Latest news with #Gulkula
ABC News
03-08-2025
- Politics
- ABC News
Albanese spoke of economic empowerment at Garma, but what he didn't address dominated the mood
Two years after the bruising rejection of the Voice referendum, the prime minister trekked north this weekend to a place pivotal in the long journey toward Indigenous rights and recognition. At Gulkula, the lush site of the Garma Festival, where the Yolŋu people have led with fire and heart for a better relationship between black and white Australia, he addressed crowds for the second time since his long-term dream of a unifying national moment was shattered. For Aboriginal people, the space between the referendum to now has been quiet and disheartening as one chapter closed on the fight for political advocacy and rights. First Nations people — who in the main voted for the Voice — were exposed to the ugly underbelly of Australian society, despite the diversity of views on the proposal for an Indigenous advisory body. After the defeat of the Voice, the fast-moving political caravan — which rarely pauses for long on Aboriginal lands — quickly reversed and drove instead towards momentous challenges in global instability and a consequential federal election. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were barely mentioned in the election campaign as the Labor Party made a brutal political calculation to zero in on the cost-of-living, which ultimately delivered a decisive mandate. Few political leaders have had the gumption to acknowledge the enormous toll the referendum took on Indigenous communities. Some Aboriginal leaders feared the loss of the Voice meant the prime minister had lost his voice on First Nations reform, especially on the question of what to do with the question of truth-telling and treaties. The prime minister has appeared more subdued on Indigenous affairs since 2023, but there is hope in Arnhem Land that a second term may renew his ambition. Three years ago, Anthony Albanese came to Garma in Arnhem Land to make a "solemn promise" to implement the Uluru Statement from the Heart — Voice, Treaty, Truth. He held to that commitment and boldly called a referendum in his first term, but the government then retreated on a truth-telling commission and a federal path to treaty making. Returning to Garma this weekend, the prime minister praised the work of Victoria's Yoorrook Justice Commission, saying the truth-telling commission found that Aboriginal people were cut off from the wealth of their land and waters "by design". "As a nation, we are still coming to terms with the full truth and toll of this exclusion," he said. That historic segregation is the reason why too many First Nations communities are underemployed and why poverty plagues communities even with ownership and access to their own land. The government wants Indigenous-owned land to be central to Australia's transition to renewable energy, led by Indigenous decisions, not solely corporate profit. It will spend $145 million to drive investment opportunities for traditional owners to make better deals for their country, and crucially, the plan has been guided by First Nations economic expertise. Mr Albanese's address at Garma this weekend contained strong commitments on economic development and land rights, but it was what was left unsaid that became a talking point. Hundreds of influential Aboriginal leaders came to Arnhem Land for a tougher, bolder vision for their children from a prime minister with a powerful majority. He did not outline a clear plan on what the government intends to do with disastrous policy failures in the Closing the Gap agreement, where the most heartbreaking targets to reduce suicide, incarceration, and child removals are getting worse. The Garma Festival, surrounded by the beauty of the stringybark country on the escarpments of north-east Arnhem Land, belies a deep grief. Grief over broken promises and empty words. "In our law, words of promises are sacred," said Gumatj leader Djawa Yunupingu. "Given between senior people, words are everlasting. They are carved into our hearts. And our minds." Before he began his speech at Garma, Mr Albanese shook hands with Warlpiri elder Ned Jampijinpa Hargraves, whose grandson Kumanjayi White died in June, held down by police in a supermarket at 24 years of age. The deaths and treatment of Aboriginal people in custody is a looming catastrophe that Indigenous Affairs Minister Malarndirri McCarthy says she is "deeply troubled" by. Young Yolŋu people are too often far from home, incarcerated in Darwin and Palmerston in conditions human rights groups label as inhumane. In the Northern Territory, spit hoods are coming back, the prison population is soaring, watch houses are full, and little girls are kept in solitary confinement with the lights on for 24 hours at a time. The federal government is facing mounting pressure to make some bold calls to influence the direction in the NT — the Commonwealth largely funds the territory — but the prime minister has seemed reluctant to appear interventionist. Aboriginal communities have no other lifeline. There is no Voice. No formal national mechanism by which they can have a permanent and direct line to the government about their exclusion from policy decisions. The Country Liberal Party, which swept to power last year, has no Indigenous representatives and has presided over a deteriorating relationship with major Aboriginal organisations. The Productivity Commission says if state and territory governments continue to pass legislation that contravenes and directly undermines closing the gap, the Commonwealth could look at pulling some funding levers. It would be the boldest action yet on Closing the Gap. If the prime minister's first term was dominated by the referendum, his second term is likely to present a challenge to him to raise a powerful voice on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in jail and kids in child-protection systems. At Garma three years ago, the prime minister promised to govern with "humility". "Humility because — so many times — the gap between the words and deeds of governments has been as wide as this great continent," he said. The growing gap excluding Indigenous children from society needs urgent leadership, and the prime minister knows the solution lies between the words and the deeds.
