important recognition.

In the first sitting of the new parliament on February 13th, Australia's new prime minister Kevin Rudd then fulfilled his election promise and said 'Sorry' to the indigenous people of Australia. Over one hundred Aboriginal elders and members of the stolen generation witnessed the event from the public gallery and thousands watched it on huge screens on the parliament lawns and tens of thousands watched the live broadcast on big public screens around the country.

While the government paid for the over one hundred stolen generation members in the public gallery to travel to Canberra, many others wanted to be there too. Didjshop.com donated several hundred dollars to help Stolen Generation members to travel to Canberra so they too could listen to the speech and become part of this historic moment.

And a historic moment it was! Not just historic but very emotional for many, especially the Stolen Generation members involved. Many eyes were filled with tears as the long overdue apology was finally delivered and at the end of Kevin Rudd's speech the house rose in unison to applaud. Roaring applause was also heard several times at the different public venues across the country.

With the notable exception of John Howard all living former prime ministers from both major parties attended the sitting, even though some had important previous engagements. It is a shame that John Howard made such a negative statement with his refusal to attend, but hopefully it will be a shame on him.
Sadly no Aboriginal leader was allowed to speak in parliament with the government claiming that "standing orders don't provide for that to be a possibility". We would question why an Aboriginal elder cannot speak to the Australian parliament when foreign dignitaries like George Bush can.
However those blemishes could not take away from the greatness of this moment in Australian history.

During his speech Mr Rudd told the chamber that under the former Howard government "there has been a stony, stubborn and deafening silence for more than a decade", but that "decency, human decency, universal human decency, demands that the nation now step forward to right an historical wrong".

The Prime Minister told the story of Nanna Fejo, one of thousands suffering a similar fate. Nanna was one of several children hidden in holes dug into the creek bank by her community, but found by the white 'welfare men' and piled onto the back of the truck while screaming for her mother who she never saw again.
Kevin Rudd continued: "The hurt, the humiliation, the degradation and the sheer brutality of the act of physically separating a mother from her children is a deep assault on our senses and on our most elemental humanity."

He also quoted the then Northern Territory Protector of Natives: "Generally by the fifth and invariably by the sixth generation, all native characteristics of the Australian Aborigine are eradicated. The problem of our half-castes will quickly be eliminated by the complete disappearance of the black race, and the swift submergence of their progeny in the white."
Kevin Rudd continued: "The Western Australian Protector of Natives expressed not dissimilar views, expounding them at length in Canberra in 1937 at the first national conference on indigenous affairs that brought together the Commonwealth and state protectors of natives."
We welcome that the prime minister outlined the reason for the forced removals, the systematic elimination of the Aboriginal race.

The key message of the speech is: "To the stolen generations, I say the following: as Prime Minister of Australia, I am sorry. On behalf of the government of Australia, I am sorry. On behalf of the parliament of Australia, I am sorry."

It is wonderful to hear that the Prime Minister did not stop at saying sorry but outlined where his government intends to go from here: "Today's apology, however inadequate, is aimed at righting past wrongs. It is also aimed at building a bridge between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians - a bridge based on a real respect rather than a thinly veiled contempt.
Our challenge for the future is to cross that bridge and, in so doing, to embrace a new partnership between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians - to embrace, as part of that partnership, expanded Link-up and other critical services to help the stolen generations to trace their families if at all possible and to provide dignity to their lives. But the core of this partnership for the future is to close the gap between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians on life expectancy, educational achievement and employment opportunities."

We welcome this great speech, full of honesty and with the potential to heal old wounds and start afresh.

Ronnie, one of our Aboriginal suppliers, went down to Canberra for the event and had this to share: "It was very emotional for me as I was taken away from my family at the age of 5 and taken to the mission at Mona Mona. It was moving because everyone in there white or black had tears in their eyes. The word 'Sorry' really hit me inside. I give Kevin Rudd 10 out of 10 for having the courage to address the issue. I hope we can all try and get along now."

The Dalai Lama has congratulated Prime Minister Kevin Rudd for the apology to the Stolen Generations, describing it as a timely, appropriate and civilised thing to do.

