So there is a "wild feud"

on an area of the APY lands?

No doubt the journalist writing the story has exaggerated the situation somewhat but if there is a problem in one of those "remote indigenous communities" then it is scarcely surprising. The proposed "Voice" is not going to change that either.

The children at Mimili are not going to school. The school has not even been open for the past week. Those teaching at it have left because they fear for their safety. 

This is not the only "remote" indigenous school with these sort of problems. I had three indigenous women here recently. One of them came because her child actually wants to try and continue his education but they have obstacles to overcome before he can. The other two women were just tagging along for the afternoon, not sure what else to do in the unfamiliar surroundings of the city. All of them were deeply concerned about their communities. 

They are lovely women. They are good, caring mothers but they are struggling. The reasons for this are complex but much of it comes down to policies which they fear will only become even harder to dismantle in the future. They don't want the Voice. 

"The government isn't listening now. It will be more like that. All these people saying our kids have to get the wrong education to save our stories is wrong,"one of them told me.

We talked about it. They are proud of some aspects of their culture but not all of it. They know, despite claims to the contrary, domestic violence was common before white settlement. They know the elderly, despite claims to the contrary, were not cared for once they became a liability. Life was not the peaceful, happy, carefree life it is often pictured as being. It was violent and uncertain. Like all oral cultures and traditions it often changed rapidly, changed to suit those who had control of the group. 

These three women, and I suspect there are others like them, want their children educated in English. They are not concerned about preserving traditions or any sort of "culture". Their view, as expressed to me, is they would prefer to be sure their children can live and work in the modern world.   Current policies are not working. They rely on segregation, not integration. The answers to this may not be the answers some of the current voices want to hear.