soon. “I’m sick of eating kangaroos. I’m sick of eating turkey. I
really want emu. They’re hard to get. They run really fast.”
Kate says that, because the area was settled by Europeans
only 80 years ago, the ancient cultures here have remained more
intact, and most Aboriginal people will primarily speak their
own language. But, like so much Aboriginal culture elsewhere
in Australia, there’s a blend of the old and new. Now, when local
Aboriginal people paint themselves for ceremonies, the
traditional ochres are mixed with canola oil, rather than the
marrow from emu bones.
Jerry Kelly, the cultural officer at the centre, who grew up on
nearby Banka Banka station, shows me the men’s tall headdresses
used in dances and ceremonies. “They used to make them out
of paperbark. Now they used beer cartons turned inside out,”
he says. Once they were decorated with cockatoo feathers stuck
on with blood. Now they use cotton wool and glue.
Five years ago, Jerry set up a horseriding school where he
teaches locals and takes tourists on trail rides into the scrub
around Tennant. “I was born in the saddle,” he says. “I used to
ride with the stockmen when I was four or five.”
During his rides he educates about bush tucker and traditional
ways of life – giving guests the taste of bush coconut, or wash-
ing their hands with soap bush. He ignores old ‘keep out’ and
‘no trespassing’ signs blocking the way to old mine sites. “We
can’t read,” he says with a laugh. Dad to a stable of adopted kids,
Jerry takes pride in mentoring and teaching Aboriginal youths
November–December 2015 79
how to ride and care for horses, so they can get jobs on pastoral
properties. “Anyone can ride a motorbike, but this...you can’t
teach anyone this in five minutes,” he says.
And the mentoring often goes beyond the horse yard. “I used
to train some of them to use fork and knife, too. And just getting
up early,” he says. “I also work with Corrections – the kids who
are in trouble.”
J
ERRY WAS A PROFESSIONAL rodeo rider for a while, until a
buckjumper in Camooweal reared in the chute and broke
his leg in two places. He was out for six months, but now
teaches those same rodeo and campdraft skills to his young
charges – some of whom get to prove themselves at the
once-a-year Tennant Creek Rodeo.
In the built arena, the dust smothers checked shirts, shiny
belt buckles and broad-brimmed hats. Beer cans dot the ground
like confetti, while the crowd sings along to Lee Kernaghan’s
“The Outback Club”.
In the chutes, where there’s a heady smell of sweat, adrena-
line and livestock, one of Jerry’s former students – 25-year-old
nephew Mitchell Albert – puts on some borrowed spurs and
chaps with blue metallic trim before climbing astride a fero-
cious-looking bull. This is only the second time he’s done this.
The last time was two years ago, and he hasn’t been on a horse
this year, let alone a bucking bull weighing half a tonne.
The whites in his eyes clearly visible through the caged hel-
met, he gives the nod and the chute opens. It’s wild and crazy,
with bull spittle and dirt flying, and then – like most riders – he’s
bucked off awkwardly in a few seconds, landing heavily in the
dust. But then the bull turns, and, seeing the figure on the
ground, bucks and stomps on him. Somewhere in the crowd
Mitchell’s mother screams. As he tries to stand and get away,
the bull turns and hammers him again, like a rag doll.
Finally, the rodeo clowns distract the bull, and Mitchell some-
how flees, climbing over the high fence before collapsing on the
ground. He lies motionless. His crew attends in a panic and
helps him up when his eyes finally open. He’s smiling now
and yells a tirade of expletives, then whoops and hollers.
But later, in front of his mother, all he would say was, “I was
a bit too slow. I’ve got a sore leg now.” Just like Tennant Creek,
he’s as hard as haematite, with a heart of gold. AG
FIND more of Heath Holden’s images of Tennant Creek online at:
http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/issue129
AUSTRALIAN GEOGRAPHIC and Ken Eastwood thank Travel NT for
their assistance with this feature story.
Finally, the rodeo clowns distract
the bull, and Mitchell somehow
flees over the high fence.
Stock take. Some of the Barkly’s meanest bulls wait their turn in
the main ring at Tennant Creek’s rodeo, an annual event that
attracts stockmen and ringers from across the NT.