Today, many indigenous Australians live in isolated, extremely poor communities. Substandard housing, high unemployment, and low levels of literacy and school attendance severely undermine health, well-being, and cultural continuity. Not surprisingly in these conditions, the beliefs and traditions of indigenous Australians—expressed in hundreds of languages and dialects—are now disappearing.
But the Northern Territory Library (NTL), which covers a network of 33 public libraries, is working hard to change that. Many of NTL's most remote libraries are offering free training and access to computers and the Internet. These skills and tools are providing indigenous people with a new way to connect to the past—and to engage in the present.
For its work to improve the lives of indigenous Australians, the foundation has awarded NTL with our 2007 Access to Learning Award (ATLA).
Linking Tradition and Technology
Australia's Northern Territory is a hot, vast land. More than twice the size of Germany but with a total population of only 200,000, the Territory is home to some 60,000 indigenous people. Most live in small, remote communities, far from the main city of Darwin and reachable only by four-wheel drive or light aircraft.
On the mainland, these include communities such as Milingimbi, Anmatjere, and Ngukurr; indigenous people also inhabit the Tiwi Islands off the north coast and the island communities of Angurugu and Umbakumba in the Gulf of Carpentaria.
Infrastructure is limited: a store, a school, and a health clinic for the most fortunate. But 22 remote communities also have small, NTL-serviced public libraries.
In 2004, NTL launched a new program that has transformed 13 of these existing libraries into vibrant community centers for sharing knowledge. Through this model, known as the Libraries and Knowledge Centers program, NTL has trained and equipped local library staff to help indigenous people build digital archives of their culture.
Armed with cameras and computers, voice and video recorders, and scanners and printers, community members capture old and contemporary art, maps, songs, photos, and lessons in their local language. They film events and record interviews and traditional practices. Then they store the digital content with user-friendly software called "Our Story."
Communities have embraced Our Story, collecting more than 40,000 items since 2004.
"Indigenous Territorians are very proud of their heritage and language, which are endangered in many places," NTL Director Jo McGill said. "The Libraries and Knowledge Centers program allows each community to own the content in its unique database and ensure that culturally sensitive materials are viewed and managed respectfully."
Connecting Past to Present
Meaningful uses for the digitized materials are discovered every day. The experience can be deeply personal.
McGill tells the story of a bereaved family from Wadeye, about 150 miles southwest of Darwin. The Nganbe family's clan totem is the yam flower, and age-old cultural practice called for them to return to their traditional homeland to collect the flower for a funeral. Without a car, that would mean a two-day walk that was neither practical nor possible. Instead, the Nganbes copied a digital image of the flower from their local Our Story database, screen-printed it onto t-shirts at the local art center, and wore the shirts at the funeral.
Others use Our Story to rediscover lost family history. Northern Territory Minister for Local Government Elliot McAdam, MLA, himself an indigenous Australian, has few memories of his mother, who died when he was very young.
"He was very moved to find photos of his mother on one of the local Our Story databases, photos that he didn't know existed," McGill said.
She said Our Story is also strengthening bonds between young and old.
"Community elders recognize that young people are interested in working with computers and multimedia," she said. "So this becomes an effective way of undertaking important intergenerational work that helps to keep culture strong."
A Bridge to New Opportunities
For many indigenous Australians, geography represents a barrier to knowledge and opportunity—but access to information technology can help them bridge the gap.
The Our Story database is just one aspect of NTL's multi-dimensional Libraries and Knowledge Centers program. The personal local content in each community’s database is attracting people like a magnet, according to McGill. Library visits—especially by men—have increased in all 13 small libraries.
As novice users become more comfortable with the Our Story technology, they are more likely to try out other library services. Now more people visit the libraries to read newspapers and magazines, attend children's story sessions, learn computer skills, and take care of important tasks, such as online banking, that formerly could be accomplished only in person in a distant town.
In these ways, a satisfying experience with Our Story is a natural step towards accessing a world of information on the Internet, including health, employment, and education information that can help improve people's lives.
Expanding Horizons
Interest remains high among other community libraries not yet funded and trained to introduce Our Story.
NTL will use the $1 million Access to Learning Award to take Our Story into more communities and to train more community library staff. It also will expand its early years literacy program for indigenous children to better prepare them for success in school. Other plans include sharing appropriate cultural material from Our Story with a wider Australian audience.
Martha Choe, director of the foundation’s Global Libraries initiative, applauded NTL's innovation.
"The Northern Territory Library is showing the world that even people with very limited resources can effectively use and benefit from access to information through technology," Choe said. "Their program is helping in ways that will improve the lives of generations of people to come."