Message Stick – The Long-grassers

Clip 1: Long-grassers

Taken from the TV program Message Stick – The Long-grassers (2005)

Original title classification not known – this clip chosen to be G

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

Archival images of long-grassers are juxtaposed with contemporary images of homeless Aboriginal people. We also meet an Aboriginal man from Bathurst Island who, for his own reasons, lives as a long-grasser in Darwin.

Curator’s notes

The well-constructed introduction, combining black-and-white photos, classical music and voice-over, quickly and sympathetically sets the history and context of the long-grass people. It also adds resonance to the interview material and nicely shot contemporary footage that follows.

Romaine Moreton, curator

Teachers’ notes

provided by The Le@rning Federation

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This clip shows ‘long-grassers’, homeless people, in Darwin in the present day and, through a series of black-and-white photographs, in earlier times. Title pages introduce the subject of homelessness in Darwin among Indigenous people. The black-and-white photographs provide a background montage to voice-over commentaries. Barnabus from Bathurst Island explains why he has been a long-grasser in Darwin for the last 20 years. Scenes show the day-to-day life of Barnabus and other long-grassers. Orchestral music accompanies parts of the clip.

Educational value points

The clip shows how film techniques can be used to construct an argument. The bleak black-and-white images in the first half of the clip are counteracted by voice-overs providing insight into the life and choices of the long-grassers. The second half of the clip, shot in colour, backed by birdsong and showing the lush parkland that long-grassers call home, further counteracts the negative images and suggests that this way of life provides a vital sense of community.

The way language can convey different meanings to different people is raised by the clip. Some long-grassers such as Barnabus have embraced this label, seeing it as signifying their freedom from the restrictions and conflicts of family. To him and others it provides an identity that is not conveyed by the term ‘homeless’. Others claim it is a stigmatising term that allows long-grassers to become ‘whipping posts’ for some parts of government and the media.

The clip depicts people known as ‘long-grassers’ who live in Darwin’s public spaces. Long-grassers are a diverse group who are predominantly Indigenous, with some being short-term visitors and others medium-to-long-term stayers who migrate from a variety of Top End communities. Their number varies according to the season but may be as high as 1,000 on any single night.

The variety and complexity of reasons why people become homeless are suggested by the long-grassers themselves. For some it is a choice, an escape, a chance to be with others in a new community. Others are driven away from their communities by conflict or in search of a job and come to Darwin. Once in Darwin the lack of services and the high cost of accommodation forces some to live rough. Chronic homelessness becomes a way of life for some individuals.

Some indication of the hostility directed at Darwin’s long-grassers and legal interventions against them is provided by the clip. Many homeless people have been fined and jailed due to council by-laws introduced in 1997 prohibiting camping and sleeping in public places. Vigilante attacks increased at the time. Both political parties responded to community pressure in the 2005 Northern Territory election by advocating tough new laws to eliminate the perceived problem.