Rripangu Yidaki

Rripangu Yidaki is the name of my enterprise. 'Rripangu' means lightning and all that lightning represents – it is a powerful symbol of my Galpu clan and, as lightning, I am strong and I do not fear anything.

Please come and explore with me the world of yirdaki – do not be afraid, but come in peace and honour and you will discover something you don’t know. Whilst I am the central figure in this enterprise, other members of my family are also involved in various aspects of production, administration, and sales. In other words, this is a family-run business.

Making yirdaki is not new to me. I have been making yirdaki for many years, even before it became popular among Balanda (non-Aboriginal people). But this time, I am involving my family in bringing all this to the rest of the world through the internet. This is very exciting for me, and I hope it is equally exciting for you.

By bringing Rripangu Yidaki onto the internet, I hope to be able to fulfil several objectives based on the philosophy which drives the whole process – bridging cultures.

I would like to share my culture and my knowledge with everyone regardless of who they are and where they come from. This is my gesture of friendship and goodwill which I hope will lead to better understandings between Balanda and Yolngu (Aboriginal people from North East Arnhem Land). This is my part in the Reconciliation process. In return, I hope you will gain insights into my people's life and our struggles... I hope you will respect our law, our culture, and our way of life – autonomy and independence.

My family and I wish to live a life that we have control of... this is why we are running this business by ourselves, instead of relying on other people to do it for us.

We also want to be economically self-sufficient – to work for ourselves – instead of relying on governments and their agencies to 'help' us all the time. This is the time for Yolngu to win back our pride and work ethic – cultural maintenance.

In a world that is experiencing dramatic social change, Yolngu must be able to remember who they are and to maintain their culture. By establishing Rripangu Yidaki, our children will be able to be involved in the enterprise by learning from the old people... when we are gone, our children will carry on our memories and keep our culture alive.

Please be patient with us. Our operation is only recently established and it will take time for us to be able to operate smoothly and systematically. Furthermore, please be aware that we will never run our enterprise like a conventional business... our output or production of yirdaki and other items for sale will inadvertently fluctuate... sometimes there will be greater demand than supply I am sure. Also, we might not be as quick to respond to email orders or general inquiries as other businesses.

Be assured of one thing... each yirdaki I produce will be crafted with the care, patience and love that is the age-old custom taught to me by my father.