The name is absent

299

disposition of moneys always remained the prerogative of the white
bureaucracy .

In particular, for those at Pt. Augusta who were public
servants, self-determination/self-management was within the sphere
prescribed by (white) policy and allocation of money. It was not
•really real*.

Nevertheless, people had interacted with the theory of self-
determination to produce the motivating slogan - ’Black people have
to do things for themselves. Black people have to work for black
people’.

For the people of Pt. Augusta, self-determination was seen as
the basis for placing responsibility on Aboriginal people to help
themselves and, at a more domestic level, it was seen as the right
to pursue a path towards self-improvement without cutting off ties

I
with one’s people. Self-determination was seen in a highly
particularised way as having autonomy within one’s own personal
sphere of action.

F

At Pt. Augusta, evidence of the motivation of the people to
gain autonomy can be found in their successful attempt to establish
an independent economic base through an Aboriginal cooperative
building society which competed for business on the open market.

The Davenport Adult Education Centre, which has been highly
⅝

rated by a series of evaluations (e.g. Powell, 1978; Raper and Poussard,
1978; Gaskell, 1980), was, and is, the result of Aboriginal initiative
and control.

In this venture, as is the case at Strelley, it is the
Aboriginal people who employ white teachers, the Aboriginal people
к

who formulate policy. In Adelaide, similar ventures into adult education
during the seventies, (the Aboriginal Community College and the Task
Force) were inspired by white people. However, the inspiration for

_________________ ________________________________,_____________________ «■

ɪlt should be noted that the Schools Commission_iin 1981, recommended
that the National Aboriginal Education Commission be granted the right
to dispense money, and have the right to set priorities. This has not
yet been granted.

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