Opposition leader Brendon Nelson opposed an apology even two weeks before the event, repeatedly using the term "forcibly removed generations" and expressing his hope that the term "stolen" not be used in the apology.
However one week before the event the Liberal party room after a four hour discussion finally supported the governments intention to say sorry.
In his reply speech in parliament, Mr Nelson said: "Our generation does not own these actions, nor should it feel guilt for what was done in many, but not all cases, with the best of intentions." and: "Even when motivated by inherent humanity and decency to reach out to the dispossessed in extreme adversity, our actions can have unintended outcomes. As such, many decent Australians are hurt by accusations of theft in relation to their good intentions."
This is when people in the audience started turning their back to Mr Nelson and soon about three quarters of the people watching the live broadcast on the parliament lawn had turned away from the screen in an expression of disagreement and displeasure with the words of the opposition leader, who seemed to still try and justify the horrendous wrongs committed.

Brendan Nelson then used the words of Aunty Faye Lynam to somewhat prove that "good was being sought to be done" at the time.
He quoted Aunty Faye's oral history from the National Library of Australia: "Personally I don't want people to say, 'I'm sorry Faye' - I just want them to understand. It was very hurtful to leave Dad. Oh it broke my heart. Dad said to me, It's hard for daddy and the authorities won't let you stay with me in a tent on the riverbank. You're a little girl and you need someone to look after you. I remember him telling us that, and I cried. I said, 'No, but Dad, you look after us.' But they kept telling us it wasn't the right thing. I don't want people to say sorry. I just want them to understand the hurt, what happened when we were initially separated, and just understand the society, what they've done. You don't belong in either world. I can't explain it. It hurts so much."

Victorian elder Aunty Faye Lynam was shocked and distraught to hear her words in Mr Nelson's speech and Federal Opposition Leader Brendan Nelson was subsequently forced to apologised to Auntie Faye.
It is sad that the new opposition leader seems to continue the rather disrespectful stance of the former Howard government, but his extremely low popularity ratings seem to indicate that those views are not helping him (in recent polls only 7% approve of him).

Some people claim that saying sorry will enable Stolen Generation members to claim compensation. This is a rumour that seems to have been circulated by the former Liberal government of John Howard as a reason for not doing so. New South Wales law society president Hugh Macken disputes this view and argues that the apology will have no more legal impact than the NSW based apology given already 12 years ago. When questioned on the issue, former federal attorney-general Philip Ruddock said that the Howard government did never seek any legal advice on possible compensation.
It is also evident that there is a case for compensation without the official apology and in fact last year Bruce Trevorrow, who was removed from hospital as a baby in 1957, was the first Stolen Generation member who was awarded compensation after a ten year legal battle. Two weeks before the prime ministers speech his compensation payment was increased to A$775,000.-. The government also has to pay his legal bill and ironically his lawyers are going to receive more than Bruce does.
So clearly there is a case for compensation whether or not there is a formal apology and the government might be well advised to create a compensation fund similar to the Tasmanian government's initiative last year. It could save them a lot of legal costs...

We have added a new page to our website with the full text of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's speech. Please do read it, it is worth your while.

Customer Questionnaire Results

On the 15th February we closed our customer questionnaire competition and you can read below who the lucky winner of the fantastic Brad Gosam didj is. Here you can read about the results from that questionnaire, giving you some insights about why people buy from Didjshop.com and how satisfied they are with their Didjshop didj.
We wish to take this opportunity to thank the over 600 customers who answered the questionnaire for their almost unanimous endorsement of Didjshop didjes, we are truly overwhelmed with the results!

Question: "How would you rate the sound quality of your didj?"
Much better than expected = 9.7%; Better than expected = 40.85%; It was exactly what I expected = 45.23%; Not quite as good as expected = 3.91%; Nowhere near as good as expected = 0.31%
The sound quality of over 95% of Didjshop didjes meets or exceeds the expectations of our customers!

Question: "How would you rate the workmanship of your didj (1 means very poor, 10 means very high)?"
10 = 45.38%; 9 = 23.79%; 8 = 21.91%; 7 = 6.89%; 6 = 1.1%; 5 = 0.46%; 4 = 0.15%; 3 = 0.31%; 2 = 0%; 1 = 0%
98% of Didjshop customers rate our workmanship as 7 out of 10 or better!

