Two dead in WA eastern goldfields - ABC

Bodies of two men found in WA desert
Sunday Jan 14 11:33 AEDT
The bodies of two men missing for up to two weeks have been found in a remote desert area in Western Australia.

The Aboriginal men, one aged in his 40s and the other in his 60s, were found about 320 kilometres east of Kalgoorlie.

WA Police said the men were reported missing four days ago after failing to arrive at their destination.

But Kalgoorlie police Constable Taryn Hoffman said the men were believed missing for longer.




"They were believed missing for a total of two weeks - they're supposedly 10 days late to where they were due to go," she said.

One of the men was found near his four-wheel drive vehicle late Friday afternoon.

The other man was found 3.5km south of the vehicle during a search of the area on Saturday morning.

"It looks like they've come across some mechanical failure," Const Hoffman said.

Const Hoffman said police were still examining the scene and inquiries into the deaths were continuing.

She said the bodies were likely to be flown to Perth for autopsies.

©AAP 2007

Hi Equinox.

"Both were aboriginal men and were reportedly bush savvy and well versed with the WA outback."

I fine this a bit strange, you would think they would cope better than any of us out there.. They where not young blokes ever.. Not good to hear

Richard

Diff failure, big lock up, Maybe? Might never be known.

More likely they were looking for the "wine" in the diff,

Owen, you are right, they do tend not to carry any spares. And that's a possible reson for the axle work. Stuff a tyre, stuff a diff/axle and try and take the other one out and replace it. I didn't think of that, good point that answers my query.
Poor sods.

The song of the water holes...fitches ? Wind moving across the top of a rock hole ?
Interesting.

Helped many a group from communities out. Always found them polite and friendly. But been in a few communities where I felt that I wasn't real welcome.

But there again, I've been in a few other unfriendly places too :)))

You're right about spares. Mate had a ute stolen in Darwin in the 80's. Cops came across it near Katherine, out of fuel. They became suspiscious when they saw the trunk full of spares in the back.
"Was a dead giveaway that it was stolen as the Abo's never carry them" said the copper.

the song is the desert version of tribal history. No books to reference so someone keeps the record as a song in his head and repeats it. I heard once a description of an old bloke traveling in a car and the driver said he started singing the song of the journey to where ever but he had to stop cos he could not keep up with the speed they were traveling at. All the waterholes would have to be in a song too but finding water in outside territory could be pretty hard especially if you feared the spirits and taboos as they do out there. Especially at night.

I was once told that if the car breaks down at night they will run the headlights till the battery goes flat for this reason. I have seen them stopped at night with a fire going but not with the lights on.

I stopped once to lend (give) a spare tube and would have given the old extra spare wheel if it would fit the nissan hub but it didn't. Mine is hilux. They got another three or four K's before another tyre blew and they just kept on going albeit slower but they got home ok.

Owen

nope not even the most basic of spares. I have helped a couple with a flat, ouldnt jack the car up coz they had no handle. they di out bush just the same as others, cant remember th specifics bu there have been othe recent deaths in the general area. plenty of other near missus. A few years go a party of 7 or so got bogged Nth of Coolgardie and only lived coz one oung fella made a massive hike back to Coolgardie cross ountry

And living in remote areas, and travelling for funerals etc, they are as much at risk as anyone else.

Owen, I find it fascinating that in this day and age there appears to be little written record of their "songs". Maybe it's still secret mens business, I don't know. I'll see if I can do some research and come up with something. I know that some Uni's etc have spent a lot of effort trying to record some of the verbal stuff.
Yes, they often fear the spirits of the dead, especially at night.
Imagine being brought up with all that stuff and trying to fit into the modern world. I rekkon it can't be easy.

Interesting that they chose to call the National Park out that way "Mamungari" ... the place of harmful spirits, quite recently.

I have tried to get the phone answered at Oak Valley for the last week and no one seems to be there - might be a funeral on, or maybe they have all been out looking for these guys.

Seems they were on a track parallel to the newer track - perhaps had made a mistake which made them hard/harder to find.

As for the songs of the road, these guys were pretty much moved off the land and so a lot of the oral history or customs have not been properly passed down to the younger ones ... that is something they are trying to remedy, but they are not even sure how much they have or how much they have lost until they get the old guys - the real old guys out there. Unfortunately, most of them suffered serious alcohol problems being moved to Yalata/Ceduna/missions whatever, and so one generation died out and the next missed the education because of it.

It is a complicated situation and this is a very sad story - I'm sure there's a lot more of it to be told yet.

Andrew, quick, funny to me anyway, story that happened a long time ago.
I hope it doesn't sound racist, it isn't intended to.

Was in the store at Lockheart River on CY.
Young aboriginal lass waiting in line with me says "I'm waiting for a birthday cake..."
Me..."Oh"
With happiness..."My baby almost two "
Me...."Oh"
Looks carefully at me
"My baby almost white, like you"
Me..."That's nice"...

Me...thinks... "I've never seen you before in my life and I'm outta here"

She was just in a happy chatty mood.

But she made me uncomfortable.
Sometimes history has a heck of a lot to answer for.

All too many truck drivers, mine workers, railway workers, travelling salesmen, ... you name it, were prepared to do some sort of trade at the expense of the dignity of aboriginal women - sometimes too, the trade was with the men.

Perhaps it is still more common than I imagine ... and given the extent of abuse currently in the media amongst their own, it probably is.

Young lass might have thought you would make a paternity payment.

Obee, I grew up in the North West and I can tell you that the locals stop helping aborigionals that are on the side of the road. It's not a racist thing, it's the fact that every trip to Port Headland for supplies you get stopped and asked for a jerry of fuel or a spare tyre.

There are only so many spare tyres people are willing to let go of for nothing.... It would not suprise me if there had been people drive past and just keep on going... Tragic really, but they do bring it upon themselves by carrying no spares and no supplies.

I mean honestly guys, we will pay out till the cows come home on some tourist that was unprepared, IMHO it is worse when there are people out there that KNOW what they are in for and what can happen if things go wrong and still don't bother to take precuasions. Sad maybe, suprising, not really.

But regarding lights in the bush, I remeber last year we were sitting around a campfire with a few boys (some of which I had never met before that night). They started joking about some of the "local" stories they had heard at their local out in the wheatbelt that week.

Me and this other guy hat to then sit under the camplight light, even went for a bleep togther (nothing funny there!!) with a lattern as we both grew up with those stories told to us from a young age. Had forgotten about them, but once they were re told to us even in the brefifest form it struck a chord that gave us both the heaby jeavies somthing bizzzare. One of my best mates who's known me for 10 years said he'd never seen a look on my face like I had that night, he reckons he was scared just from the way I reacted! LOL.