book review

Aust. J. Rural Health

(2001)

9

, 141–142

Blackwell Science Asia

Book Review

Why Warriors Lie Down and Die: Towards an Understanding of Why the Aboriginal People of Arnhem Land Face the Greatest Crisis in Health and Education Since European Contact

R. Trudgen. Darwin: Aboriginal Resource and Development Services, 2000. Softback, 269 pages, with maps. ISBN 0646 39587 4. Price A$29.95.

It is rare to find a book concerned with contemporaryAboriginal affairs that has been able to go beyond gener-alisations, to incisively examine issues that are at onceboth simple and complex and in the process show a wayforward for both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoplealike.

Why Warriors Lie Down and Die

by Richard Trudgenis one such book. This is perhaps one of the mostimportant books yet written on the crisis confrontingAboriginal people in Australia because it goes to the veryheart of issues and seeks to tease out solutions fromthis standpoint. While this ‘bottom up’ approach is notunique, it is in this instance both appropriate andvery successful.

The content of this book is derived from the author’sexperience living and working with the Aboriginal peopleof Arnhem Land (Yolnu) over two decades. In his forewordto


, the Rev. Dr DjiniyiniGondarra states that the book is written from the painand the suffering common to the everyday life of the Yolnu.The depth of knowledge and awareness contained in thisbook does not come from academic inquiry or researchconducted at arm’s length. It is the direct experienceof the day-to-day reality of Yolnu life that has made pos-sible the hard-won insights contained in this book. Theauthor’s detailed and methodical analysis is based on experi-ence and reflection. This is a valid approach to the subjectmatter.

The book is divided into four main sections. In thefirst part of the book, the author introduces the reader tothe Yolnu, their country and culture. This general intro-duction sets the scene for the unfolding tragedy whichbeset the Yolnu during the mid-nineteenth century andwhich has continued to the present day. Trudgen gives adetailed account of Yolnu contact, at first with tradersfrom Macassar and later with European settlers, pastoral-ists, missionaries and miners and the long and destructiveprocess of colonisation that ensued.

Trudgen devotes a chapter to the non-Aboriginalresponse to the crisis confronting the Yolnu. He describesthis response as one characterised by ‘naming, blamingand lecturing’. These responses were all too familiar tothis reviewer, who has also lived for many years amongAboriginal people. The author develops this concept ofnaming, blaming and lecturing into a recurring theme, inwhich non-Aboriginal people are held accountable for thecrisis that has befallen the Yolnu. No matter how justifiedthis may be, reading this book elicited in this readerfeelings of anger. Is this a good response to engender ina reader? Alienating the reader through a writing stylethat also names, blames and lectures may be consideredunhelpful by some readers. My anger led me to criticallyre-evaluate my own experiences in Aboriginal communities,my beliefs, assumptions, and dare I admit my own ethnocen-trism. My concern is that other readers may be less sym-pathetic and therefore be dismissive of the book’s content.

Perhaps the most significant content of this book isfound in part two, which deals with language and thecommunication problems faced by both Yolnu and non-Aboriginal people. While this problem affects both parties,it is the Yolnu who bear the burden of failed communica-tion because English is the language with which theymust engage the world both within and beyond their owncommunities. Failing to understand or to make oneselfunderstood has the greatest impact on Yolnu for whomEnglish is at best a second language. Trudgen offersnumerous fascinating and insightful anecdotes that illustratethe devastating consequences that failed communicationhas for many Aboriginal people.

Trudgen asserts that communication rules vary betweenlanguages and cultures and that this poses significantrisks to those attempting communication across thelinguistic and cultural divide. Each culture has its ownsystem of logic, a manifestation of that culture’s world-view and language. This logic becomes evident not only inthe spoken word but also the associated speech behavi-ours of each culture. Without an appreciation of this logic,communication between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginalpeople will always be at risk. Trudgen paints a bleakpicture when examining the broader effect of the dominantEnglish language on education. He claims that the reli-ance on English has greatly undermined traditional Yolnuknowledge systems and resulted in an inappropriate andunsuccessful education system.

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AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF RURAL HEALTH

In part three of


,Trudgen examines the concept and implications ofdifference for the Yolnu. He details the conflict betweentwo competing medical systems, a conflict that has progres-sively undermined and largely destroyed the traditionalYolnu medical system. It is interesting to note that Abori-ginal medical systems in central Australia have suffered asimilar fate, despite a concerted effort to support a ‘two-way’ approach in health service delivery.

The growing dependence of the Yolnu on welfare andgovernment agencies has had a pervasive and destructiveeffect, which Trudgen charts systematically. The loss ofroles that accompanies welfare dependence has had itsgreatest impact upon men who increasingly turn to sub-stance abuse to fill the void in their lives. This responsehas been repeated elsewhere, a reaction to the hopeless-ness that many Aboriginal men feel.

In part four of


,Trudgen charts the way forward for both Yolnu andnon-Aboriginal Australians. He identifies disempower-ment as the central issue in the crisis confronting theYolnu. Trudgen sets out key points for the successful com-munication of information, strategies that facilitate theacquisition of new knowledge. These strategies are relevantto health and education professionals. Trudgen claims thatsolutions require innovative thinking and action in orderthat the Yolnu may regain control of their lives. The cor-nerstone of these creative solutions is language. Trudgen

seems to be saying that if Yolnu language skills can befostered in those non-Aboriginal people who work inArnhem Land, many of the other problems will self cor-rect. There may be some truth in this claim, but surelythis effect needs to be extended beyond Yolnu commu-nities, to the halls of power where the policies that soadversely affect the Yolnu are made.

What makes so much of the book’s content compellingis the author’s use of anecdotes to illustrate key points.The stories he relates are extremely effective becausethey describe situations that many non-Aboriginal readersnot acquainted with Aboriginal community life would finddifficult to imagine. They also help to verify the effective-ness of the author’s methods as well as point out deficien-cies of both past and current programs and policies.However, the real strength of this book is that the authorprovides both Yolnu and non-Aboriginal perspectives and,in the process, highlights not only the differences but alsothe common threads upon which understanding can befostered.

This book should be required reading for all non-Aboriginal people who work with Yolnu. Whilst this bookdeals specifically with the Yolnu of Arnhem land there areimportant messages that can be applied to indigenouspeoples both within and beyond Australia.

Colin Watson

Northern Territory UniversityDarwin, Northern Territory, Australia

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book review

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