Question: "How would you rate the looks of your didj (1 means very poor, 10 means very high)?"
10 = 45.54%; 9 = 21.75%; 8 = 19.56%; 7 = 8.76%; 6 = 2.66%; 5 = 1.25%; 4 = 0.32%; 3 = 0.16%; 2 = 0%; 1 = 0%
Over 95% of our customers rate the looks of their Didjshop didj as 7 out of 10 or better!

Question: "How would you rate our service (1 means very poor, 10 means very high)?"
10 = 77.62%; 9 = 14.24%; 8 = 5.95%; 7 = 1.56%; 6 = 0.16%; 5 = 0.16%; 4 = 0%; 3 = 0.16%; 2 = 0.16%; 1 = 0%
Over 99% of customers rate the Didjshop service as 7 out of 10 or better and three out of four customers rate our service ten out of ten!!!

Question: "Overall, how satisfied are you with your didj?"
The didj was much better than expected = 17.53%; The didj was better than expected = 49.3%; The didj was just what I expected = 28.17%; The didj was less than expected = 4.54%; The didj was unsatisfactory = 0.47%
95% of Didjshop customers are satisfied or found their didj to be even better than expected!
2/3 of customers found their Didjshop didjes to be even better than expected!

Other questions posed to our customers revealed that:
22.53% of Didjshop didjes sold were successfully used to learn circular breathing on, which is a lot considering that over 60% of customers learned circular breathing on another didj or before buying the didj they answered the questionnaire for.
24.88% of Didjshop didjes sold are used for performances or recordings.
22.38% of Didjshop didjes sold are used for healing
37.56% of Didjshop didjes sold are used for meditation

Question: "How often do you play this didj on average?"
28% = once a day or more; 24.56% = more than twice a week; 23.47% = once or twice a week; 16.59% = once a month or more; 4.38% = once a year or more; 1.25% = less than once a year; 1.72% = not at all
Over 75% of all Didjshop didjes are being played at least once a week or more! That is excellent and exceeds our expectations.

To finish off, here just a few samples of how customers compared their Didjshop.com didjes to others:

• Anonymous from Canada: "For termite hollowed didjes, there is hardly a comparison, it is true High Concert Class, others can't touch it!"
• Massimiliano from Switzerland: "It is the best didj I have in terms of sound."
• Larry Steiner from Australia: "The didges from the Didjshop are definitely better sounding."
• Fred Ashplant from USA: "I think the Peckham family AD082 has the best sound of any of my didges. I have 2 Djalu Gurruwiwi didges that were brought back from Arnhem Land by my friend Ben H., who also made my first didge. The Djalu didges in E and C# are also very good."
• Paul from United Kingdom: "The sound quality surprised me and I felt it was better than the grade you gave it, so excellent value for the money and it is up there with the best of my others."
• Martin Luh from Austria: "ah761 was higher priced but has much higher value as workmanship and sound is light-years better."

Didjshop Anniversary - New Didjes and Super Specials

Just over eight years ago, on 14th February 2000, Didjshop.com shipped it's first didj ordered over the internet. That customer was so happy with the didj he got, that he went on to buy ten didjes from us. This was a sign of things to come and since then we have sold thousands of didjes into over sixty different countries and over 30% of all orders are from repeat customers! We are certain that this makes us the biggest didj retailer on the internet.
We are also celebrating a second anniversary: nearly sixteen years ago our wholesale business, the Didgeridoo Specialist, sold it's first didjes.

So we have two reasons to celebrate and have done a few things to celebrate these anniversaries.

Firstly we have created maps of the world showing the delivery locations of most didjes we have sold retail over the internet. Here is a small version on the right, every dot represents a Didjshop.com didj. You can then select one of twenty five countries to zoom into and check out where in your neighbourhood there is a Didjshop.com didj. With thousands of didjes sold in the last eight years, there is bound to be one not too far away from you. Enjoy them!

Next we have added over 50 new didjes to what is already the biggest selection of didjes on the internet. As usual there is a wide range of plain and painted didjes of all sound qualities and sizes, however there are high concert class didjes in seven different keys and also two didjes which have some of the biggest bells we have ever had, each one being well over 300mm across! As a valued newsletter reader you can check these new didjes out here.