SBS Australia
03-08-2025
- Entertainment
- SBS Australia
The Rirratjingu man leading the Bunggul, and soon his people
Cedric Marika has been coming to Garma all his life. "Since I was a baby," the Rirratjiŋu man tells NITV. It's a special time, one he always enjoys. The annual Yolŋu festival, held on Gumatj Country at the sacred site of Gulkula, is celebrating its 25th year. Cedric Marika is dedicated to his culture, and his people. He dances to keep his culture alive for the next generation. Source: AAP / JAMES ROSS/AAPIMAGE A summit of political leaders, business and local community, it's a chance to discuss opportunities and challenges, and to set an agenda for the coming year. But above all it's a display and celebration of the diverse cultures of the Yolŋu clans of Northeast Arnhem Land. During the evening Buŋgul (ceremony), when singing and the droning thrum of the yidaki rings out over the central festival ground, dancers from local tribes present the cultural centrepiece of Garma Festival. The air becomes hazy, thick with the red sand of Arnhem Land, flung airborne by the dancers' bare feet and caught by the setting sun. For 20 years, Marika has performed in the Buŋgul. "Since I was 13," he says. "That's when I started performing Buŋgul, and that's when I earned the respect from the Elders and chosen to be who I am right now." He now leads the Gumatj clan (his mother's people) in the Buŋgul, a resplendent figure in ochre paint, strutting proudly through the Emu Dance, hands clasped behind his back, or the Mosquito Dance, the dispatching of irksome insects recreated in parody with rhythmic slaps to the body. Members from the Gumatj clan of the Yolngu people from north-eastern Arnhem Land prepare for the Buŋgul. Source: AAP / JAMES ROSS/AAPIMAGE Marika describes the feeling of dancing in simple terms. "I feel connected," he says. "I feel connected to the land, to the animals, to the people. "This has been passed on from generation to generation, to keep it alive." Edgar Wells, the Methodist minister who once worked at the Yirrkala mission, described his view of the importance of art to the Yolŋu. "In an Aboriginal scale of values, a man worthy of a doctorate would ... be an artist - the hunter would help to feed the artist." Marika is proof of that. His dedication to his people and his culture has seen him anointed for future leadership of the Gumatj. "I've earned that respect from the Elders," he says. "By participating different tribes, helping them, and most of all helping my mother's tribe." He has particular concerns about the role of technology in the area. While a constant theme of Garma is the push by organisers Yothu Yindi Foundation for more economic participation for the region's people, it goes hand in hand with a wish to protect culture. Old and young perform at the Bunggul. The festival, in its 25th year, has seen babies grow into leaders over its lifetime. Source: AAP / JAMES ROSS/AAPIMAGE The opportunities some digital innovations may provide can't come at the risk of a loss of culture. "Nowadays, it's all technology taken over ... The worry is that it's taking over our culture, and might destroy it in the future. "I'm very, very scared of that. "So this is the day to get the little ones together, teach them where they belong and what they have." Every Buŋgul, Marika does just that, the living embodiment of the chain of cultural heritage going back generations. Once an enthusiastic youth joining in, now Marika watches over the young djamarrkuli (children) who perform in the Buŋgul, just as he did. "That is my goal, to help the younger ones, the very younger ones too, so that they don't forget what we have," he says. "Some of them might learn how to sing. Some of them might become a role model like myself. "There's a lot of opportunities for the younger ones to step in."
