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Newman, Samantha --- "The Mawul Rom Project - An Experience of Cross - Cultural Mediation" [2004] IndigLawB 62; (2004) 6(6) Indigenous Law Bulletin 11


The Mäwul Rom Project: An Experience of Cross-Cultural Mediation

by Samantha Newman

Reconciliation is a journey where the participants in the process begin to give of themselves... Their struggle becomes your needs and struggles... The histories of both people need to be seen, understood and felt. The scars of our forefathers need to be healed to establish a relationship of love... We must both see and know the scars that we all carry. Some of us carry scars of guilt, others of loss, some carry suffering, some carry pain. Only when we see and know these scars can we together commit ourselves to a relationship of reconciliation that will make us one in spirit.[1]

In June 2004, I was privileged to take part in the inaugural pilot program of the Mäwul Rom Project in East Arnhem Land, Northern Territory. More specifically, the Project was held at Dhudupu Homelands, near Galiwinku on Elcho Island. The project is designed to facilitate cross-cultural mediation and assist in the development of reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. It was attended by 43 people from all over Australia (and one from Denmark!); 14 of these were Indigenous and 29 were non-Indigenous. The following is a brief discussion of my personal experiences and reflections from the event.

The area of alternative dispute resolution (‘ADR’) has grown significantly in the last decade as an important alternative to court litigation. Now, more than ever, there is a growing recognition that formal avenues of legal action do not always provide just outcomes; the mere cost involved in taking a matter to court is prohibitive for many. Thus, modes of conflict resolution are increasingly utilised in an attempt to circumvent some of the shortcomings of formal legal structures. ADR is considered by many to be more time and cost efficient and is hailed as giving greater control to the disputants in developing processes and creating flexibility in dispute resolution. Some have used this basis to argue that ADR mechanisms are a more appropriate way of resolving disputes for Indigenous communities and add that the principles underpinning ADR are more akin to Indigenous cultural values and norms.[2] Of course for Indigenous peoples, various modes of dispute management have been utilised by communities since time immemorial. More recently, ADR practices have been used by Indigenous peoples in a number of areas including the criminal justice system, family law, native title and land rights, commercial decision-making, employment and community disputes.

The development of ADR has the potential to resolve conflicts in a more fair and equitable manner. The advantages of ADR as heralded by many are not always achieved, however, in disputes between Indigenous and non-Indigenous disputants. In particular, the attempt to create a fairer negotiating environment in which to resolve disputes between Indigenous and non-Indigenous parties is not as simple as removing the task from the courts and placing it in the hands of the disputants. Two centuries of colonisation and its ongoing effects for Indigenous peoples requires more than simply transplanting one Western legal system for another.[3]

There are a number of issues which arise in Indigenous and non-Indigenous dispute management. For example, there are fundamental differences in the way in which ‘conflict’ is viewed by Indigenous and non-Indigenous people. Whilst non-Indigenous parties may view a particular conflict as a problem which needs to be overcome in order to move beyond it, Indigenous communities often view conflict as an essential part of ensuring harmonious relationships.[4] Conflict exists and belongs to the community who is responsible for ensuring it is addressed in some way.[5] Thus the way in which disputes are resolved and what is understood as ‘resolution’ may be fundamentally different. Outcomes for Indigenous parties are never ‘finished’ in a Western sense but are continual and social in nature.[6] ADR practices which seek to have a final resolution which will not be revisited are at odds with Indigenous beliefs surrounding decision making. If, however, a process is designed with the aim of maintaining ongoing and useful relations between the parties, it may be more compatible and, in the long-term, more sustainable for all involved.

Power imbalances between the parties, ever-present in Indigenous and non-Indigenous relations, frequently have the effect of hampering any advantages ADR may have over litigious avenues. This is most apparent in native title mediation where Indigenous communities are frequently negotiating with government or corporate entities. The result of this has been that many practitioners and scholars are examining ways to redefine ADR mechanisms in ways which truly reflect Indigenous cultural and other needs. This task is a crucial aspect of Indigenous self-determination and rests on notions of justice and fairness. As Behrendt states:

People and entities...dealing with Aboriginal people need to accept that if they wish to negotiate with an Aboriginal community they need to do so within the frameworks that Aboriginal people find acceptable.[7]

The task of developing appropriate mechanisms is a complex one. It is not enough to simply engage in dispute resolution in a culturally sensitive manner. It requires an understanding and respect of the cultural practices of a particular Indigenous community and an awareness of the possibility of disempowering Indigenous peoples through a failure to recognise other means of dispute resolution and to relinquish control of the process, both in terms of structure and conduct.[8]

The Mäwul Rom Project is designed to explore the possibilities of how dispute resolution processes might be developed. It does so in a unique way. Over the course of one week, participants took part in the traditional Mäwul ceremony, a ceremony which belongs to the Yolngu people in East Arnhem Land. This ceremony is used as a conflict resolution process to heal and restore relationships between individuals, groups and clan nations.[9] It is most eloquently put by Reverend Dr Djiniyini Gondarra, an Elder of the Dhurili Clan/Nation and the driving force behind the Project:

It is a healing ceremony - it heals peoples' relationships. It is an opportunity to heal the hurt, the pain, the scar of the past. It is through the Mawul ceremony that we bring people together, into the spirit of reconciliation. Individuals and families will benefit.[10]

The ceremony is conceptually linked with cross-cultural mediation as a way of developing reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. Thus, in addition to taking part in the Mäwul ceremony, participants attended sessions on Western mediation to provide conceptual links with Indigenous dispute management and investigate how the two could work together.