Then to really celebrate our anniversaries, for sixteen days only we offer you the biggest Didjshop.com discounts ever:
you can buy any one of 80 didjes at 40% discount!
you can buy any shield at 40% discount!
you can buy any spear at 40% discount!
you can buy any small canvas at 40% discount!
you can buy any medium canvas at 40% discount!
and you can buy any large canvas art at an incredible 50% discount!
NOTE: This anniversary special will be available only from 16th until 31st March!

This is the largest ever discount we have offered and a unique opportunity to try our superior quality and workmanship if you are not yet the owner of a Didjshop.com didj. It is also the best ever opportunity to buy some of our other Aboriginal arts and artefacts. Have a look at Brad Gosam's incredible dot on dot art on canvas and image one of these wonderful Aboriginal art paintings on your wall!

Please be aware that this anniversary offer will be available for only 16 days, so take advantage of this unique opportunity while you can...

Another anniversary present for all of you is our new advanced didj sounds teaching page. We have often been asked to produce a teaching CD or video for advanced didgeridoo playing. Instead we have decided to provide this for free as a thanks to the thousands of customers who have supported us during the last eight years on the internet. Enjoy!

Last not least we have added another new page to our website for the regular Worldwide Didgeridoo Meditations. The new 'Next Worldwide Didj meditation' page shows where in the world people will participate in the next worldwide didj meditation. This will allow more and more people to connect with each other for these events. As you can see on that page there are already people in well over one hundred and fifty locations committed to participate in this next worldwide didj meditation on the 20th March 2008. Just imagine, together we will send a wave of didj sound around the world, what better way for the global didj community to come together?
We like to dedicate this didgeridoo meditation to Alan Dargin, one of the worlds best didgeridoo players who died in Sydney on 25th January, may he rest in peace.
Please celebrate Alan and our anniversary by participating in this global didj circle and add yourself to the map! Thank you.

Four Winners this Month!

2007 Price Didj Winner
As announced in the last newsletter the winner of the 2007 prize didgeridoo valued at over A$1500 was Ilya Suvorov from Kursk in Russia. Ilya received his prize didj and here is his picture and his comments on this Brad Gosam didj:

"This excellent Brad Gosam MAGO arrived packed SO WELL I couldn't expect. Everything was just fine with the didj (I heard earlier that travelling overseas is a really big shock for Aboriginal didgeridoos but when I saw the way you did the package all my worries have gone). UPS have worked fine too - 5 days and blue tongued lizard knocks at my door :-) And the T-shirt is incredible. When my brother saw it he asked "Why don't you ordered five?" =)) Well, next time I'll order a couple for him. This didj makes people who see it for a first time exclaim and surprise. It has the best artwork I've ever seen, so those people would spend some time to scan it all over. It seizes your lips inside once you give it a blow. This is the Brad Gosam Mago with blue tongued lizard slipping down to the bell.
Though it's in C it can be played very fast. It sounds incredibly loud letting the vibe to penetrate entire body. Great back pressure and easy toot. Amazing vocal calls. And the most wonderful thing that I didn't even know what else the Lizard hid inside the didj :-) . [our comment: that 'what else' was the Didjshop.com t-shirt]
Great Thanks to the people who made it happened. I have truly enjoyed your service. Keep on Didjing!"

Ilya will play this didj for our next Worldwide Didgeridoo Meditation next Thursday, 20th March in Petersburg. Good to see that this prize didj landed in the hands of someone who is going to appreciate and play it. Enjoy it and keep on didjing, Ilya!

February Winner
The winner of our February A$50 shopping voucher is Jerome Leroy from Brunoy in France.
Here a few of Jerome's comments:
On the Didjshop: "Very well realisation. The only site that gives so much details on Aboriginals and all that is connected with Aboriginal people. Congrates"
On his meditation experience: "I like to use it a long time playing just the drone to get myself in another state of mind where everything becomes one where nothingness appears at the edge of the world making me feel my insignificance and my importance. All of this in hearing this so particular sound of the didj. It helps you put everything in perspective."
On what inspired him to learn the didj: "I simply like the sound of it and am very interested in music of any type. The didj has however something unique. It can only produce one tune (2 with the hoot) but you can do so much incredible things with it if you have only a didgeridoo, a mouth and some patience to learn!!!"
On Didjshop service: "The service is perfect, when you ask a question it is answered quickly. The workmanship is breathtaking."
On his Didjshop didj: "This didj is awesome, I never heard something like this, and still it's a low to medium concert class... It's beautiful, and simply there is nothing else to say for the price!"
Thanks, Jerome for your wonderful comments, congratulations on your win and we are looking forward to hearing from you to redeem the shopping voucher.

