glauconite - Very fair comments. The tobacco thing is pretty...

glauconite - Very fair comments. The tobacco thing is pretty awesome :)

Again I do not presume to know what will make Martu (or any other traditional indigenous Australians) lives better. But I agree that things are not working now.

I will add this short comment, indigenous families will continue to struggle with money because their culture is based on "What is mine is yours".

For example, if you receive a pay cheque (or otherwise) and your nephew asks you for half of it, you are obligated to give half the money to your nephew. There is no "No". When you work on communities you are actually asked to avoid the "no" word because it is considered rude by many. Therefore it is mostly impossible for families to save money, invest money, manage money, etc. This is just one example of fundamental cultural differences that significantly hinder indigenous integration in our capitalist society.

Disclaimer: This is the way of the central groups, I have not got any experience with the Western Desert groups, but I understand they are very similar.