Intjartnama - Land of the warrior spirits


land of the warrior spirits

This site is about the Intjartnama Community near Hermannsburg in Central Australia, and their struggle to bring healing to people young and old, Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal, throughout the region, devastated by the diseases of colonisation: alcoholism and substance abuse.

The Intjartnama Community believes these diseases are killing Aboriginal people and killing their cultures, and that no law imposed from outside the community can stop this happening. The strength to survive can only come from within Aboriginal culture and self-understanding, not through the alien culture which has brought these substances and diseases.

This is a story of collaboration between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal cultural workers, and the synthesis the wisdoms of two cultures. It represents the discovery of the power of story-telling to bring wholeness into broken lives of people of any culture.
Behind Aboriginal self-understanding and relationship to the earth and their country lie the stories of the "Dreaming" for each place, and the tracks of the creator beings who made these places and the people who belong there. These stories are traditional lore, and the basis for traditional law.
Non-Aboriginal people also have "Dreaming stories" for the origins of their customs and traditions. Most people have forgotton or never learnt these stories, vestiges of which remain in their languages as isolated sayings, or in customary practices which receive no explanation.
One of the central elements of Intjartnama's program is the "Sugarman Story", the story of the origins of alcohol, and the lessons and lore regarding its proper use in European cultural tradition. This story, the story of Dionysus, speaks directly to Aboriginal people, in the language of narrative, theatre, drama, song and painting. This story can just as easily address alphabetised Europeans.
We invite you to discover the significance of the Sugarman Story through this site. We also invite you to participate in the Sugarman Project by communicating your experience with us.
The Sugarman Project is a continually evolving process of cultural collaboration, as new revelatory elements are added to the story and its performance.