March Winner
The winner of our March A$ 50 shopping voucher is Andre Onuki from Sao Paulo in Brazil.
Here is Andre's comment on Didjshop.com: "Great site. Lots of info. Nice design too."
Andre said that the most common didj question he is asked is: "What is it?". We found his answer most interesting: "It is like a Australian "berrante" (a Brazilian didgeridoo like instrument)."
As we found out a Berrante is made from a 4-6'long ox horn (I never knew they grow that long!), but it is blown like a horn or a conch, not like a didj. However if one would cut it a foot or so shorter, the mouth piece should be big enough to play it like a didj.
Congratulations, Andre to your win and thanks for your great comments, we are looking forward to hear from you.

Customer Questionnaire Winner
The winner of our customer questionnaire price didj is Gerry Laughlin from Charleston in South Carolina in USA. Gerry bought four didjes form us and he is overjoyed as it is his birthday this week and he always wanted a Brad Gosam didj.
Here is Gerry's comment in his winning entry on what he likes about his didj ad492, which is a low concert in the key of A: "To put it simply, everything. The workmanship is top notch, the sound quality is excellent. It is a delight to play and a work of art."
And this is what Gerry said about Didjshop.com: "The service has always been very good. I recommend all of my friends who are interested in buying a didj to this site."

Thanks for referring your friends to Didjsop.com, Gerry. This is really appreciated as Didjshop does not do any advertising and relies totally on word of mouth.
We trust you will enjoy this prize didj. Seeing that the other four didjes you bought form us are all plain, we are curious to hear your feedback on Brad Gosam's art :-) .
Happy Birthday and congratulations on your win!

If you would also like to win a Brad Gosam didj, simply go and fill out our questionnaire for 2008 to receive an entry in the draw for yet another great didgeridoo to be given away.

Aboriginal News

As usual here you can read recent Aboriginal news to keep yourself informed about Aboriginal issues in Australia:

• Personal interests behind former government's intervention policy?
  In May 2006 the then Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Mal Brough travelled to the Tiwi Islands, north of Darwin, to sign the first 99-year lease giving the federal government control over the township of Nguiu in return for ten million dollars towards the construction of a boarding college. At the time we wondered why Aboriginal communities have to sign their hard won land rights back over to the government in order to get basic services that are provided without any conditions to similar sized non-Aboriginal communities.
  After loosing his seat Mal Brough has recently returned to Tiwi Island in a private capacity. Word has it that Mal Brough and two partners he is refusing to reveal want to start a development in Nguiu. This seems to be a conflict of interest if the man who used federal government money to get Tiwi Islanders to sign a 99-year lease now is set to personally profit from this lease.
  Mal Brough claims he is doing it all to help the islanders and points out that the development is going to employ 50 people - "It's not about me making money", Mal said.
  Maybe the project will help Tiwi Islanders and we sure hope it will, but it is still very suspicious and highly questionable that the former minister was so determined to push through the very legislation that made this development possible, and there is more...
  The new Rudd government has announced 20 million dollars to be spent on upgrading housing in the Northern Territory (on top of 1.6 billions for Australia wide Aboriginal housing over the next four years) and invited the opposition Liberal party to join an indigenous housing committee. The Liberals nominated Mal Brough to sit on that committee.
  Central Land Council director David Ross was quoted in the February 15 Melbourne Herald Sun as saying: “Asking for Mal Brough’s inclusion is just provocative and puts the entire process in jeopardy. Brough’s approach was punitive, autocratic and arrogant. He deliberately excluded the people who were most affected by his changes, and he completely ignored any evidence which didn't support his views. There is no place for him on any committee.”
  Let's see what will follow...
  
