Text 17843, 125 rader
Skriven 2007-07-10 09:53:52 av Glen Jamieson
     Kommentar till en text av Manny Rothstein
Ärende: BIRD NEST 707 70710
===========================
 -=> Quoting Manny Rothstein to Glen Jamieson <=-

 -> GJ> The children in the traditional bush Aborigine society may not be
 -> taught to play the didgeridoo, but I am sure they would do a lot of
 -> experimenting with hollow logs.  They do have a lot of other study to
 -> do, learning to hunt, identify food and water sources, read and follow
 -> tracks of animals and humans, and most important of all, to learn the
 -> history of mankind and the universe in the form of song and dance.
 -> 
 -> If you ever get the chance to see the recent award-winning movie, "Ten
 -> Canoes", that gives a good picture of pre-contact life and love as
 -> experienced by a group of Northern Territory aborigines.

 MR> What a coincidence, I recently came across an article published in 
 MR> the June 22, 2007 issue of  NewScientest.com regarding Northern 
 MR> Territory Aboriginal lifestyles. According to the article, the 
 MR> Australian Federal Government seized control of NTA indigenous 
 MR> affairs following a report published June 15 "which found that 
 MR> sexual abuse of young children, alcoholism, and violence against 
 MR> women were intrenched in local indigenous communities." That 
 MR> article and others can be found by doing a Google search under 
 MR> the term - aboriginal child abuse. Sort of sheds a new light on 
 MR> that picture about "life and love as experienced by a group of 
 MR> Northern Territory aborigines".

This is the hottest topic of discussion here at present, with strong
political overtones.  An election is in the offing.

 MR> Personally I don't pretend to know much about Aborigines. I am 
 MR> sure that they have there good and bad points just like everyone
 MR> else. Its just that I think that the fashionable idea of "white 
 MR> people bad, colored people good" doesn't stand up to objective 
 MR> examination and is kind of silly. Especially when coming from a 
 MR> white man.

This was one reason I particularly specified "pre-contact" - ie before
the white invaders came on the scene.  Life for the traditional nomadic
tribes was/is rather different from that in the static settlements,
most of which were started by missionaries, who, with the best of
intentions, covered up the natives' naked bodies and fed them sugary
and starchy food and philosophies.  Then in most cases the missionaries
gave up and moved out, while the Australian government took over
support of the communities, paying "guilt money" to the residents, who
had no skills to use in industries or occupations with which to earn
the money necessary to exist in a modern civilization.

That money enabled them to discover the soporific delights of drinking
alcohol (cheap box moselle or port) and petrol sniffing.  As alcohol
has never been a part of aboriginal diet, there is no inbred ability to
resist its effects or moderate its use, so it has become abused to the
point where the above-mentioned ills have become endemic.  There has
now been a great outcry by the civil libertarians at the idea of making
some settlements "dry", and what they consider excessive paternalism,
but most of the women in the settlements, who are the ones who were on
the receiving end of the alcohol-induced violence, are very much in
favour of what is now being done to improve their life-style.  My
eldest son is a policeman in Tennant Creek, in the NT, and he has seen
a lot of that sort of trouble; he is in favour of the present
government action.  My nunnish sister (the white sheep of the family!)
has travelled to many of the communities, to try to find where the
efforts of the missionaries had successfully produced a happy society.
She found none.

Although most of Australian aborigines now live in the settlements, or
in permanent camps near the major Northern Territory cities of Darwin
and Alice Springs, or in the urban society, a significant number of
nomadic groups still enjoy the traditional life in the remote regions,
as portrayed in that "10 Canoes" movie.

Phew!

MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.05
 
      Title: DEW'S MEAT ROO TAIL WITH BANANA AND SWEET POTATO MASH
 Categories: Mains, Kangaroo, Adelaide, Australian
      Yield: 6 servings
 
      2    Kangaroo tails; skin off
    100 g  Flour
    100 g  Butter
    1/2 ts Bush tomato, dried; ground
    1/8 ts Lemon myrtle leaf; ground
    1/2 ts Pepper leaf; ground
      2 dr Orange oil
      2    Garlic cloves
      1    Carrots
      1    Leeks; white only
      1    Celery stalks
      1    Onions
      4    Tomatoes- ripe
      1 c  Mushrooms
      4    Parsley stalks
           Salt and pepper
           Sherry; OPT
 
  Joint the roo tail into 7.5cm segments. Blanch the pieces, placing
  them in a pot of cold water & bring them to the boil, then discard
  the water [this will produce a less cloudy & less fatty soup].
  Lightly dust the roo tail in the flour, adding the bush tomato, lemon
  myrtle and pepperleaf.
  
  In a heavy-based pan, brown the dusted roo tail in the butter [it
  doesn't matter if you "over-brown" them].
  
  Roughly cut all vegetables. Add to the pan & brown, Add orange oil &
  cov- er with water. Add a splash of sherry if desired. Simmer for 3
  hours [up to 5 hours if you wish].
  
  Serve four to five pieces of the tail on top of the banana & sweet
  potato mash with plenty of braising liquid.
  
  FOR THE MASH: Steam 1.2kg sweet potato cubes till soft & add four
  large bananas, chopped, for the final three minutes of steaming. Pass
  through  a food mill while hot, mix in 200g butter, & season to taste.
  
  From; COOKING, THE ADVERTISER, 20 JUNE 2007 By: SIMON BRYANT, THE
  BRASSERIE, HILTON INTERNATIONAL, ADELAIDE Typed by: KEVIN JCJD SYMONS
 
MMMMM
 

___ Blue Wave/DOS v2.30 [NR]

--- FLAME v2.0/b
 * Origin: Braintap BBS Adelaide Australia (3:800/449)