Brought into the community as guests, we spent a week learning about the Yolngu peoples in a variety of ways. Through talking with people in the community of Galiwinku, we learned about the harsh realities faced by them, the poverty and loss they continue to experience and the painful history of colonisation. We also learned and witnessed though the incredibly rich cultural beliefs and practices they have maintained in spite of this. As we were painted each day to prepare us to enter the sacred ceremonial space, we were welcomed into their world with generosity, kindness and wisdom. Participants were taught about the dances and the songs performed with the community during the ceremony; the stories and their meanings. The ceremony presented an opportunity for the community to teach the younger Yolngu members of the community as well. This was an historic occasion for the community as the ceremony had not been conducted in this manner for 30 years and hundreds of Yolngu people from Elcho and East Arnhem Land also came at various times during the week. For participants, however, the greatest learning occurred when we were adopted by a member of the Dhurili clan nation. Each participant was given a Yolngu name and a clan and skin name and we were taught about the family group we had been adopted into. At the end of the week, we were presented with a ‘graduation’ gift from the community. For the men, it was a woomera (bulman) and for women, a dilly-bag. The gift meant a great deal to all of us, representing our acceptance in the community and the learning we would now take home with us.

As noted above, there are many issues and dangers in attempting to examine how Indigenous and non-Indigenous processes for resolving disputes can be utilised in a particular dispute. Indigenous communities all over Australia have a variety of means for dealing with conflict, making it impossible to base an understanding of this area on one specific mechanism or even on a generalised understanding.[11] The power dynamics in a dispute are extremely complex, encompassing everything from colonisation to the particular relationship between the disputant parties. The relationship between Indigenous law, legislative arrangements and the restrictions they can impose also add to the difficulties. Yet the potential for ADR to develop and expand in this area, given its flexibility, is immense.

While the Mäwul Rom Project, for me, raised more questions than answers, it did teach me perhaps the most important aspect of cross-cultural mediation: that in order for non-Indigenous parties to engage in agreement-making processes, utilising Indigenous law as well as Western law, there is a need to be open to the process. The Mäwul ceremony was based on principles of understanding, respect, openness and self-awareness. We saw how conflicts can be resolved through ceremony and ritual rather than through words, impacting in a powerful and extremely emotional way. Most of all, we learnt that conflicts have the capacity to be resolved if we are willing to listen with more than our ears – by learning to listen with our hearts.

For further information about the Mäwul Rom Project, see: www.mawul.com

A research project is being conducted at the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies. For further information, see: AIATSIS Indigenous Facilitation and Mediation Project (2004) AIATSIS, <http://www.aiatsis.gov.au/rsrch/ntru/ifamp/index.html>

Samantha Newman attended the Mawul Rom Project when she was an editor of the Indigenous Law Bulletin. She is now an International Humanitarian Law Officer with Australian Red Cross (NSW).


[1] Reverend Dr Djiniyini Gondarra OAM, June 2003.

[2] See for example, Christine Nolan, ‘Alternative Dispute Resolution in Aboriginal and Islander Communities: The Community Justice Program’s experience’ in D Chappell and S Egger, Australian Violence: Contemporary Perspectives (Australian Institute of Criminology, Canberra, 1995) 282-283.

[3] Scott Beattie, ‘Is Mediation a Real Alternative to Law? Pitfalls for Aboriginal Participants’ (1997) 8(1) Australian Dispute Resolution Journal 57.

[4] Morgan Brigg, ‘Mediation, Power, and Cultural Difference’ (2003) 20(3) Conflict Resolution Quarterly 287, 287.

[5] Madeleine Sauvé, ‘Mediation: Towards an Aboriginal Conceptualisation’ [1996] AboriginalLawB 17; (1996) 3(80) Aboriginal Law Bulletin 10, 10.

[6] Toni Bauman and Rhian Williams, ‘The Business of Process: Research Issues in Managing Indigenous Decision-Making and Disputes in Land’ (Paper No 13, Native Title Research Unit, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, 2004) 10.

[7] Larissa Behrendt, Aboriginal Dispute Resolution: A Step Towards Self-determination and Community Autonomy (1995).

[8] Brigg above n 3, 301.

[9] Mäwul Rom Project, Report 2004 <www.mawul.com> at 25 October 2004.

[10] Rev Dr Djiniyini Gondarra OAM,The Mawul Ceremony (2004) Mawul Rom Project <http://wukindi.com/Background%20Information.htm> at 25 October 2004.

[11] Bauman and Williams above n 6, 1.


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