The History of The Ngkarte Mikwekenhe Community Incorporated
The Catholic Arrernte community were inspired to meet regularly throughout 1986 to prepare for the visit of Pope John Paul II. This event, provided a focus for and a commitment from, a number of people which lay the foundations for the beginning of the Ngkarte Mikwekenhe Community.
The leaders of N.M.C. were the representatives from all the different family groups, who met together every Saturday night through 1986. This not only consolidated the group, but gave a new sense of solidarity, pride and identity. These people gave feedback to the others, hope for the future and encouragement for others, commitment. All families were represented over the year…. women and men from every Town Camp and from Santa Teresa. Heffernan (1991, p.2 and 3)
This group of people decided to incorporate and became formerly known as Ngkarte Mikwekenhe "mother of God” community. Ngkarte Mikwekenhe was incorporated as a non-profit organisation in 1990. It is a body that is governed by a committee made up of eight members and an executive of four members from the local Eastern and Central Arrernte Catholic Community. It largely operates as an Aboriginal Catholic Parish but is focused on community development activities for the group of people it services.
After the papal visit people were inspired to continue with Community Development work. Margaret Kemarre Turner, The President and Founding member of NMC recounts (1994):
Before the Papal visit a few of us started getting together and doing community and parish work. We used to visit people in hospital, the sick. Then we started talking to the Catholic people in the town camps – Hidden valley and Charles Creek and we started getting prayer groups together. Then we started community development work. This community development work started from then. After we incorporated as a Catholic Community Development organisation we were able to access funding and run lots of different programs. In the beginning it was just alcohol awareness and community development training. Adults came together like Joe Cleary, Felicity Marie Ellis, Yvonne. Some of the grandmothers and mothers went to Nungalinya for training. We also went to Melbourne to look at a University. There were about twenty people involved and we worked out of Jemma House.
Most of the activities operated out of the Ngkarte Mikwekenhe Parish Centre, located in the building behind where the presbytery is today and where the original mission began. Sr Robyn Reynolds worked out of the centre along with two parish workers for this period. Another major function of the Ngkarte Mikwekenhe Parish Centre was its use as a drop-in Centre.
Sr Robyn Reynold’s outlined this important function in her paper ‘Pwarretjeme” (1989, p.9):
The main parish room when it is not being occupied for particular meetings, is used as a kind of ‘drop-in centre’ where Aboriginal people feel at home in just sitting, sharing a cup of tea with one another, watching a video, etc Often people visit to discuss a problem, or to request help. Most who come share in some way in the activities going on; some people regularly help in general cleaning duties in the Centre, many assist – by attendance and participation – in one or other of the frequent meetings taking place, some help in support of Aboriginal language, music and art work being done by the Aboriginal parish workers.
The early works carried out by NMC members also showed a great sense of ownership of people actively trying to assist and support each other in attaining a better way of life and supporting those in the community who were facing hardship and misfortune. There was a great sense of activism and leadership in the Parish Community.
Some of the day to day issues that people were working to solve included:
- Decisions about camp masses (the when, where and why)
- The appropriate action to ensure the community has the right people for the right job/course
- Meetings with the housing Commission to discuss special accommodation needs for certain groups or individuals from the community
- Talks with the Town Camp authorities to arrange for urgent action in improvement of living conditions
- Decisions about proper use of aboriginal language, art and song
- Organisation of the use of the community’s bus
- Letters to various town authorities
- Meetings with particular families in offering advice and support
- Making decisions and arrangements about Community enterprises
- Decisions about appropriate action in relation to the community’s response to public issues
(Reynolds 1989, p.13)
Ngkarte Mikwekenhe resided in a number of locations until it moved to the old Santa Teresa Townhouse on South Terrace where it is today. It co-located with a group of Vietnamese refugees, initially, and leased part of the premises from the Catholic Diocese in Darwin. The development of the model of community development now implemented by Ngkarte Mikwekenhe is the focus of the finding section of this study.