Fostering Aboriginal entrepreneurship

Katherine is a pretty beautiful place to visit year round, and with Nathaniel Joshua soon to head up Katherine Big River Cycles and Cultural Tours, you'll soon be able to visit the sights by bike!

“I want to show people all the good stuff we have here. A mob of us have found bikes we can fix up and make really good again.” 

Nathaniel is a natural storyteller, with great knowledge of the area. “We can spend time together fishing. I can show them the Hot Springs and the art from community.”

It will be a new and unique way to explore the region, with no bicycle tours or rentals currently available. There are also a number of cycling paths for anyone wanting to hire a bike for the day to get around or take a self guided tour. 

Nathaniel has an enthusiastic mob ready to work alongside him on the enterprise, describing them as "smart young fellas" who'll be involved in bike repair and maintenance, running tours, taking bookings, as well as promotion and sales. 

Operating in the dry season (April to September), when holidaymakers are making the most of the top ends temperate climate, the enterprise will create regular work opportunities for 5-10 young Indigenous men. It will run from Mimi Arts Centre, an existing retail and gallery space frequented by tourists and locals alike.

With April only a month away, Nathaniel is working hard to raise enough money for insurances, permits and the bikes themselves. “We need 30 bikes so no one misses out” Nathaniel says.

Your support will help this budding entrepreneur get this enterprise off the ground! 

2017 is almost here...

The Yarralin community, situated 389km south west of Katherine, is the home of Yarralin Creative, a community enterprise producing a stunning postcard series and a yearly calendar that captures the people and places around Yarralin.

Their 2016 theme "Walengeri Garu Walija" (All the kids of Yarralin together), received such a positive response that the community started this year with their creative caps on, getting together ideas for 2017. Starting the design phase earlier means Yarralin can have their products ready for dry season, when the 74% of visitors come to experience the delights of the Northern Territory.

In true entrepreneurial spirit, the community are taking on feedback from retailers and customers, improving layout to give people room to write notes next to dates, and making the overall size more cost effective to post. 

Access to the internet is very limited in Yarralin, so ELP record any feedback received to pass on in person, acting as a sounding board to take ideas forward.

But the series wouldn't even be possible without access to state of the art equipment and creative know how of a professional photographer. Rhett Hammerton knows Yarralin well, having spent time there before. We've seen first hand the free flow of ideas when he's on community, ensuring a huge number of images are recorded before going to print. 

We're aiming to raise $5000 towards getting Rhett (and his gear!) all 1169km from Alice Springs to Yarralin this year. Help give this creative mob every opportunity to make 2017 their best calander yet!