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David Maurice Smith
Barkindji children jump on a trampoline in their front yard while storm clouds gather overhead. The Barkindji, also called the Paakantyi, are an Aboriginal Australian tribe that lives in New South Wales. They are traditional keepers of one of the most prosperous countries on the planet yet they endure near third-world conditions. Barkindji men have a life expectancy of 35 years, the rate of domestic violence is 13 times that of other Australian communities, and the infant mortality rate is three times higher than for non-aboriginals.
Young hunters scour the waters off of Pirlangimpi on Melville Island. Fish, shark, stingray, mud crab, turtle, are all fair game with a well-aimed spear.
A cloud of red dust lingers behind a travelling vehicle at dusk on Melville Island.
Young boys fish in the sea as a storm cell builds off the coast of Melville Island.
A large manta ray, nearly 10 feet wide, swims off the coast of the Tiwi Islands as seen from a helicopter.
Young Tiwi girls hold a baby wallaby in the front seat of a car.
A line of fire cuts across the lush landscape. Fires are lit to to reduce the risk of larger, out of control fires during the dry season.
A controlled bush fire burns on Melville Island, a method used to reduce the likelihood of large scale fires later in the dry season. For thousands of years, the Tiwi people have used fire as a tool to manage their natural landscape.
Tiwi boys swim in a freshwater stream, far enough inland to be deemed free of saltwater crocodiles.
Girls paint their faces using clay from the creekbed at a swimming spot favoured by islanders.