179
members has organized a system whereby one of the important men takes
responsibility within the community for the observance of white
law. He appears in the white man’s court with offenders. Where
it is judged appropriate, a fine, if imposed, is paid from community
funds.
Where the delinquency has been against tribal norms, long
discussions take place to arrive at an appropriate form of retribution,
over and above the punishment white society metes out. The ’elder
in white man’s law' personally takes responsibility for young men
on parole, for their supervision and for presenting them at court .
Miscreants then 'pay their debt to society' within the community, in
activities through which they are integrated back into the
community.
Thus it was possible to observe at Warralong two yoiιng girls in
punishment, in the care of one of the 'strong-minded' women of the
group. The girls were set to work to weed and plant in the community
garden (a proj ect which was a source of pride to the community).
Caroline, a dignified middle-aged lady, not merely supervised the
girls; she worked with them.
A number of issues can be discerned here. The protection and
upholding of white law through a western oriented punishment (work
as a punishment) is noted. The very notion of cultivating a vegetable
garden is not part of tribal history - and indeed the establishment of
vegetable gardens are in an early, uneasy stage at one other station.
On the other hand, the notion of working with those being punished is
entirely alien to western practice. Manifestly, in this Strelley/Warralong
situation, punishment is purposeful, integrating individuals back into
the group, instead of destroying their ties with their people and
destroying them as individuals - a situation which frequently happens
when Aborigines are subjected to 'white man's law' in the urban
situation.
τaped interview.