The Price of Reconciliation: Paddy’s Road and the Silencing of Djukun Country

Image: Paddy’s Road: Life Stories of Patrick Dodson, by Kevin Keeffe, 2003.

Across Australia, Patrick Dodson is a familiar and respected figure widely recognised as the "Father of Reconciliation." 

The name Patrick Dodson conjures images of his long flowing beard, and signature landrights hat. In Paddy’s Road: Life Stories of Patrick Dodson (Paddy’s Road) author Kevin Keeffe traces the life of this towering public figure, offering an engaging portrait that blends biography with personal reflections, moments of humour, and historical insight.

Keeffe presents Dodson as a trailblazer: the first Aboriginal Catholic priest in Australia, a fierce advocate for Indigenous land rights, and the public face of the reconciliation movement. The book offers some genuinely moving and even amusing moments. For example, Keefe shares the story of Patrick’s grandfather, Mr P. Djiagween who, after shaking hands with Queen Elizabeth in 1963, gained citizenship, then immediately tested his newfound citizenship by demanding a beer at the Continental Hotel. That moment, a blend of defiance, dignity and cultural assertion, embodies the overarching narrative of Paddy’s Road: the struggle for Aboriginal recognition and justice.

Born in the era of oppressive segregation laws, raised through hardship, and emerging as a national leader, Dodson's story is one of undeniable historical importance.

 Paddy’s Road is an inspiring read for those wishing to understand the broader Aboriginal political journey. 

However, for the Djukun people of Broome, Traditional Owners of Djukun Country, this biography raises critical and unresolved questions. 

According to local oral history, Patrick Dodson was born at Beagle Bay, not in Broome as the book implies. In any event, while Dodson identifies himself as a member of the Minyirr Djukun clan, this is strongly refuted by the Djukun people, who assert no ancestral connection to him or his maternal grandfather Mr P. Djiagween. No oral or historical evidence from Djukun elders support Dodson’s claim to Djukun identity, and neither he nor his family have been observed practicing Djukun culture within the community.

It is the Djukun people's perspective that Dodson is from the Yawuru people and he has also asserted this himself.

The Djukun firmly maintain that Broome and specifically the northern side of Roebuck Bay to Willie Creek is Djukun Country, not Yawuru Country. N.B. Tindale's 1974 anthropological mapping supports this assertion. 

While Paddy’s Road was written in 2003, it is relevant for us today to highlight that despite the Djukun claim to Broome and the supporting mapping, the Rubibi Native Title determination in 2006, a claim led by the Yawuru and supported by Patrick Dodson time with the Kimberley Land Council, granted exclusive possession of Djukun Country to the Yawuru. That determination has had long-term ramifications for Djukun Traditional Owners.

Dodson's real Road continues past the pages of the 2003 book. Patrick Dodson was a chairman of Nyamba Buru Yawuru (NBY) and was a long serving director of the Yawuru Native Title Holders Aboriginal Corporation Prescribed Body Corporate (Yawuru PBC). In 2010, following the Rubibi Native Title determination, NBY received $56 million for economic development, cultural preservation, and conservation management. In addition, as part of the Native Title determination that favoured the Yawuru people, Yawuru was granted land valued at $140 million for commercial and cultural use. Including areas that are disputed as Djukun ancestral lands. Despite being joint traditional owners alongside Yawuru, the Djukun people received nothing to this day. 

Today, Djukun people are not represented on the Yawuru PBC, despite being joint traditional owners of Broome, and the Djukun people continue to be excluded from key decisions that directly affect their country. This marginalisation raises serious concerns about transparency, accountability, and whether the spirit of reconciliation is truly being upheld.

While Paddy’s Road honours Patrick Dodson’s immense public achievements, it does not address these critical issues of identity, representation, and land justice on Djukun Country. As we approach Reconciliation Week 2025, we call upon Patrick Dodson, the so-called “Father of Reconciliation” to honour the principles of truth-telling, recognition, and justice by publicly acknowledging the Djukun people as the rightful Traditional Owners of Djukun Country. 

The Djukun people are also calling on Reconciliation Australia and Mr Dodson to reconcile the Yawuru and the Djukun people and stop the lateral violence that exists within Broome since the 2006 Rubibi native title determination.

True reconciliation begins with truth and respect. The Djukun people deserve to be seen, heard, and included in decisions about their own homelands. This article is not written to diminish Dodson’s legacy, but to challenge it to live up to the very values it professes.

Reviewed by the Djukun Nation Communications.

-Ends-