How Jonah Ryan found light side on path to country

Only an anachronism could be surprised by a link between Eminem’s lyrics, Star Wars movies and Aboriginal culture.

Djelk Ranger Jonah Ryan, at Nitmiluk National Park, is focused on learning from his elders to maintain knowledge of culture and help pass it on to future generations. Picture: Glenn Campbell

Only an anachronism could be surprised by a link between Eminem’s lyrics, Star Wars movies and Aboriginal culture.

All contain themes of good and bad, hard work and creation. And if Aboriginal culture is alive, why should it not receive some modern influences?

Djelk Ranger Jonah Ryan dreamt of holding such a job when he was a kid. But, like many in his home community of Maningrida, he struggled growing up. He found himself an unnatural learner of literacy and numeracy, and was bullied as a result.

“I remember this kid who came up to me and said, ‘You can’t do this because you’re dumb – you don’t know how to read and write,’” Ryan recalls.

He joined the Learning on Country Program that can help prepare kids to become rangers, but the amount of paper-based work almost dissuaded him.

“I had to find a way to motivate myself … My sister said, ‘Hey, you’re not the only one who’s bad at reading and writing’. She gave me examples, like the pop star Eminem – he had a hard time growing up,” Ryan says. “I also watched a movie called Star Wars.

“You know how (in it) there’s the light side and the dark side? I was like, ‘Hey, if I fail, I will be like the dark side – I will be nobody. But if I make it, I get to be someone and to help younger kids.’ That motivated me so much.”

He went to see a teacher who had told him not to quit. He asked for more work, did the hard yards, ignored the bullies, and finished the course. When he finally put on the green ranger’s shirt, he thanked those who’d maintained faith in him. Now, Ryan is focused on learning from his elders to maintain that knowledge. “I want to see more kids like me learning about culture. There are not that many kids these days who are interested in culture,” he says.

More than 100 remote middle and senior school students, teaching staff and rangers from across the NT have celebrated the 10th anniversary of the Learning on Country Program in Katherine this month. The program, which the Northern Land Council administers, attempts to meld the transfer of Indigenous traditional knowledge with land management skills and a regular school curriculum.

The federal government announced a six-year extension of the scheme to 2028. An additional $29.4m will expand its footprint from 15 to 19 sites and increase the target cohort to include middle and senior school students. There will also be improvements to Indigenous employment targets.

“By integrating culture and country into the school curriculum, remote Aboriginal students can walk strong in both worlds and be given more paths to success,” Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney said. “This significant investment will ensure many more young people benefit from this program for years to come and remain strongly connected and proud of their traditional knowledge systems.”

Northern Land Council chairman Samuel Bush-Blanasi said Indigenous children were the ­future, “and I want to see them get the right education and go on to live healthy and fulfilling lives and care for their families, community and country. This program creates that pathway for them.”