Book Reviews

Rebuilding Native Nations: Strategies for Governance And Development

Miriam Jorgensen (ed)

University of Arizona Press, Tuscon Arizona, 2007

Reviewer: Bronwyn Fredericks

This book covers work undertaken over the last 20 years by a diverse range of researchers, nations and communities and is produced from the Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development and the Native Institute for Leadership, Management, and Policy at the University of Arizona. While this book is more suited to the USA in terms of language, examples and specific legal and historical frameworks, the content is highly accessible for use in Australia. This book focuses on how indigenous nations can enhance their capacity for effective self-governance and for self-determined community and economic development. There are numerous examples that share empirical facts, development strategies and practical stories for mobilising communities for real change and not change driven by short-term government, political or economic agendas. In essence, this book is about Indigenous people in USA asserting their rights to govern themselves and doing it their way. It offers Indigenous Australians a means to learn from the best USA experiences and research in Indigenous governance and economic development.

There are four sections, which cover a total of twelve chapters. The four sections are Starting Points; Rebuilding the Foundations; Preconceiving Key Functions; and Making it Happen. Part one contains two chapters. The first and most critical in establishing the foundation of development approaches is by Stephen Cornell and Joseph Kalt. They provide a critique of the historical 'standard approach' taken by governments and nations before the era of self-determination. Elements of this approach can be found within Australia. The standard approach is characterised by: decision making that is short-term and non-strategic; persons or organisations other than Indigenous nations setting the development agenda; development that is treated as primarily an economic problem; beliefs that Indigenous culture is an obstacle to development; and an elected leadership that serves primarily as a distributor of resources (p. 8). The national 'building approach' is characterised by: nations asserting decision-making power; nations backing up that power with effective governing institutions; governing institutions match Indigenous political culture; decision making is strategic; and leaders serve as nation builders and mobilisers (p. 19). What this chapter and the subsequent chapters demonstrate is that the nation-building approach provides effective access to and use of resources; increased chances of sustained and self-determined economic development; appropriate development projects and programs; more effective defence of sovereignty; and societies that work - economically, socially, culturally and politically.

The book covers a great deal of ground in a relatively small space without giving that it is skimming the surface. If you can get past the American-centric focus and look at the examples as to their applicability to the Australian context, then it becomes an invaluable Australian resource. It demonstrates that building self-reliant, economically-strong, sovereign, community-based governments is achievable. From this perspective, Rebuilding Native Nations Strategies for Governance and Development would be a useful resource for Indigenous community members and leaders, students, academics, policy makers, government officers, politicians and others with an interest in supporting and advancing the development of sustainable economies and reinvigorating Indigenous cultures.

Carpenteria

By Alexis Wright

Giramondo, Sydney, 2006

Reviewer: Phyllida Coombes

Carpenteria is an epic as broad and sweeping as the land of its setting, the Gulf country of north-western Queensland. While I have never visited this remote part of my own state, I suspect that author Alexis Wright would be someone who might best understand and be able to describe the extraordinary dimensions and contradictions of her own country. She is, in fact, a member of the Waanyi nation of the southern highlands of the Gulf of Carpenteria. This land is her land; the people who populate the book are her people. The author has received a number of well-deserved awards for her opus, including the Miles Franklin Literary Award for 2007.

The small town of Desperance perches somewhat uneasily beside the Gulf, where land and sea merge, and its inhabitants eke out a precarious existence. The white residents dwell in the town itself, while the Aboriginal people prefer to live on the fringes. The white residents dwell in the town itself, while the Aboriginal people prefer to live on the fringes. The Pricklebush mob to the west is led by the Phantom family, in particular the benevolent despot, Normal Phantom. The breakaway group, controlled by the renegade Joseph Midnight, squats defiantly at the east end. Meanwhile, the nearby Gurfurritt mine absorbs the locals into its workforce and nonchalantly regurgitates iron ore with little concern for the country. Naturally, the mine becomes the focus of discontent and violence.

Despite, or perhaps because of the sheer immensity of the Gulf country, the people too are larger than life. Wright depicts the characters of her novel with empathy and humour. Normal Phantom has produced a large and noisy family, but he prefers the sanctuary of his fishroom where he creates ornamental fish from the dried carcases of those that once lived and breathed. His other form of escape is his boat whereby he undertakes great odysseys in the Gulf waters. Angel Day, Normal's wife, is something else. the greatest symbol of her status is her house, built entirely from bits and pieces, gathered by Angel herself from the town dump. None can dispute her claimed title, Queen of the Rubbish Dump. And let us not forget the religious zealot, Mozzie Fishman, leading his tribe of followers through the Promised Land in an assortment of clapped out motor vehicles. Wright's characters are engaging, sometimes outrageous, but perfectly suited to the time and place that they inhabit.
The landscape and climate of the Gulf of Carpenteria are disordered and uncomfortable, and they make no concessions to the inhabitants of these vast spaces. Heat, humidity, drought and flood are constant irritants. It is scarcely surprising to the reader that the climax of the novel is set against a devastating cyclone, another catalytic event to be endured by the inhabitants.

Alexis Wright's style is lyrical; her humour is infectious. Carpenteria, however, does not make for easy reading. It is over 500 pages in length, and I found it easier to absorb in small sections rather than at one go. The plot is broad and meandering as the Gulf country, and there are a number of confusing and obscure passages. Events are not always clear cut. The reader is left to question whether there is something has actually happened or whether it was part of a dream. Despite these reservations, however, I found Carpenteria to the well worth the trouble. Sometimes a significant enterprise is worth striving for, and this is certainly the case with this book.
"Wright breaks all the rules of grammar and syntax to sweep us along on a great torrent or language that thrills and amazes with its inventiveness and humour and with the sheer power of its storytelling. It's brutal and confronting and it's sad and funny at the same time."

Liam Davidson, Sydney Morning Herald.

This quotation from the back cover of the book beautifully and succinctly sums up the essence of Carpeteria for me

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