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The negotiations about the property relied on pre-existing working relationships between the
Hughes family and the Indigenous cattlemen, but Viv Sinnamon recalled that it also created
new ones based on mutual recognition:
Quite clearly he [David Hughes] shared a working relationship, a relationship with them [the
Aboriginal cattle workers] and he understood their relationship to the land. Probably the
one thing that [marked] the beginning of a different kind of relationship with David
happened then, we think. We had a bundle of spears in the back of our truck and he
walked over to them and said „oh‟ and then went through them and he saw a barramundi
spear, a spear with the barb on the end. He then immediately took it off the back of the
truck and held it like he‟d used them before, like he knew what he was doing with it. He
said „oh haven‟t seen one like this for a long time, wish I‟d have had this the other week, I
would have gone and got myself a feed. Geez I‟d love to have one of these!‟ So the next
time we saw him we made sure we had one in the back and gave it to him.
Viv Sinnamon
Figure 8. David and Bill Hughes negotiating the sale with Kowanyama people. Image ©
KALNRMO
A further event that aided the relationship occurred soon afterwards, when Kowanyama
community representatives supported a temporary extension for the Hughes family of
grazing rights over the Alice-Mitchell National Park. Viv Sinnamon recalled a conversation
with David Hughes about Oriners after the National Parks staff had departed:
Viv Sinnamon: [I said] „there‟s some people here that have a really close association with
the place‟ and he just waved that aside. He said, „no no, I understand that. But are they
going to raise cattle on it?‟ And I said „yeah, there‟s talk of raising a few cattle and stuff‟,
and that‟s when he said, „yeah but it‟s not really cattle country‟. And then he said something
that surprised me. He said „wouldn‟t it be nice when they actually come to call Oriners
home‟. And I said „yeah really nice, that‟s the plan‟. And I said „there‟s a time in July/
August in good years where you drive along the road ( in those days when the road was
actually just a track), you‟re driving and you see...‟, and I got to about „see‟, and he just
looked at me and said „yeah, all the colours of the grasses‟ and he started to describe
exactly what I‟d seen.
Marcus Barber: The aesthetics of it?
Viv Sinnamon: Yeah and this is a very stoic, monosyllabic stockman. And I went „right, I
know where you stand now‟.
Working Knowledge at Oriners Station, Cape York
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