Spearing a Northern Territory police officer who shot dead an Indigenous teenager could bring harmony back to his troubled outback community, an inquest has been told.
Constable Zachary Rolfe shot Kumanjayi Walker three times during a bungled arrest in Yuendumu, northwest of Alice Springs, on November 9, 2019.
An Alice Springs inquest into the Warlpiri man's death heard on Thursday that traditional payback within customary or tribal law is often misunderstood by non-Indigenous Australians as revenge.
"There is great misinterpretation across the NT when it comes to the concept of payback," NT police officer and Arrernte man Brad Wallace told the inquest.
"The concept of payback is interpreted more from a contemporary Westernised side as being revenge or punishment.
"The knowledge I've gained in my life it's based more around peacemaking and bringing balance back to the community."
Senior Constable Wallace said he had witnessed a payback ceremony in his youth and "it was a process of peacemaking between two clan groups".
"It stopped the situation from further developing."
Snr Const Wallace also told the coroner he had previously worked in the Solomon Islands, where "customary law is embedded into the legal system".
But that was not the case in Australia, he said.
Counsel assisting Peggy Dwyer agreed, saying the Yuendumu community had told the coroner that "payback would involve spearing" Const Rolfe.
"This court can't condone grievous bodily harm," she said.
Const Rolfe shot Mr Walker in the back and torso as the 19-year-old resisted being placed in handcuffs at his grandmother's home.
The 31-year-old was charged with murder four days later and found not guilty in March after a five-week jury trial that divided opinion across the NT.
The verdict left the grieving Warlpiri community angry and calling for justice to be served for their beloved son.
That frustration and outrage was further exacerbated during the inquest by some police officers' evidence that demonstrated a misunderstanding of what payback was.
The misinterpretation was also behind police officers in Yuendumu deciding to withhold information from Mr Walker's family and and deliberately mislead them over his death in the hours after Const Rolfe killed him, the inquest has heard.
Elder Ned Jampijinpa Hargraves told reporters visiting the remote community on Tuesday that payback needed to happen so it could heal.
He said the Warlpiri people "have not seen the blood of Zachary Rolfe" and felt disrespected.
Meanwhile, Mr Walker's family vented their frustration and anger on Wednesday when Const Rolfe claimed legal privilege and refused to answer some questions when he appeared as a witness at the inquest.
"He needs to give us answers. There shouldn't be any secrets. It makes me really sad. It's not fair," Mr Walker's grandfather, Steven Marshall, said in a statement
"If it was (an Aboriginal man he) wouldn't get this chance to not tell the truth."
The inquest continues on Thursday.