• Jerry Schwab

05 July 2006Jerry Schwab describes practical options from Canada for re-engaging remote area Aboriginal youth



MANY Australians were shocked recently by stories of violence among Aboriginal youth gangs in the Northern Territory township of Wadeye. Images in newspapers and on television depicted members of Wadeye’s Judas Priest Boys and Evil Warriors gangs dressed in oversized basketball shirts, camouflage singlets, “do-rags” and reversed baseball caps flashing hip hop hand signs like their “gangsta” heros. But the postured and practiced images of exaggerated masculinity, familiar from the American hip hop videos that pervade Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal communities alike, were different: these “gangstas” posed threateningly with clusters of traditional Aboriginal hunting spears. The media referred to Wadeye as a “war zone” and there were wide ranging calls for law and order. The Wadeye Community Council, the Northern Territory branch of the Australian Medical Association and the Director of the Kimberly Land Council all appealed to the government to “send in the army”. Though quickly dismissed by the Indigenous affairs minister, the experience of Canada indicates “the army” can in fact play a valuable role in re-engaging young Aboriginal people in their communities.



In Canada, like Australia, many young people in Indigenous communities are continuing to disconnect from an educational system they perceive to be irrelevant and hostile to their culture. This is particularly true in remote regions, and the social cost to Indigenous communities of the decision by young people to leave school may be high. In the Northern Territory, for example, mental health problems, criminal activity, drug abuse and other social welfare issues are increasing among this group. Clearly, there is a need for policy and program options that will re-engage this growing population of young people.



Canada has had some form of military cadet program since the 1860s, but in 1996 a new program was established to serve the needs of young people in remote communities where isolation and cultural differences meant that traditional military cadet programs were not viable. The Junior Canadian Ranger (JCR) program is a community-based joint venture by the Department of National Defence and Canadian Forces in conjunction with Indian and Northern Affairs Canada. In communities where the program has been established, it is linked directly to existing Canadian Ranger patrols (similar to the Australian Reserves) and grew out the desire of young people to participate in a youth program modelled on the adult Ranger activities. JCR patrols comprise boys and girls between the ages of 12 and 18. The size of the patrol varies, but averages about 30 young people. Patrols are located in remote, isolated and costal communities, with 40 per cent located north of the 60th parallel. Consequently, the composition of the patrols is predominantly Aboriginal (First Nations, Inuit or M©tis). In 2005 there were 3014 Junior Rangers in 104 patrols in all provinces and territories except Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick; the program will expand to 3900 Junior Rangers by 2008.



One of the important features of the program, in comparison to mainstream cadet programs, is the emphasis on and integration with traditional cultures and lifestyles. That emphasis is reflected in the objectives of the program which are to impart traditional, ranger and life skills. The traditional skills component of the training is determined by the local community and so differs from patrol to patrol and from region to region. All JCR patrols include training on living off the land but where an arctic community may focus on a skill such as ice fishing, a community in a subarctic region might teach skills for caribou hunting. Traditional sports and arts would also take different forms in different locations while all communities would incorporate some activity based around respect for and interaction with elders. Ranger skills are developed out of a set curriculum developed by the Canadian Forces that includes training involving safe firearms use, marching and drill, first aid, building an emergency shelter, navigation, teamwork and the like. The third component of the training, life skills, focuses on skills for leadership and individual and community health. For example, Junior Rangers work to explore and develop knowledge and skills in public speaking, spirituality, recreation, substance abuse prevention, health and fitness.



The JCR program is designed to be flexible, enabling adaptation of a nationally consistent training framework to the unique features and varying needs of remote and isolated communities. About 40 per cent of the program content is mandated by the Canadian Forces, while the remaining 60 per cent is determined in consultation with individual communities. The national training model that underpins JCR training comprises three thematic learning units: community service and being a good role model; outdoor safety, first aid and group dynamics; and competence on the land.



Learning is activity-based for the most part and is structured over an annual cycle. Ideally, patrols meet weekly for training, with occasional full day sessions. Training is provided by Canadian Rangers and volunteers from the community with occasional assistance from visiting Canadian Ranger Instructors who are full-time soldiers working with various Ranger and Junior Ranger patrols within a defined region. Community activities take place when opportunities arise. For example, JCR patrols, dressed in uniforms of green caps and jumpers, are often called upon to assist with community events. Field training exercises, involving at minimum two days and one night on the land, are organised at least three times a year. The year culminates with a ten day summer training camp for selected JCRs. Chosen by the local adult committee, ten Junior Rangers from each patrol attend a summer camp involving joint training with other Junior Rangers from other patrols from the region. The site changes each year and is selected to provide a diverse set of experiences for the participants.



The JCR program is designed to achieve a number of specific outcomes. At the level of individual Junior Rangers, the program aims to produce individuals who are competent living on the land. Through staged, practical training the program develops individual survival skills so that individuals are able to secure food, water and shelter. It promotes knowledge of navigation and communication technologies such GPS, radio, and skills to operate, maintain and repair a range of different types of transport and construction machinery and tools. It also aims to provide individuals with a capacity to plan and manage activities on the land and to cope with emergencies. These various skills are essential in remote and often harsh environments where the transmission of traditional cultural knowledge has been disrupted or lost. The program also aims to promote among Junior Rangers a sense of service to the community, to assist in developing young people who are actively engaged rather than withdrawn from life in the community - who are assets rather than liabilities. Ultimately the program is about cultivating capacity, confidence, leadership and a healthy environment.



The JCR program involves an enormous commitment of resources on the part of the Canadian Forces, and it may not be immediately clear why the Department of Defence should be involved in a domestic social program such as this. Interestingly, some of the Canadian policy and program documentation states that altruism is behind the program. The Command of the Canadian Forces have taken up what could be argued to be a governmental moral imperative, a duty of care for citizens, especially for the most disadvantaged in society. Certainly, some remote Indigenous communities in Canada are in crisis: meaningful work is limited or non-existent, health is in decline, social and family dysfunction on the rise and a sense of hopelessness all pervasive. The program contributes to remote Indigenous community reinvigoration, stability and ultimately survival in providing young people with real skills that contribute to social capital; it is a program that also aims to develop the next generation of leaders.



The JCR program also yields some very practical political and social benefits for the Canadian nation. Like Australia, most of Canada is remote and isolated from the main population centres in the more temperate south, yet Indigenous people know the country well and continue by choice and spiritual connection to remain on their traditional lands. The existence of trained and equipped patrols of young people is of enormous potential benefit to the nation. Search and rescue and disaster relief are examples of needs where Ranger skills come immediately into play. Yet the program has some very practical political value as well. Again, like Australia, the remote, lightly populated regions of the Canadian north are continually subject to illegal fishing, smuggling and other activities that threaten Canadian sovereignty. Some remote areas in the north are still politically contested and uniformed, equipped patrols provide an important political presence in the region. The JCR program, though never officially presented as such, is clearly an avenue for the development of future Canadian Rangers.



While Australia has a Defence Force Cadet program that operates in a limited number of Indigenous communities, it is a more traditional, urban-style and much smaller cadet program than operates in Canada; at the present time there are fewer than 100 Indigenous cadets in remote Australia. The Australian Defence Force is currently engaged in evaluating its Indigenous Cadet Program and looking for ways to develop, extend and sustain participation among Indigenous youth in remote areas for whom the traditional program has limited appeal. The Canadian experience may provide some useful insights for Australia and illustrate how “sending in the Army” might be a practical and positive strategy for assisting Australia’s remote area Indigenous youth. •



R.G. (Jerry) Schwab is a fellow at the Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research at the Australian National University.



Photo: Department of National Defence, Canada