Emergency food kits are being delivered to hundreds of displaced people in the remote Northern Territory community of Wadeye, where dozens of homes have been destroyed in recent weeks, amid widespread unrest.
Police said 37 homes have been extensively damaged in the past three weeks, with efforts underway to "support and relocate some of the vulnerable".
About 400 people, who were living in the overcrowded homes, are seeking refuge in the bush on the fringes of the community, according to Scott McIntyre, the chief executive of the local Thamarrurr Development Corporation.
He said the community's only food shop had been forced to close several times over the past few weeks, and school attendance rates were plummeting, due to a lack of staff.
"We've had people unable to work in certain areas of the community because they feel threatened and at risk," he said.
'Things are getting worse'
Wadeye is an isolated community about 420 kilometres south-west of Darwin, with a population of around 3000 people.
Tensions have been building in the community for the past month.
An 18-year-old man was last week charged with manslaughter, following the death of another man, after he suffered severe head injuries during an alleged altercation.
Traditional owner Anne Marie Nudjulu said her house has been left intact, but next door "everything has been destroyed".
She said cars had gone up in flames and people were fleeing the community or staying indoors, in fear.
A regional traditional owner who wanted to remain anonymous said a long history of policy failures, unemployment, overcrowding and ineffective rehabilitation services have contributed to decades of disputes between family groups.
"At Wadeye, things are getting worse, our young people fight," the resident said.
"Mothers, grandmothers, children run into the bushes carrying their blankets to camp and sleep for the night, our young people have lost their way."
Traditional owner Margaret Perdjert said she was saddened by the fighting among Wadeye's young people.
"In our heart we feel empty," she said.
"Our strong elders have passed away and we don't have enough activities for our young people in our community."
'People are frightened'
Acting Superintendent Bradley Fox said "historical tensions" between local families were behind the unrest.
"A key stakeholder meeting with community members was held last Friday and NT Police are urging traditional owners, elders and family groups to work together to bring an end to these disturbances," he said.
"The safety of the community will always be our first priority."
Mr McIntyre has worked with the community for the past 20 years and said he had seen opportunities for development and positive change fall through the cracks.
"These things that go on are often complicated inter-family conflicts that can escalate out of proportion," he said.
Mr McIntyre labelled the situation a crisis and pointed to a 2004 socio-economic report that mapped out the costs of government not investing in the community.
It found more funding was going into criminal justice, than public policy such as education and employment creation.
"People are frightened to go to the shops," Mr McIntyre said.
'Up to 15 people' living in some homes
The regional traditional owner who wanted to remain anonymous said residents have continually asked the government to be supported to return to country to live on homelands, and pointed to successful examples such as Fossil Head and Emu Point.
"We are herded like cattle to live in small houses, very close together, with many, up to 15 or more people living in a house," he said.
"This causes unhappiness and fighting. Our youth are fighting, and we have no control, all huddled up in one place. We the old men and women are frightened of our young people."
The NT government's Homelands Policy was developed in 2015 following a handover of municipal and essential services for homelands from the federal government to the NT government.
On Wednesday Federal Labor committed to investing $100 million into homelands in the Northern Territory.
"For hundreds and hundreds of Territorians across the Northern Territory, they have been completely neglected in terms of homelands", Senator Malarndirri McCarthy, who is vying for re-election in Labor's Senate position, said.