• While Mal Brough won't be happy, we are delighted to hear that the new Labor government has passed legislation to keep the permit system for Aboriginal land in the Northern Territory, overturning legislation the previous Liberal government introduced shortly before the election they lost.
  New Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin announced that government contractors and journalists will be exempt and able to enter Aboriginal communities for work reasons without a permit.
  Reinstating the permit system will help Aboriginal communities to retain control about who can come onto their land, a basic right of every Australian land owner. We believe this will go a long way in protecting Aboriginal communities from fraudsters, paedophiles and other undesirables.
• There have been claims by commercial fishermen in the Northern Territory (NT), that dugong stocks are still hunted unsustainably by Aboriginal people. The Australian dugong is closely related to the Manatee. As we reported earlier while it is illegal in Australia to hunt dugongs, Aboriginal people are allowed to hunt the endangered species for cultural reasons. In practice this has led to thousands of dugongs being killed, often simply because hunting dugongs with outboards and harpoons is very easy and a source of lots of meat rather than the intended cultural reasons. The last survey done in 2002 found that about 1600 dugongs were killed every year in Australia's northern waters. What is needed is a management strategy and a system that ensures sustainable hunting. Let us hope that Northern Territory communities are following the lead of FNQ indigenous communities and implement measures to ensure the long term viability of hunting this endangered species.
  
• There are reports of the negative effects of the large royalty payments some Aboriginal communities receive from mining operations on their land. Tennant Creek police reported 84 incidences of alcohol-fuelled violence in the two days after a royalty payment was made to local Aboriginal groups.
  The Northern Territory's deputy police commissioner, Bruce Werner says: "It's a tragic thing that payments with the potential to do so much good for a community seem to end in absolute misery." and he is warning that the huge bulk of royalty payments cause binge drinking and violence in the community.
  Mr Werner would like the payment system for royalties to change.
  We agree and would also like to see communities receiving some help with budgeting and planning so these funds or at least a large part of them can be used to improve living conditions and economic opportunities of the community. This is a very touchy issue as Aboriginal communities really need to start talking some responsibility for their situation, but often are inexperienced in managing finances and developments.
  
• The National Association for the Visual Arts (NAVA) with funding from the Australia Council is developing a National Code of Conduct on Indigenous Art which intends to outline what is appropriate behaviour between artists and dealers.
  Sadly the code will not be enforced by legislation, but it should be a good start and hopefully will be adopted by all reputable dealers when it is released in the next month or two.
  
• The Haven backpacker resort in Alice Springs recently had a booking from a group of 16 women and children which travelled about 300 kilometres from the Aboriginal community of Yuendumu. The group was sent by that community to train as life guards in Alice Springs for the community's new swimming pool.
  Bethany Langdon from the Yuendumu Young Leaders program described what happened soon after their arrival: "The manager came out and told me that we weren't suitable to stay there," apparently because foreign tourists complained and were afraid of the Aboriginal women. The group of Aboriginal women and children were forced to leave.
  It is a shame that such incidences are still happening today in Australia and in our view it would have been more appropriate for the manager to tell the foreign tourist who complained that Australia is a multi-racial country and that the tourist can always go elsewhere if they have a problem with Australia's indigenous people. Those complaining tourists were obviously not part of the 91% in the next news story and missed out on hearing some first hand stories from outback Australia...
  
• There is a big opportunity for Aboriginal communities for cultural tourism. In a recent survey 91% of tourists visiting the Northern Territory said they would like to interact with Aboriginal people with 77% considering this to be a vital part of their holiday in Australia. The Northern Territory government has released an 'Indigenous tourism resource kit', that is available to Indigenous tour operators in order to support and promote this niche industry. and is working with over forty Aboriginal communities to develop new tourist products.
  This initiative will hopefully lead to more employment opportunities in remote communities which at the same time can help Aboriginal communities to re-connect with their culture. Next time you come to Australia, see that you can eat some bush-tucker, listen to some ancient stories, visit some traditional sites and watch some Aboriginal dancing...

Keep on didjing until next month and please play your didj with us on the 20th March at your local sunset! Thanks

from Svargo and the DIDJSHOP.COM team