Kumanjayi Walker's community have made passionate and clear recommendations about their experience with Western law to the Northern Territory coroner during a series of meetings in Yuendumu.
WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this article contains an image of a person who has died, used with the permission of their family.
Among them was a call for guns to be banned in the remote community and dismay over what they believe to be a one-sided justice system.
In a cramped and sweaty room, tucked behind Yuendumu's basketball court, members of Mr Walker's family worked through a considered list of concerns with the coroner and a handful of lawyers involved in the inquest into his death.
The hours-long yarning circle meeting was one of several coroner Elisabeth Armitage took part in over a two-day visit to Yuendumu.
Warlpiri Elder Ned Jampijinpa Hargraves said the community was still unsure about whether they could trust the coroner — as a symbol of the justice system — but that they know "someone is listening".
The meeting, at times chaotic, ignited the passions of a community that for three years said they had felt silenced in their grief.
Judge Armitage is currently presiding over an inquest into the shooting death of Mr Walker during an attempt by police to arrest him in Yuendumu three years ago.
Understanding Warlpiri culture
More than 300 kilometres away in Alice Springs, the inquest has spent the past two months examining the circumstances of the shooting and diving into the culture of the Northern Territory Police Force.
Warlpiri culture has also featured in evidence, but some residents of Yuendumu told the coroner on Tuesday that what she had heard in court was the Kardiya, or white people, "interpretation" as opposed to the Yapa, or Warlpiri, "truth".
"In the court, there's been an insinuation that on the night we couldn't be told about what happened to Kumanjayi because there was going to be immediate payback, but culturally, payback doesn't happen straight away," Kumanjayi Walker's cousin Samara Fernandez Brown said.
Mr Hargraves said punishments as part of payback — as it is known in English — were proportionate to the grievance and that Mr Walker's death called for a "spear across the legs" of Constable Zachary Rolfe.
"Payback is a very organised cultural ceremony, it's a gathering of the whole community who witness it. People have roles and responsibilities to the person who has passed away … this has been happening forever," Mr Hargraves said.
"Deep in our hearts, deep in our minds … we want to see justice."
Constable Rolfe was acquitted of three criminal charges, including murder, after a Supreme Court jury heard he had acted in self-defence and in the reasonable performance of his duties when he fired the fatal shots on November 9, 2019.
Promises of change
Counsel assisting the coroner, Dr Peggy Dwyer, posed a series of questions to the community during their conversations.
"Putting aside spearing … is there anything else that would be justice for you?" she asked.
One man raised concerns about cultural practices being erased over time.
"Our cultural authority isn't recognised … it's been slowly diminished by government rules," he said.
The plea for police to stop carrying guns in the community has already been rejected by the Northern Territory Police Force and its union.
Dr Dwyer told the room of Warlpiri men and women that the coroner would listen to the concerns of both the Yuendumu community and the police force.
"The coroner can make recommendations to ask the police to really listen to you and come up with a solution together," Dr Dwyer said.
The coroner also heard a series of concerns from members of the community about a justice system they felt wasn't built for them.
After the jury found Constable Rolfe not guilty of any offence related to the shooting, Ms Fernandez-Brown said members of Mr Walker's community were confused about why some information revealed throughout the inquest had been barred from the criminal trial earlier this year.
The focus of the coroner's inquiry has stretched beyond the night of the failed arrest, examining police practices and allegations of racism within the force.
Barrister for the Northern Territory Police Force, Dr Ian Freckleton KC, told the meeting at Yuendumu that "police are listening" to their concerns.
"There have been a lot of changes and there will be more," he said.
"You have the Police Commissioner's promise. The number two police officer [Deputy Commissioner Murray Smallpage] is here, listening … and treating [the meeting] with genuine respect."
Formal inquest evidence will resume in Alice Springs later today, with Constable Rolfe expected to be called to the stand.
The officer is currently scheduled to answer questions over three days, but a complex question of law is set to be argued in the Supreme Court next week which is likely to impact his evidence.
