Rangeland Ecology for
Indigenous Communities
Anita Hudd
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Pastoral Land Management Planner, Northern Land Council, Katherine, Northern Territory
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Anita is based in Katherine, but she is working with three communities – one near Borroloola, one near Timber Creek and one near Pine Creek. She likes living in regional Australia (desert or Top End) because she feels it is more real, time is a bit slower and it’s more interesting. A far cry she says from the city where people are more concerned with their own affairs and they know little about what goes on in the rest of Australia.
While living and working in London as a registered nurse in operating theatres, I decided to change careers. I returned to South Australia (my original home) and went to a career counsellor and worked through what courses sounded good. I studied Applied Science at Roseworthy and met Jocelyn Davies (also featured in this issue), the lecturer for an excellent subject called Indigenous Australians and Land Management. As part of this subject a field trip took us to the Anangu Pitjantatjara (AP) Lands in South Australia. I was hooked, and determined to work with Aboriginal land managers from that point. Joss forwarded me a job advertisement some time later for a planner on the AP Lands and I have continued in that role since then.
I worked for nearly three years on the AP Lands after university, then I had a year and a half off (to recover). I have now been working two and a bit years at the Northern Land Council, straight after the recovery time in Adelaide.
One of my favourite projects I am working on is trying to explain the effects that grazing animals, especially cattle, have on country. It is challenging to put the science of rangeland ecology into a form that is easy for everyone to understand. I am always proud when people ‘get’ what I have been trying to tell them. It is great to have people ask questions that show they are taking it all in and working through the ideas.
There are a great number of funny stories to tell about working on communities. One story which springs to mind is when my partner brought my Datsun 120Y with him when he moved up to join me on the AP Lands. I had paid $500 for this car of my sister’s while at university and it was in a pretty bad way. It hadn’t been in the community long when I was asked by a senior man to sell him the car. I let my man do the talking, while I was busy with something else. After a while the senior man called out to me and gave me the thumbs up. We had traded the car for $200, two spears, two boomerangs and a woomera. Everyone was happy.
This car was immediately traded to a family member for another vehicle. After about 6 months the car had been all around Ernabella and everyone seemed to have owned it at some stage. It became more and more beaten up. One day we saw the car on the side of the road with four different sized tyres, and so the diff was done for. The next time we saw the car it had been burned by a petrol sniffer, and eventually it was rolled into the bushes when the road was being graded, having lasted right to the bitter end as all 120Y’s do!
One of my favourite stress relievers is camping in Kakadu. Kakadu is breathtakingly beautiful, and you are away from noise and everything else. You forget about your troubles and think about how tired your legs are. Other favourite activities are to exercise at the gym, take long walks, get stuck into my punching bag, practise yoga and chat to my man and my friends, who all work in loosely related fields.
We asked Anita about someone who has inspired her in her research and why:
Langaliki Robin – a Traditional Owner on AP. She is so strong and works so hard in difficult conditions.
Books or reading material Anita recommends in her area of research:
Helpful books for me include “Reading the Rangelands”, a Conservation and Land Management book, and “Why Warriors Lay Down and Die”. They are the two that have had the biggest impact one me – especially the rangelands one.
