AustLit

'The argument in this paper was played out on 2 June 1997, in my own Aboriginal community of Narungga, at Bookayana (Point Pearce Mission, Yorke Peninsula). A meeting was called to settle our grievances with the then South Australian Department of Education, Employment and Training (DEET). This occasion is known amongst our people as the Bookayana Education meeting. The meeting was held in the Jack Long Memorial Hall, which seemed fitting as Kauwawa (Uncle) Jack3 was an Elder who spoke of the testimony of several Narungga people demanding selfdetermination at the 1915 Royal Commission into Aboriginal Affairs. My people have a strong and proud tradition in calling for our right to be self-determining. In every generation Narungga peoples have asserted our rights to sovereignty and jurisdiction over our own affairs (see Wanganeen 1987; Mattingley and Hampton1988). As a continuation of this legacy, the Bookayana education meeting called for greater Narungga control over education to improve the educational opportunities for our children. To address the crisis in education for the Narungga, there was an urgent need to resolve the following key issues.' (Introduction)