Yolngu
Yolngu Life - a Brief Overview
Yolngu are Indigenous Australian people
living in north-eastern Arnhem Land in the Northern
Territory of Australia. Yolngu literally means person in the language
spoken by the people.
Yolngu culture is among the oldest living cultures on earth, stretching
back more than 40,000
years. It is still strongly maintained due to their relatively late contact
with Europeans.
Arnhem Land is an area of 97,000 km² in the north-eastern corner of the
Northern Territory,
Australia. The region was named by Matthew Flinders after the Dutch ship
Arnhem which
explored the coast in 1623. Declared an Aboriginal Reserve in 1931, it
remains one of the
largest Aboriginal Reserves in Australia and is perhaps best known for
its remoteness, its art,
and the strong continuing traditions of its Indigenous people. Northeast
Arnhem Land is
home to the indigenous Yolngu people, one of the largest Indigenous groups
in Australia, and
one of the few groups who have succeeded in maintaining a vigorous traditional
indigenous
culture.
About 5000 Yolngu live in North East Arnhem Land, mostly in the
old mission centres of
Milingimbi, Ramangining, Galiwin’ku, Gapuwiyak and Yirrkala, but many also
choose to live in
small homeland communities.
Pre-European history
Yolngu sustained good trade relations with Macassan
fisherman for several hundred years.
The Macassan respected the land as Yolngu land; they only ever camped on
the beach, and
generally avoided contact with Yolngu women. They made yearly visits to
harvest trepang
and pearls, paying Yolngu in kind with goods such as knives, metal, canoes,
tobacco and
pipes. In 1906, the South Australian Government did not renew the Macassan’s
permit to
havest trepang. This loss of trade caused some disruption to the Yolngu
way of life,
particularly since they did not know why the Macassan had stopped coming.
Yolngu had well
established trade routes within Australia, extending to Central Australian
clans and other
Aboriginal countries. (For example, they did not make boomerangs, but obtained
these via
trade from Central Australia).
Law
The complete system of Yolngu Law is the Madayin a word for which
there is no simple
English equivalent. Madayin embodies the rights of the owners of the law,
or citizens (rom
watangu walal) who have the rights and responsibilities for this embodiment
of law. Madayin
includes all the people’s law (rom); the instruments and objects that encode
and symbolise
the law (Madayin girri’); oral dictates; names and song cycles and the
holy, restricted places
(dhuyu nunggat wa:nga) that are used in the maintenance, education and
development of law.
This law covers the ownership of land and waters, the resources on or within
these lands and
waters. It regulates and controls production and trade, the moral, social
and religious law
including laws for the conservation and the farming of fauna, flora and
aquatic life. Yolngu
believe that if they live out their life according to Madayin, it is a
right and civilised way to live.
The Madayin creates the state of Magaya, which is a state of peace, freedom
from hostilities
and true justice for all.
Ceremonies
There are many ceremonies and reasons for ceremonies in Yolngu
society. All are concerned
with acting out the stories and laws of the ancestral past. Great ancestral
spirits arranged the
earth by creating people, animals, plants and birds and made rules and
the law to ensure their
survival. Men and women have different roles in ceremonies and these roles
vary from
language group to language group. In many areas men are given the role
of guardians of a
special spiritual site where a ceremony was performed. Women are the guardians
of a special
knowledge and therefore hold great religious and spiritual power within
the language group.
Roles in ceremonies will vary considerably depending on the reasons why
the ceremony is
being held. Some ceremonies are for men only, others only for women, and
both men and
women have their own spiritual and sacred objects. Sometimes this is talked
about as mens
business and womens business. Neither men nor women possess greater spiritual
needs
than the other they coexist in different ways to ensure that sacred elements
of the ancestral
past will be practised and passed on.
Ceremonies and rituals take on many different forms. Some are very private
and involve
people only in that language group. Sometimes they involve the creation
of special and
sacred objects, drawings in the sand or earth (sand painting), moulding
and carving of spirit
figures in clay or wood, bark paintings, specific body designs and special
songs and dances.
