178
They condemn white men for introducing grog; missions for
saying the ’’old way was rubbish, they left the old people on the
woodheap”; government for undermining the authority of the elders
of the tribe, and ’’picking the marta marta bloke and putting him
in the middle”. To summarize their statement:
The law must be structured and restructured.
The law must be obeyed (otherwise anomie will result).
The law is articulated by the elders.
12.33 The Mob and ’white fella’s’law
The community does not reject or ignore the white man’s law.
On the contrary,it has a respect for law other than its own, despite
1
the fact that the white man’s law, and Christian law are seen as
often working against the interests of the Aborigines (cf. Tonkinson,
1974:passim).
For the elders of the Mob, historically going to gaol has been
2
an occasion of pride - they were gaoled unjustly again and again
in their fight for freedom and self-determination , a fight that
. . . , 4
continues to this day .
This is not the case for their young people who must be protected
from those consequences of their deeds which are seen as destructive
5
of the individual . The Community, in order to meet the ’whitefella’s
legal system’ and at the same time to protect and strengthen its
τhe lawmen believe the Christian Law too is a strong law:
would be good for the Christians if they kept it (Interview).
2
Taped interview.
з
Taped interview. The leaders of the strike, Dooley, Clancy McKenna
and Don McLeod were put in gaol (Mikurrunya 20.8.79:6).
τ)∏e hundred and fifty people from Strelley blocked the N.W. highway
to prevent the passing of a military style convoy of trucks and police carrying
a rig to drill for oil on sacred land at Noonkanbah. Over twenty people
were arrested. This confrontation with the full force of the white man’s
law required a great deal of courage for people who remember the suffering
and massacre of their people as things of the very recent past
(Mikurrunya, 21.8.80:3).
5There is a striking difference between this community and detribalised
Aboriginal people where going to gaol is a commonplace, an almost inescapable
fact of life. It is often difficult for urban Aboriginal people to remember
the number of occasions spent in gaol on the basis of a particular conviction.