The unlikely alliance between defence forces and traditional owners transforming Timber Creek
Traditional owners welcome military for cultural workshops. (US Marine Corps: Staff Sergeant Jose Nava, copyright. The appearance of US Department of Defense visual information does not imply or constitute DoD endorsement.)
At the foothills of an ancient red escarpment in a remote pocket of the Northern Territory, United States Marines, US Navy sailors, and Australian Army soldiers are knee-deep in a billabong.
They're learning survival skills from traditional owners, including how and where to hunt bush food.
The young marines and soldiers seem in awe of the traditional hunting skills and cultural lessons they are being shown.
It's part of a genuine friendship built on mutual respect and admiration between the Australian military and Ngaliwurru, Nungali and Jaminjung people.
Ryan Jones has caught a bush turkey during an afternoon hunt. It is then cooked in a traditional fire pit and shared with the Marines. (Back Roads: Kristy O'Brien)
At the Bradshaw Field Training Area, 600 kilometres south of Darwin, traditional owners have led the way in forming a union that serves the military and people on country.
Bradshaw is now one of the biggest live-fire training facilities in the world.
And as tensions rise north of Darwin, in the Asia-Pacific region, the area is deemed critical in preparing for conflict.
"Bradshaw is important to defence," Lieutenant Colonel Adam Boyd said.
"It offers a vast range of options for training — when army, navy and airforce train independently, when we train together and when we train with our international military partners."
Lieutenant Colonel Boyd (bottom-right) maps out sites of cultural significance with Lorraine Jones. (ABC iview: Back Roads)
Lieutenant Colonel Boyd is tasked with keeping Bradshaw running and engaging with traditional owners who live in the surrounding area, including the nearby town of Timber Creek.
Large-scale, live-fire training exercises go on here during the dry season, with hundreds of military vehicles, aircraft and personnel setting up on the remote site for weeks.
The US Marine Rotational Force has leaned heavily on the facility since former prime minister Julia Gillard and then-president Barack Obama signed a deal for an ongoing US military presence in Australia.
Since the initial deployment of 200 marines in 2011, up to 2,500 US service personnel have been stationed each year out of Darwin.
US Marines and ADF armoured vehicles during previous exercises at Bradfield. (US Marine Corps: Corporal Scott Reel, restrictions/Australian Department of Defence: Corporal Rodrigo Villablanca, copyright [The appearance of US Department of Defense (DoD) visual information does not imply or constitute DoD endorsement.])
Relationship helps ADF 'listen'
While all systems are firing now at Bradshaw, in 1996, when the 9,000km² former cattle station was signed over to the Australian Defence Force (ADF), it was met with some resistance from traditional owners.
Lorraine Jones is a senior traditional owner representing the Ngaliwurru and Nungali people living in Timber Creek.
As the chairperson of the Bradshaw Liaison Committee, she, her brothers, and her father were part of the initial negotiations with the ADF.
"People were uncomfortable talking with people in uniform," Ms Jones said.
"They were thinking, 'Oh yeah, they're going to drop bombs on the site, and our sacred site's going to be damaged'.
"But that wasn't the case."
Lorraine Jones gives a US Marine a blessing and prepares a fire pit for the visiting allied forces during the cultural camp. (ABC Back Roads: Kristy O'Brien)
What has unfolded is a deeply respectful partnership.
"If you don't trust each other you can't get nowhere," Ms Jones said.
"We've got this good relationship now, and everybody trusts each other."
The ADF has mapped out sites of cultural significance and agreed to steer clear of them, and traditional owners conduct cultural workshops for soldiers and marines.
"It's fair to say that it helps us to listen," Lieutenant Colonel Boyd said of the workshops.
"We have a saying, 'Big ears and a small mouth' — know when to talk and know when to listen.
"[It is] an opportunity for us to learn about Bradshaw's ancient and intricate history [and] the Bradshaw traditional owners' connection with country."
Corporal Malik Mercer proudly holds the barramundi he caught in the majestic Victoria River. (ABC iview: Back Roads)
Indigenous-led opportunities
The Bradshaw Liaison Committee negotiated an Indigenous Land Use Agreement (ILUA) with the ADF that empowers Ngaliwurru, Nungali and Jaminjung people and ensures the protection of their cultural history.
