The One Arm Bandit – Ernie Nanjirrila Lalara
Remembering Ernie Nanjirrila Lalara 12th September 1947 — 2002 (55 years) Story by Bryan Massey
When Kathy and I, and our eldest child, Libby, went to Groote Eylandt for the first time to live there in the early 1970s, Libby was only a very young girl of about 14-months old.
At this time, all of the men who have since died of MJD had not even started to show signs of the disease. Harry, Kevin, Ernie and Jock — all Lalara men from the same family — were running around freely, hunting, fishing, and enjoying their lives with no visible symptoms of the disease.
People referred to the disease as ‘Groote Eylandt Syndrome’, and it was thought to be caused by manganese toxicity. Some of these men were working at the GEMCO manganese mine, and at Angurugu Mission and Umbakumba.
In the early years after our arrival, our family did not see anyone walking around with MJD-like symptoms, but looking back now, we realise that there must have been people in the community keeping a low profile because of shame surrounding the encroaching weakness to their bodies.
When the disease showed itself, Kevin Lalara was the first of the men to show some visible signs, and it wasn’t long before Ernie started to show symptoms, too. Kevin worked on the mining conveyor belt and was constantly exposed to manganese dust.
Ernie Lalara was a lovable bloke. In his younger years, he travelled to Gunbalanya (Oenpelli) and stayed there for a time. Later he returned to Angurugu to marry his promised wife, Caroline Wurramarrba, and together they had three children.
In his earlier years, Ernie enjoyed a few drinks, and he sometimes had a few scrapes due to his fighting. In one instance, he had to go to Nhulunbuy (Gove) Hospital for treatment to his injured arm. During his time there, due to his need to drink, each day he was seen walking from the Gove Hospital down the hill to the Walkabout Hotel, driving his drip stand with his ‘good’ hand. Ernie considered it a necessary trip to satisfy his thirst. Eventually Ernie had to have his injured arm amputated. He was still a good fighter, despite having one good arm and a stump as the other!
In his 40s, the MJD started to take hold of his body, and he was showing visible signs of weakness. Ernie decided to give up drinking, and he became a very responsible community member. He started working at the Council office, and was also the one-armed courier driver.
Ernie was warm and friendly, and always had a huge smile on his face. There was a joke going around that, when Ernie was driving his specially modified bus on the main road, you should not wave to him to say ‘hello’, because he would always take his good hand off the steering wheel to wave back!
When it became obvious that the MJD had taken over his body, and he could no longer do his work, he had to retire.
Memories of trying to encourage him to get a wheelchair bring back a smile to my face, and a deep sorrow in my heart — the cruelty of this disease is heartbreaking. To me, the disease is like watching someone you love slowly pass away before your eyes.
With the establishment of the Angurugu Aged Care Facility, Murabuda Wurramarrba and his team took over to help those living with MJD. During that time, the Facility would organise fishing excursions to take folk out for the day. Ernie was a keen participant on many of these excursions, and on one such trip, he hooked a rather large turtle — with one arm and all! The catch was almost brought into the boat, but the hook dislodged and the turtle swam away. As the very relieved turtle swam away, the men in the boat discussed it and decided it was not a good turtle to eat anyway, because it was a ‘stinky one’!
This MJD is a terrible disease. Ernie was my dear friend, and little did I know that I would be caring for his son and granddaughter as well, before I left Groote.
Like all the other MJD men who I have had the privilege to call brothers — on Groote Eylandt, I became a Lalara man — I love Ernie and miss him a lot.