Article: Tjukurpa Nganampa Wanantjaku - Our New Research Guide for Working With Aṉangu

Tjukurpa Nganampa Wanantjaku - Our New Research Guide for Working With Aṉangu

Translating from Pitjantjatjara to “follow our story” in English, Tjukurpa Nganampa Wanantjaku was created by the Research and Policy team at NPY Women’s Council, our Chairperson Mrs Smith, and supporting Anangu Directors. It exists to protect Anangu knowledge and ensure that when research is undertaken, it leads to meaningful, shared outcomes that genuinely benefit community.

Aimed at researchers, potential partners and collaborators, the following animation introduces the guide in Pitjantjara and English through the voice of our Chairperson, Mrs Smith:

Tjukurpa Nganampa Wanantjaku builds upon existing Anangu-led action research models introduced by the late Mrs T Colin of NPY Women’s Council in 1992, alongside decolonised research practices that merge Indigenous methodologies with an Anangu way of being, doing and knowing. This is achieved by clearly identifying and defining the key components of the research framework to ensure the research both is and promotes:

At NPY Women’s Council, we want to continue to build partnerships but make sure the stories stay with Anangu, and that Anangu benefit from sharing their stories.

Through Iwara Wanala (to follow the road/ path), by giving back to community or support community directly through donations from research, Anangu can lead a process of storytelling and take researchers by the hand, to make sure stories are shared on their own terms. The key components of Tjukurpa Nganampa Wanantjaku are also supported by key cultural protocols to consider when working alongside Anangu on the NPY Lands. Our Chairperson, Mrs Smith, believes in the importance of updating our processes and frameworks to preserve Anangu ways of being doing and knowing.

Anangu want a clear understanding of the work you are doing, for us to understand really clear - you know - about research. Through this animation and guide Anangu are helping you understand more clearly.

The animation helps Anangu understand in our own language too you know, it's for you and for us, for both of us, for a clearer understanding about working with us on research. It’s important for you to make sure our voices are heard and to understand more clearly what Anangu need.

-Mrs Smith, NPY Women’s Council Chairperson

The guide helps us continue to meet our strategic objectives of an Anangu-led voice, evidence-based practice, financial sustainability, stronger stakeholder relationships, financial sustainability and a greater promotion of Anangu culture, governance and agency. The protocols outlined in the framework continue to keep the safety and respect of Anangu paramount in our work.

For more information on ethics processes, our advocacy priorities, and how you can engage NPY Women’s Council in your research, please visit our research requests page and complete an expression of interest. You can also contact research@npywc.org.au directly.

We look forward to hearing from you! Palya!

Tjungu

Raylene – Our Disability Advocacy Champion!

We are thrilled to congratulate Raylene, a fierce advocate for those living with a disability in remote communities, for her recent recognition in the Alice Springs Mayoral Awards with a Champion Award on International Day for People with a Disability.

Ngangkari Traditional Healers

Growing Hope: The Blue Tree Project

Punu ngaanya mirritjanu warngkaringu – the dead tree comes to life again.

The Blue Tree project began as a conversation during a long car journey between Mparntwe (Alice Springs) and Warakurna, a remote community in the Ngaanyatjarra Lands of Western Australia. The discussion was sparked by the sight of a blue-painted tree at Curtin Springs, part of a national initiative to raise awareness of mental health – and this is what that particular Curtin Springs tree did.

A group of Anangu and Yarnangu women from the Uti Kulintjaku team at NPY Women’s Council developed the idea of making a blue tree out of tjanpi (grass), as a way of reinterpreting this initiative beyond the Western understanding of the tree, and of mental health more broadly, into a way that resonates with Anangu and Yarnangu. They collaborated with Tjanpi Desert Weavers to do this.

Not only was the physical act of making the tree healing, but it also stood as a powerful metaphor to open up dialogue about mental health in a meaningful and hopeful way.

The women talked about looking to the future – nyaakula kuranyukutu – going from a hopeless state – walykurringu – to having hope again, and recovering, returning to happiness – marlaku palyaringkupayi mapalyarringu.

The women often take the tree into Ngaanyatjarra Schools to engage the kids in discussions and meditations, encouraging them to create leaves to hang on the branches as symbols of regrowth. This interactive process shares the story of the blue tree in a way that reinforces the message of hope and healing.

The women hope the tree will travel, sparking many more conversations about mental health across communities, bridging cultural understandings, and bringing people together.

Learn more about the Uti Kulintjaku initiative and Ngangkari Traditional Healers here.

NPY Women's Council is grounded in, and continues to live and work on, the sovereign Lands of the Arrernte people, and the Aṉangu and Yarnangu people - the rightful custodians of the Ngaanyatjarra, Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara Lands.

Tjukurpa Nganampa Wanantjaku - Our New Research Guide for Working With Aṉangu

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Punu ngaanya mirritjanu warngkaringu – the dead tree comes to life again.