Alice Springs-born Ken Lechleitner says his Lifespan Chart as a yarning tool allows everyone to look at their lives – the triumphs, the trials and the tragedies – in the same way that they look at a game of Aussie Rules in four quarters. 

The four-metre canvas chart breaks life down into quarters, so the first quarter is 0-25 years, the second 25-50, the third 50-75 and fourth 75 to the grave. 

“Tragically, not many of our mob make it to the last quarter,” he says. 

Mr Lechleitner says the “danger zone” is 50-70 in men – and that is almost mirrored in Aboriginal women. 

“Then when you hit 67 society retires you with whole new challenging issues. We die 20 odd years younger than our fellow Australians.” 

Mr Lechleitner says many of the early deaths are caused by alcoholism, substance abuse, domestic violence and chronic disease linked to an “inability to be effective hunters and gatherers in the modern world”. 

“We need a rethink, to build people’s capacity.” 

He has set up a mentoring service called Two Ilpa Bi Cultural Consultancy and describes himself as a practising narrative therapist with the Lifespan Chart as a “yarning tool”. 

Ilpa is the Western Aranda word for ears and Mr Lechleitner was nicknamed Big Ears or just Ilpa when he was a child. 

“So, Two Ilpa is Two Ears. We need our ‘two ears’ to survive in two cultures – Indigenous and non- Indigenous culture. We must walk, work and live in two worlds.” 

CONTACT 

Two Ilpa 

PO Box 5079, Alice Springs NT 0870 

0421 175 287 

kennethilechleitner@gmail.com