Fridge Gone Missing in Outback Australia

A friend of mine was invited to live and work in a remote Aboriginal community in Australia, home to one of the oldest living culture in the world. The community has approximately 800 people, (about 65 homes and the population varied with seasonal and ceremonial activity). It was very isolated, the closest city Darwin is about 9 hours away on rough rugged roads, inaccessible by vehicles during the wet seasons.

In the Aboriginal world where there is no sense of ownership, everything is shared. Living together, working together, learning from each other, sharing belongings, raising the children together is what life is about in this remote part of Aboriginal Australia.

My friend told me some funny stories about her life there. She would often sit on her verandah and watch as her car passed by, down the dusty road through the community, wonder who was driving it. One day she brought a brand new fridge, she was really proud of it, three days later it was gone, the Aboriginals then gave her another one to replace it, which they had collected from the local dump. It was small and rusty, it was missing it’s shelves and it was covered in old stickers.

When the women came to visit, if they liked her cushions or belongings, they would say “mak-mak” which means very nice and they’d take them home with them as they were leaving. Also if they liked my friends flip flops, they would try them on, discuss how good they looked and walk away with them, she had to replace them a number of times.

At weekends she would often go with the women and children to a special patch of mangroves hunting for fish, mangrove worms and mud crabs. Other times she would be taught the ancient techniques for collecting and dyeing the pandanus plants for weaving and then sit with the women and learn basket weaving techniques that are interwoven with powerful stories and tradition. Or, she would gather medicinal plants for traditional healing methods, and listen to stories, learn the language, and learn about relationships and ceremonies. The great friendships and wisdoms my friend gained, was worth so much more than the missing fridge.