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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2012-03-14 Daily Xml
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MR KUNMANARA LANGKA PETER

Ms BEDFORD (Florey) (15:42): Communities across central Australia last week mourned a much-loved elder—or ngangkari, a traditional healer—who died in a car accident 160 kilometres south of Alice Springs the week before. In recognition of his life's work and contribution to the advancement of Aboriginal health across South Australia and further afield, NPY Women's Council directors requested Langka Peter be honoured with a state funeral. Ministers Caica and Hunter attended, as did John Lochowiak from the Otherway Centre who spoke to me today and recalled Mr Peter as being very kind and spiritual and as having travelled all over Australia healing people. He was looked on as one of his grandfathers.

Flags flew at half-mast all over the state. Mr Peter is survived by his son, daughter-in-law, grandchildren and a large extended family in the APY lands and cross-border areas. Mr Peter was born around 1940 in the bush, near Shirley Well, Kaltjitji or Fregon community. He spent most of his childhood there with his family. He was given ngangkari powers from his grandfather, Peter, who worked as a stockman as well as a ngangkari. He learnt the skills of a ngangkari by studying the work of his three grandfathers, father and other family members who were ngangkari. He learned by watching as they healed people.

Mr Peter was held in the highest regard by Aboriginal people for his unparalleled healing abilities, and I am indebted to the NPY Women's Council for the following information. He was responsible for a major shift in the broader understanding and acceptance of Aboriginal traditional healing through his public speaking and educational work. He was widely respected in the medical fraternity, both nationally and internationally, and believed that the best health outcomes for Aboriginal people would be achieved by collaboration between mainstream medicine and traditional healers.

In 1999 Mr Peter brought his skills as a ngangkari to the NPY Women's Council, and, with other ngangkari, travelled widely around the country healing people and promoting the value of Aboriginal culture and healing practices. His wisdom and deep understanding of human affairs at a spiritual level gave him universal appeal across cultural and national boundaries, and he was revered for his generosity and compassion for those in need. A true gentleman, Mr Peter had an extraordinary ability to make people happy with his warmth, humour and charisma.

Professor Marcia Langton, Patron of the NPY Women's Council, said that his passing will be felt deeply across the nation. As a ngangkari, teacher and leader, he has helped to bridge the cultural divide by helping to raise the understanding of Aboriginal ways of healing in the broader community.

Among many accolades, he was awarded the 2011 International Sigmund Freud Prize from the City of Vienna, the 2009 Mark Sheldon Prize from the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatry (RANZCP), and the 2009 Dr Margaret Tobin Award for excellence in the provision of mental health services to those most in need. As he described himself to a packed conference in 2010:

Today we work as ngangkari over a really extensive area of Central Australia. We do it together because we care; we want to look after people; that's what we were taught. For us, we are continuing a really long tradition of healing within our world, the Pitjantjatjara world. The skills, the way that I do my work, I was taught by my father and grandfather. I grew up in a family that was really strong and clear about the proper way to do things, and that is the way that I work today as a ngangkari.

Today it's really difficult for a lot of children—they find themselves in a really difficult situation. It's not as clear as it was when I was growing up. In these times there are clinics working within the communities and we work really closely with the clinic staff. We respect what they are trying to do and they respect what we are trying to do. We know there are a lot of problems and we work really closely together.

Many of us will not know of Mr Peter ngangkaris or the value of their work. Within their communities, they are a link to the ancient ways of Indigenous culture. Mr Peter and his contribution can be likened to that of people of the stature of the Howard Floreys and Nelson Mandelas of our culture. He was a wise and gentle man who forged a link between his people—the First Australians—and all who have followed since.

Mr Peter was nationally and internationally recognised as a bridge to access health outcomes from contemporary practices and traditional ways. Ancient healing faces many challenges from a modern white society, which has contributed so terribly to the awful statistics that testify to the health status of Aboriginal people throughout Australia today.

While the 'Closing the gap' program has successes, there is much work to be done. The life expectancy and quality of life for Aboriginal people is far behind other Australians, and remains a national shame. Aboriginal people lived with and on the land, and in harmony and health with the land, until the white settlement. Two hundred and twenty-five years later, Aboriginal people face enormous hurdles as they struggle to balance the progress that has been thrust upon them. As they strive to live in the two worlds, we should strive to learn from Mr Peter, his legacy and the wisdom of Aboriginal culture and healing. We may surprise ourselves by what we discover.

With his sparkling eyes and funny, playful ways, Mr Peter was a magnetic presence, loved by men, women and children of all cultures. He was an especially important man for Anangu, with his vast knowledge of lore and culture, and for his role as a master of mediation and reconciliation—kalypalpai (bringing people together), his loving spirit—kurunpa mukulya—his kindness, compassion and generosity spread out beyond his own family to cover everyone he met.

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