Kinship System
Yolngu groups are connected by a complex kinship system
(gurrurtu). This system governs
fundamental aspects of Yolngu life, including responsibilities for ceremony
and marriage rules.
Yolngu life is divided into two moieties: Dhuwa and Yirritja. Each of these
is represented by
people of a number of different groups, each of which have their own lands,
languages,
totems and philosophies.
| MOIETY | Clan groups |
| Yirritja | Gumatj, Gupapuyngu, Wangurri, Ritharrngu, Mangalili, Munyuku, Madarrpa, Warramiri, Dhalwangu, Liyalanmirri. |
| Dhuwa | Dhuwa Rirratjingu, Galpu, Djambarrpuyngu, Golumala, Marrakulu, Marrangu, Djapu, Datiwuy, Ngaymil, Djarrwark. |
A Yirritja person must always
marry a Dhuwa person and vice versa. If a man or woman is
Dhuwa, their mother will be Yirritja. Kinship relations are also mapped
onto the lands owned
by the Yolngu through their hereditary estates so everything is either
Yirritja or Dhuwa
every fish, stone, river, etc, belongs to one or the other moiety.
Avoidance Relationships
As with nearly all Aboriginal groups, avoidance relationships
exist in Yolngu culture between
certain relations. The two main avoidance relationships are:
• son-in-law mother-in-law
• brother sister
Brothersister avoidance called mirriri normally begins after initiation.
In avoidance
relationships, people don’t speak directly or look at one another, and
try to avoid being in too
close proximity with each other. People are avoided, but respected.
Yolngu Food Groups
The food groups and their Yolngu names are:
| MARANHU (foods) | |
| Murnyaŋ’ (plant or vegetable food) Alternative names: Dhäkadatj; Ŋayaŋay’, Buku-bira’ |
Gonyil (meat, shellfish, eggs) Alternative names: Matha-yal, Merrpal’Mathabira, Ŋänarr-yal |
| 1. Borum fruits | 1. Warrakan’ land animals and birds |
| 2. Guku bee products | 2. Miyapunu marine mammals |
| 3. Ŋatha root foods | 3. Maranydjalk rays and sharks |
| 4. Manutji Ŋatha seeds | 4. Guya fish |
| 5. Mudhuŋay cycad foodstuffs | 5. Maypal shellfish, crabs |
| 6. Mapu eggs |
The old people would talk about the need to eat from both murŋyan’ and
gonyil food groups
and the need to supplement their diet with gapu (fresh water). While this
balance was
maintained, the people knew they were eating correctly. When the men would
come back
from the magpie goose hunt, they would be craving murnyaŋ foods after having
eaten so
much meat and eggs. While the women, children and old people back in the
camps would be
looking forward to gonyil, Magpie goose meat and eggs, after eating so
much murnyaŋ’.
Language
Yolngu Matha is comprised of twelve different dialects, each with its own Yolngu name. While there is extensive variation between these dialects, there is generally common mutual intelligibility, hence the umbrella group of Yolngu Matha. The linguistic situation is very complicated, since each of the 25 or so clans also has a named language variety. English can be anywhere from a third to a tenth language for Yolngu.
I want to explain to you what yothu yindi really means. You have probably heard of the rock band Yothu Yindi. Yothu yindi is really a relationship term. The relationship holds for people, land and all that we see about us, for things such as animals, plants, wind, water and many more.
Yothu means child or baby and Yindi means big but in the expression yothu yind, yindi refers particularly to the mother. This expression always involved two things in a relationship to each other. So if I am someones or somethings yothu, they are my yindi. I am in the Datiwuy clan. For the Datiwuy clan the Wangurri clan can be the child (yothu) or the mother (nandi) (and vice versa). This relationship is shown to us by the mingling of the waters from two rivers coming out from the Wangurri and Datiwuy lands.
