WfHC - cover page (not to be used with pre-printed report ... - CSIRO

Marcus Barber: If you were to think ahead, ten years time, what would you like to see
happening at Oriners?
Louie Native: I would like to see different changes up there, like a roadhouse going through
there. That‟s the main thing that we can make money through because a lot of tourists they
go through that way. And we got no fuel things there and a shop like that.
Marcus Barber: So that‟s one idea that you've thought about is that because the public
roads going through, to have a shop or roadhouse there. Is that alongside the land
management too? So you keep going with the rangers and the land managers and have
the shop as well?
Louie Native: Something like that, yeah.
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Marcus Barber: Where would you like to see the place in 10 years?
Viv Sinnamon: People living here happily with some kind of income with a nice diverse little
economy happening, something modest that keeps them....2 or 3 couples doing well.
Often the difficulties of living at Oriners are at the forefront of people‟s minds, but Viv
Sinnamon noted that the Yam family and the Oriners Mob had been happy with a basic
standard of living, and that solar power, hot water and a cool comfortable house had been
very sufficient. Amongst younger people, the willingness to live there remains, and the
advantages of doing so are also well understood:
Marcus Barber: And if you could, would you live up there all the time?
Louie Native: Yeah.
Marcus Barber: You wouldn't get bored with no TV and all of that missing?
Louie Native: No, because I've got used to them. Just listening to the birds singing in the
morning.
Marcus Barber: That's your kind of place?
Louie Native: Yeah.
This document is a knowledge recovery report to aid future planning, rather than
investigating what future plans are appropriate. But before identifying some future steps
based on this work in particular, it is useful to note the wider aspirations and activities above
within which such steps might need to take place.
5.4 Recommendations for further research
The primary recommendations made from this project relate to potential areas of further
research and/or management planning and action. One important issue to address in a
subsequent work is the matter of women‟s knowledge of Oriners, and in particular the
documentation of the knowledge held by senior Indigenous women familiar with the area.
Womens‟ knowledge and labour was integral to pastoral life and pastoral work patterns, and
Indigenous women carry a range of gender-specific and general knowledge about country,
as well as being heavily involved in ongoing land management decisions at Oriners. An
appropriately structured study of women‟s knowledge would be a necessary and important
addition to this current study. This project was also focused on Oriners Station itself, rather
than on research and other developments occurring on adjacent relevant stations. This limits
the degree to which regional scale recommendations can be considered. Also evident from
this research is the value of Oriners Mob residence in the area and the need to address
resourcing and logistical constraints to enable this to occur more often. However further
Working Knowledge at Oriners Station, Cape York
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