This book examines the Yolgnu bark petitions sent to the Australian parliament in 1963, exploring their significance as historical documents and symbols of Indigenous land rights. Through the story of Galarrwuy Yunupingu, the author sheds light on the evolving relationship between Indigenous Australians and the Australian government.
This book opens with the moment Galarrwuy Yunupingu gifted Clare Wright, and in turn, the world, with the book’s title – the Yolgnu name for the bark petitions sent to the Australian parliament in 1963. Naku for the bark of the gadayka tree, used for bark painting. Dharuk for word or message. In both Yolgnu and English, the words of the petition are encircled by intricate designs and images of people, implements, a canoe, terrestrial and sea animals and plants.
Each ochred brushstroke signifies ancestral histories of deep connection to Country. My memory jumped back to the 1980s, driving south of Darwin with a much younger Galarrwuy, who announced that, as he was the chairman of the Northern Land Council (NLC), he didn’t need anyone’s permission to travel through other people’s Country. Earlier, at the NLC headquarters, he had introduced himself by narrating the story of a great ancestral rock under the sea which moved yet stayed strong, in place. In the 1980s, Northern Territory land rights were new, and the first hearings were being held in Darwin. With the coming of constitutional and other changes regarding the status of Indigenous people, power had shifted away from government powerbrokers such as the long-time director of welfare, Harry Giese, who presided over Indigenous people as wards rather than fellow citizens. The old guard was proud of listing the entire Indigenous population of the NT in what was dubbed the “stud book”. And they were prone to dismiss emerging Indigenous leaders as “mission boys” – as if having a decent education made them inauthentic. This is the third book of Wright’s Democracy Trilogy, in which significant material objects provide entrees into important histories. The bark petitions certainly provide an intriguing historical documen
Indigenous History Land Rights Yolgnu Culture Australian Government Bark Petitions
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