Desert Tracks
Clip 3: Cleaning up the land
2 min 7 sec (
skip to teachers’ notes)
Taken from the short film Desert Tracks (1997)
Original title classification not known – this clip chosen to be PG
Availability of the complete title
Please be aware that this clip may contain the names, images and voices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who may now be deceased.
Curator’s clip description
An elder speaks about the effects of tourism, and the responsibility of cleaning up the land.
Curator’s notes
Desert Tracks is a good introduction to the philosophy of Indigenous people, and how total dependency upon land inspired a way of living that was also respectful. The land is spoken of in Desert Tracks as being alive, and in need of care.
Romaine Moreton, curator
Teachers’ notes
provided by The Le@rning Federation
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This clip shows an Aboriginal Elder speaking in Pitjantjatjara accompanied by English subtitles. He talks about Dreamings of bush foods and of places such as rock holes and creeks, and how they were created. There is footage of a large mob of cattle being mustered. He explains that cattle pose a problem for the land and as a consequence the land is bare. He says that the Anangu would like to fence and restore the land, but without a vehicle such work is very difficult. Aboriginal artists are also shown making artefacts for tourists.
Educational value points
- Desert Tracks is a tourism business owned and operated by the Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara peoples. Tourism offers some Indigenous people the potential for employment and the opportunity to maintain cultural traditions while operating a viable business. However, the Elder in the clip talks about tensions between the benefits and the negative effects of tourism.
- Land management is a major issue for Aboriginal peoples in the Northern Territory who have regained some of their traditional lands. Some of these lands were previously held as pastoral leases and the soil has been degraded by the hard hooves of cattle compacting and damaging the soil, causing erosion.
- The Pitjantjatjara are the custodians of the country shown in this clip. Connection with the land or country is important to Aboriginal peoples. The land is regarded as a whole environment that sustains and is sustained by the people. The land shown is in the north-west of South Australia and includes a number of pastoral leases.
