When Cultures Collide!

The First Australians are the oldest civilization on Earth. For a known 60,000 years they have existed in a society diverse logistically but united over the land mass by many sophisticated social structures that have ensured their continuity. They have withstood countless natural events but their biggest challenge will be surviving the man made chaos of the 21st century.

Whilst the rest of mankind grew progressively with social additives like alcohol and developed both overt and covert means of living with the effects of mind altering substances the Australian Aborigines are not known to have used any extraneous substances for the purpose of mind alteration. Welcome to 1788 when, as a result of a visit here, the British Government decided to colonise Australia for the purpose of housing prisoners.

It is reasonable to assume that the carers who arrived with the prisoners were not given this assignment because of their known ability and skills. A number of instances of unrest and mutiny attest to the discipline issues that pervaded the early scene here in Australia. Through all of this there was a constant theme of mind-altering substances being used in large amounts by those in power to accommodate their day-to-day challenges. At one point after the exchequer became overdrawn the troops were paid in Rum. The event became know as the Rum rebellion.

Needless to say indigenous Australians were slowly sucked into the cycle of alcohol use (illegal though it was) without the social fabric that supported the new comers where, at least making an appearance at work was a pre-requisite and necessitated some semblance of order. In 1964 the genie that had been hovering at the neck of the bottle for nearly 200 years was let loose and full citizenship via referendum was granted to First Australians. With only a very limited experience with Alcohol it now became available and was in many ways funded by the government social welfare system.

In 1981 a group of Senior Traditional Owners from Yirrkala an Arnhem Land community travelled to Fiji in the South Pacific to discuss various community management models. Whilst there they were introduced to Kava. It is the ground rhizome of a pepper plant (Piper methysticm) and is drunk as a type of tea. Kava is a native of the South Pacific and has long played a role in the ceremony and social structure of this area. It has a high disciplinary condition placed on its use and is only used when appropriate. Being welcomed as important visitors the Australians has first hand experience of the relaxing effect of the Kava Lactones which when ingested include analgesic, sedative, soporific, local anaesthetic and muscle relaxant.

With communities already experiencing high levels of violence and aggression as a result of excessive use of alcohol the elders embraced these revelations as a potential for lowering the risks in their homeland communities. The Government of the Day had recently strategically decided on a self-governing regime and accordingly saw benefits in supporting the proposal as a self-regulatory initiative and facilitated the importation of Kava into many of the Arnhem Land communities. The belief was that it could act as an acceptable substitute for alcohol with less risk than was currently being faced as a result of alcohol abuse and aggression. So Kava use and importation received a green light, a sort of methadone programme for potential alcoholics.

It did not take long for it to become evident that instead of a substitute the Kava became a supplement and without the strict ceremonial controls it was being used by individuals in far greater quantities than it ever was on the islands This along with its ingestion with alcohol was leading to severe health concerns, which have still not been isolated. It’s effect on the violence and dysfunction was minimal with the development of an apathy, which consisted of sitting around all day at the Kava pot whilst basic chores were left undone.

In late 2007 and in response to a damming report on conditions in some communities the Australian Government moved decisively with an emergency response package that included the banning of further imports of Kava except for medicinal use. The tap was effectively turned off but a thriving market had already been established for the substance and both the supplier and user have worked diligently to maintain its presence. It is now bartered illegally through the Top End of the Northern Territory.

A news report in this morning Sep 6th. 2009 tells of a person being pulled over in a vehicle at Pine Creek in the Northern Territory with 300Kg (about 650lbs) of Kava on board. It was in 14,700 “deal bags”. With a street value of A$294K .It would seem to be lucrative. Cultures collide whenever there is transference without the social constraints or controls that support the activity in its original setting. We don’t seem to learn that.