One of my first experiences at Gapuwiyak was sitting in the Yellow House. It is painted green, but once upon a time it was yellow and its name, through its continual use and connection people, continues to be the Yellow House. I was sitting in the Yellow House with the man who had adopted me [...]
Posts Tagged ‘Yolngu’
Yiŋiya's Statement
In 2004 I met Yiŋiya. He was filming a ceremony working to used digital technology to maintain his and his peoples’ way of live. Since then I have been adopted by his younger brother and have come to know bits of this way of life, and the threat posed to it by the Intervention. Here [...]
Men
There has been a funeral in the community recently. I have spent most afternoons sitting with men my age and older. On one afternoon a man decided he would look after me, explaining what was going on and so forth. His grandson was with him, sitting on his lap. While the ceremony went on, the [...]
Nothing there? Think Again. Yolngu Homelands in Arnhem Land
Last Friday I went to hear Banduk Marika speak with John von Sturmer at the Institute for Postcolonial Studies (IPCS). Amongst many other things talked about was the question of Australia’s endless forgetting about Indigenous Australians, their presence and achievements. As Banduk said, ‘we are always asked and required to prove who we are, over [...]