The chair of the Northern Land Council claims Northern Territory Police ignored multiple warnings about escalating tension in the remote community of Peppimenarti, before a man was struck and killed by an arrow this week.
The 36-year-old was taken to the local health clinic just before midnight on Tuesday "with an arrow wound", and died shortly after.
Police on Thursday charged an 18-year-old man with manslaughter, for allegedly firing the arrow.
They charged a 22-year-old man with recklessly endangering life the following day.
In an interview with the ABC on Thursday morning, Samuel Bush-Blanasi from the Northern Land Council (NLC) said "problems" in the tiny community of Peppimenarti, about 320 kilometres south-west of Darwin in the West Daly region, had been building for nearly a year.
Despite sending photographs of injuries, "ringing them and talking to them about it", Mr Bush-Blanasi alleges NT Police had failed to act.
"I told [police] they needed to get to the bottom of this, because if [they didn't, we would] end up having a death out of this, and then fair enough it happened," he said.
The ABC has contacted NT Police for a response to the claims.
At a press conference in Darwin on Wednesday, Detective Senior Sergeant Paul Morrissey said he believed the incident was connected to "ongoing disturbances" in the nearby community of Wadeye, where more than 100 homes were severely damaged or destroyed earlier this year, and a 32-year-old man was killed in April.
Mr Bush-Blanasi said police had "shied away" from their responsibilities and took aim at the response times to incidents, including fatalities.
He claimed the force was operating on a thin margin and was under-resourced.
"I've sent photos, I've sent everything to the police department. Nothing ever happened out of it. And you can't point the finger at NLC because that's not our core business of law and order," he said.
Mr Bush-Blanasi said it was at times taking police up to four hours to respond to calls.
"We understand that Peppi is in a remote area and there's no police attendant [locally]. But if there was a police attendant, none of this stuff would of happened," he claimed.
Speaking in Darwin on Thursday morning, Police Commissioner Jamie Chalker said that for the past 15 years there had only been a temporary police station established in Peppimenarti.
This means police response times can take over an hour, as they travel from their base in Wadeye.
"We've brought bureaucrats and ministers from across government, federal government, through that facility to show them that that is not a policing model that can sustain," he said.
"It's something we've been continually arguing with but unfortunately it keeps hitting the cutting room floor."
Council says alcohol restrictions should be reinstated
While Commissioner Jamie Chalker said there was not enough evidence to determine whether alcohol was a factor in the death, just over 100 kilometres from Peppimenarti, the manager of the Daly River Inn in Nauiyu has different views.
Steve Kinny said he had seen a "considerable" increase in people travelling from nearby communities to buy alcohol in the months since intervention-era bans were lifted earlier this year.
It gave communities the right to choose if they wanted alcohol to be restricted or not, providing Indigenous leaders with a seat at the policy-making table.
But criticisms over an 'opt-in' system to ban alcohol, and that the rules changed too fast following little consultation, have spiralled since.
Mr Kinny said confusing messaging over the rules had caused "frustration and anger" from community members.
"We haven't received any documentation. We haven't had meetings with liquor licensing … I haven't got any real advice from anybody," he said.
"I'm just concerned about what my legal rights are and what I can and can't do."
Peppimenarti – a community which has had a social club for years — was in the process of opting in to restrictions around alcohol, but was waiting on the land council to sign off.
A spokesman from the NLC told the ABC this had been delayed because staff were getting "informed consent" from community members, which he said "took time".
The NLC is among a group of Northern Territory leaders – including Labor MP Marion Scrymgour, and Northern Territory Senator Jacinta Price who have spoken out against the changes.
Mr Bush-Blanasi said restrictions should be reinstated, adding that he believed alcohol had played a part in the escalation of violence in Peppimenarti.
"It's fuelled the ongoing issues that have been going on for a year," he said.
He is now calling an emergency meeting with NT government Chief Minister Natasha Fyles and federal members to "get on top of this issue straightaway".
"We need to start talking," he said.