It also ensures education is a priority for traditional owners and the people of Timber Creek, with funding available for children to access boarding schools and for adults to attend university.
Brigadier Ash Collingburn throws a football with a child from Timber Creek during a community day at Bradshaw's airfield in 2021. (Australian Department of Defence: Captain Carla Armenti, copyright)
The agreement also makes economic opportunities available for residents like Daniel Jones, Ms Jones's brother.
Mr Jones — also on the Bradshaw Liaison Committee — started a contracting company in 2008 with his brothers that supports Bradshaw through fencing, road grading, waste disposal and fire management.
Twenty-four of the company's 25 workers are Indigenous, bringing $1,000,000 in wages to Timber Creek.
Mr Jones said the alliance had brought positive change to the community.
Daniel Jones (right) says the relationship with the ADF has brought employment and purpose to the people of Timber Creek. (ABC iview: Back Roads)
With reliable work, there's been a decrease in the alcohol-fuelled violence that once plagued residents, including himself.
"I went to jail a few times," Mr Jones said.
"I got into trouble and took the wrong path.
"Sitting down thinking of things I was doing wrong … I was thinking about how to turn my life around."
He put his energy into the business, creating jobs for the town's young people.
The remote township of Timber Creek is hemmed by red escarpments and the Victoria River. (ABC iview: Back Roads)
Ms Jones, a former Aboriginal police liaison officer in the 1990s, saw the negative toll that unemployment and alcoholism were having on the people of Timber Creek before the ADF acquired Bradshaw.
She says the mentality of the town's young men has now shifted, and she sees pride and hope in them.
"They're going home, and they know, at the end of the year, they can have a good break,"Ms Jones said.
"It makes a lot of difference."
Greg Kimpton, Bradshaw liaison officer with the Northern Land Council, said the alliance with the ADF had "a lot of social spin-offs".
"Everybody said it was going to fail," Mr Kimpton said.
"[The Department of] Defence have been really supportive, people have been really supportive, and it's good for people's self-esteem — it gives the town some purpose.
"I'm proud of what they've achieved."
At times, the ADF relies on the town to provide accommodation, food and fuel, which injects thousands of dollars into the Timber Creek community.
It boosts the town, which could otherwise be a forgotten outpost on a remote outback highway.
Timber Creek's isolation has worsened in the past few weeks, with the third severe flood to hit the region in just over a year, damaging roads and cutting off supplies to the town.
While the community is in recovery mode again, its future looks promising, with the ADF spending hundreds of millions of dollars expanding the facilities at Bradshaw.
Traditional owners teach hunting methods to marines and soldiers. (ABC Back Roads: Kristy O'Brien)
An immersive cross-cultural exchange
Under the ILUA, traditional owners stipulated that they have ongoing access to country for cultural purposes and connection.
For a long time, that was kept private, but in the past 20 years, the friendship has evolved so much that they have started including soldiers and marines.
"Spending time on country with traditional owners helps military people understand why it's important [to] those who have cared for the country for thousands of years," Lieutenant Colonel Boyd said.
US marines and Australian soldiers swim with local children in a Bradshaw billabong. (ABC Back Roads: Kristy O'Brien)
Over many days, the military group nurtured a respect for country as they learned about the local people's ancient connection with the area.
They also learned how to read the landscape and were taught how to find bush medicine to heal themselves.
Hospital Corpsman Second Class Camille Modjeski is a young medic with the US Navy.
She has been deployed to Darwin alongside the Marines and is "super grateful" for being immersed in some of Australia's Indigenous culture.
"I'm someone who likes to learn and experience new things," Corpsman Modjeski said.
"Learning natural medicine is a huge deal to me.
"I believe in both eastern and western medicine — traditional and modern."
Corpsman Camille Modjeski learns Indigenous weaving as part of the Bradshaw cultural workshop. (ABC iview: Back Roads)
Like several of her colleagues, Corpsman Modjeski has experienced post-traumatic stress disorder.
She had tears falling as traditional owners painted healing oils and embraced her.
It's a poignant cross-cultural exchange in a place where two very different worlds could easily have collided.
But instead, unlikely friendships are being forged, with both sides reaping the benefits.
Watch more about Bradshaw Station and the stories of the Timber Creek community in the latest episode of Back Roads on Tuesday, February 6 at 8:00pm on ABC TV or stream any time on ABC iview.