Dalulu Ganambarr
Common Yolngu Words / Terms
Aboriginal person |
Yolngu | Night |
Munhaku | |
Afternoon, evening |
Milmitjpa | Night time |
Munhaku | |
Airport |
Gundarak | No, not |
Yaka | |
All, everyone |
Bukmak | No, nothing |
Bäyngu | |
Basket |
Bathi | None, nothing |
Dhäwul | |
Book |
Djorra’ | Non-indigenous person |
Balanda or Ngäpaki |
|
Brother |
Wawa | Not good |
Yaka manymak | |
Buffalo |
Gatabanga | Okay. Do it! |
Ma | |
Bush apples |
Ḻarraṉi’ | Pandanus |
Gunga | |
Camp, place |
wäŋa | Pipis |
Warrapal | |
Child |
Yothu | Place eggs buried |
Molu | |
Children |
Djmarrkuli’ | Plant bush medicine, |
Butjiriŋu | |
Cigarette/smoke |
Ngarali | Red root dye |
Yirrinŋuning | |
Clapsticks |
Bilma | Rotten cheese fruit |
Burukbili | |
Clothes |
Girri΄ | See you later |
Nhäma yalala | |
Come here |
Go marrtjina! | See you tomorrow |
Nhäma godarr’ | |
Crocodile |
Baru | Singing/dancing |
Bunggul | |
Crying |
Milkarri | Sister |
Yapa | |
Dawn/ day break |
Djaḏaw | Sisters of creator myth |
Wäwilak | |
Daytime |
Walupuy | Snake |
Bäpi | |
Digeridoo |
Yidaki | Son / daughter |
Waku | |
Don’t know |
Dhungu | Story/stories |
Dhawu | |
Egg white |
Bangarr | Sunrise early morning |
Munhakumirri | |
Egg yolk |
Mapu΄wal΄ŋu | Tamarind tree |
Djambaŋ | |
Feel good |
Galayuŋ | This, here |
Dhuwala | |
Fish |
Guya | Today |
Gäthura | |
Food (not meat) |
Ngatha | Tuesday |
Djutjthi | |
Give it here! Thankyou |
Ga | Turtle egg |
Miyapuna Mapu’ | |
Good |
Manymak | Water |
Gapu | |
Good, nice |
Latju | Wednesday |
Winitjthi | |
Goodbye |
Nhäma | What |
Nhä | |
Here |
Ngay’ | What for? Why? |
Nhäku | |
Home, house, land |
wäŋa or Bala’ | Work, |
Djama | |
House European style |
Bala’ | Yes |
Yo | |
How are they? |
Nhamirri walala? | Yes, later on |
Yo! Yalala bay’ | |
How are you two? |
Nhamirri manda? | |||
How are you? |
Nhamirri nhe? | |||
Language |
Matha | |||
Later |
Yalala | |||
Law, custom, culture |
Rom | |||
Leaf |
Marwat | |||
Let’s go |
Gul’ | |||
Lonely beach |
ŋaralarrk | |||
Money |
Rrupiya | |||
Morning, tomorrow |
Godarr’ | |||
Mother |
Nändi | |||
Needle like points of pandanus |
Gorrurru |
Yolngu Matha Language Courses are available through Charles Darwin Univeristy learnline.cdu.edu.au/yolngustudies
Seasons
Yolngu identify six seasons. Europeans currently living in the Top End identify two the Wet and the Dry. (Arguably, the build-up period between dry and wet is coming to be identified as a distinct third season) The six Yolngu seasons, and their characteristics, are:
| Season | Period | Characteristics | Activities |
| Mirdawarr | Late March and April |
End of wet season with scattered showers. Wind in south-east quarter but air still hot & humid. | Vegetable foods becoming plentiful. Fish numerous. People generally sedentary & living in big camps. Nomadic movement restricted by floodwaters. Long rank grass & mosquitoes. Macassar traders used to depart at this time with south-east winds. Goose-hunting expeditions into swamps. Fishing, especially large-scale communal fishing operations and drives where floodwaters receding; including basket traps in weirs, nets and the gurl in use only in the valley of the Glyde River. |
| Dhaarratharramir ri | Late April to August South-east or dry season | Wind in east and south-east | People nomadic; big wet-season camps breaking up. Systematic burning of all extensive grassed areas, communal drives for kangaroo, bandicoots, ’goanna’. Fishing still important, with nets, grass barriers, in shallow waters on plains & salt pans. August to November (inclusive) is the most important period for ceremonial activities. |
| Rarranhdharr | September and October Hot dry season | Hot periods towards close of dry (southeast) season. Wind chiefly north-east, lightning frequent and first thunder heard. Stringy bark in flower. | Nomadic activities lessen after burning of grass. Poisoning of fish in waters now concentrated by evaporation. Fish spearing continues in estuarine & coastal waters. Important ceremonial time. |
