Department of Anthropology
Doctoral Research
Indigenous Education, Christianity, and Community at Woolaning Homeland Christian College
By Martina Wardell
My research was conducted over one school year at the Woolaning Homeland Christian College, situated on the southwestern edge of the Litchfield National Park in the Northern Territory. Woolaning Homeland Christian College (WHCC), a ‘ Parent Controlled Christian School’ is governed by a council of regional Aboriginal parents and community members and funded by the federal government. It represents a unique pilot project which has been watched carefully by governments at both state and federal levels, and increasingly by other interested Northern Territory Aboriginal communities. Two other Aboriginal communities in the NT have decided to use the same model to start parent controlled schools in their own communities.
Particular focus is placed on the relationship between Aboriginal people and Christianity. The initial concept for the development of the Woolaning Homeland Christian College came from the Christian visionary experience of one aboriginal community leader, who continues to work tirelessly to bring to life ‘God’s kingdom on earth’ at Woolaning. The nature and theology of this Vision forms the mythological foundation of the college, and inspires it’s day to day functioning. Over 90% of indigenous Australians identify as Christian, making the ways in which Aboriginal people have, and continue to incorporate this faith into their lives of key interest.
The College provided a unique localized field site both weighted and embedded in the continuing history of the colonial and post-colonial encounter, particularly in relation to education, contextualized Christianity, and ideas of community and reconciliation. The study is fundamentally ethnographic, and focuses on the ways in which the people of Woolaning are navigating their way through this complex social, political and spiritual context in daily life. College stories, symbols and rituals are examined to explore the kind of school culture that has developed at Woolaning. While life at the College can on the surface appear chaotic, even out of control, the thesis aims to explore some of the ways this context is rendered significant, even coherent from local points of view..
Et harum quidem rerum facilis est et expedita distinctio.