| Worlmamirri | Late October, November and December | The ’nose of the wet season’, with or bringing thunder - late October. Period of maximum heat and humidity immediately before the rain season, characterised by violent thunder storms of increasing frequency. | Nomadic activities much restricted. People generally in camps near permanent water. |
| Baarramirri | Late December and January | Short season with wind in north-west; breaking of the wet.Also called munydjutjmirri from the fruit of munydjutj. Two kinds of north-west wind recognised: (i) Baarra yindi, the big, or gurrkamirri (male), baarra; (ii) Baarra nyukukurniny, the small, or dhuykun (female), baarra. The first refers to the more boisterous north-west gales, the second to the gentler breezes from the north-west | Macassar fleets used to arrive with north-west winds (baarra) and disperse to regular sites for trepang fishing. People conentrated in wet season camps leading almost sedentary life. Inland travel restricted by floods and dense growth of rank grass. |
| Gurnmul or Waltjarnmirri | January, February and March | Wet season proper. Two phases, the first, girritjarra is again subdivided into three. | People concentrated in camps. Inland travel restricted by floods. |
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yolngu" April 2007
Yolngu Seasonal Calendar
Art and Craft
Fibrecraft (Gunga Djäma)
The age old practice of weaving bags, baskets and mats from the leaves of the pandanus and the bark of the kurrajong continues today. Making these things is very labour intensive. Gathering the materials can be quite exhausting. The spikey pandanus leaves are sometimes difficult to harvest, followed by the careful task of flaying the leaves before hanging them to dry. The dyes used are from the bulbs, roots or bark of various woodland plants. Once the material is collected, trimmed, dried and dyed the weaving begins. This is almost always done by women in groups. Men have been known to weave ceremonial or sacred objects but these are not for sale.
Wood Sculptures (Dharpa)
Yolngu artists create sculptures decorated with
painted or incised designs. Pieces are
available from small decorative objects made from soft woods to larger
works in hardwood
based on sacred ceremonial objects.
Paintings on Bark (Nuwayak)
After the wet season deluge, gadayka, the stringybark
tree, is stripped of its bark which is then
cured by fire, weighted and left to dry. Ochres and earth pigments in red,
yellow, black and
white are obtained from well known deposits. A brush made of human hair
is made. Then
the age-old miny’tji, or sacred designs, belonging to each particular artist
and their clan are
produced using a meticulous layering of individual strokes to produce a
cross hatched pattern
readable by those with knowledge as belonging to a particular estate, clan,
state of water,
moiety and place. The elders have resisted a shift to painting the sacred
title deeds of their
country on canvas or board using acrylic, opting instead to continue the
use of nuwayak, or
sheets of bark.
Didjeridus (Yidaki)
While didjeridus can be made from many materials in many ways, yidaki are usually made from trunks of living eucalyptus trees, although very rarely, a suitable branch may be found. The trees are hollowed out by termites commonly known as "white ants." In Yolngu country, Gadayka, or Stringybark (Eucalyptus tetradonta), is used most of the time, but sometimes Gungurru’, Darwin Woollybutt (Eucalyptus miniata) or one of two bloodwoods, Badawili (Corymbia ferruginea) and Dhumulu’ (Corymbia polycarpa) are also used.
The
selection of the right tree is probably the finest art of yidaki making.
It is not as easy to find a good yidaki as you might expect. There are
many factors involved that only those who have worked on yidaki for many
years come to understand. While many people debate the pros and cons of
different types of instruments made with different methods around the world,
it is sure that there is no didjeridu quite like one provided by nature.
This information was provided by Buku Larrnggay Mulka Art Centre For more
information about Yolngu art and craft please refer to the centres website
at www.yirrkala.com