The Guardian
03-08-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Garma festival 2025: a celebration of Indigenous Australian culture
A member of the Wadeye clan poses for photos while waiting to dance at the culturally significant ceremonial grounds of Gulkula. Photograph: James Ross/AAP The four-day festival takes place annually in early August. Photograph: James Ross/EPA A Native American dancer performs. Photograph: James Ross/AAP Garma is hosted by the Yothu Yindi Foundation. Photograph: James Ross/AAP The theme for this year's festival is 'Law of the Land: Standing Firm'. Photograph: James Ross/AAP A Native American dancer. Photograph: James Ross/AAP Members of the Gumatj clan get ready to perform. Photograph: James Ross/EPA Prime minister Anthony Albanese visits the festival with Rirratjingu traditional owner and Yolngu woman Mayatili Marika, NT opposition leader Selena Uibo, and senior Gumatj leader of the Yolngu people Djawa Yunupingu. Photograph: James Ross/AAP Albanese addressed the festival a day after the architects of the Uluru statement criticised Labor for a 'performative' approach to Indigenous affairs. Photograph: James Ross/AAP A clan member from Wadeye, a remote Aboriginal community 420km south-west of Darwin. Photograph: James Ross/EPA Members of the Gumatj clan prepare to perform. Photograph: James Ross/EPA Bunggul is more than just a dance; it's a meeting place for ceremony, song and ritual. Photograph: James Ross/AAP Garma has become an important policy forum, with Anthony Albanese, Indigenous affairs minister Malarndirri McCarthy and other politicians speaking at the event. Photograph: James Ross/AAP Talks between Indigenous Australians and policy makers at the festival take place side by side with discussions about culture, education and other significant issues for First Nations people. Photograph: James Ross/EPA The sea country flag, designed by Nuwandjali Marawili, features white for clouds, blue for the sea, yellow for the sun, black for the people of Arnhem Land, and red for their blood. Photograph: James Ross/EPA
ABC News
31-07-2025
- ABC News
Garma 2025 live: Australia's largest Indigenous festival marks 25 years
Australia's largest annual Indigenous gathering has kicked off in Gulkula in the remote Northern Territory this morning. We're here at the festival on north-east Arnhem Land, home to the Yolŋu people, and will bring you all the highlights from the event, now running for its 25th year. Follow the latest from Garma live.
SBS Australia
31-07-2025
- Politics
- SBS Australia
What is Garma? And why is it important?
"So it's a great honour to welcome you all here today..' Around 2,000 people each year descend on Gulkula, a sacred place perched on top of an escarpment on the lands of the Gumatj clan in the Northern Territory. They are here for the Garma festival, the largest cultural exchange on the First Nations calendar. The 2025 theme is 'Rom ga Waŋa Wataŋu, or 'The Law of the Land, Standing Firm' in one of the local Aboriginal languages, Yolŋu Matha. The word 'Garma' means "two-way learning process" - and it's an invitation for non-Indigenous leaders to meet with and listen to First Nations voices on issues affecting them. Visitors are given a traditional welcome before guests are invited to the Bunggul ceremonial grounds, for the ritual opening ceremony. It's the start of a four-day festival with a packed schedule of agenda-setting political discussions and cultural celebrations. The annual event was conceived by the Yothu Yindi Foundation with the aim of improving standards of living for all First Nations people, as the late Djawa Yunupingu explained at the 22nd Garma festival: "As I have said many times, all of our countrymen are linked together by our songlines. These songlines join us all and though so much has been taken, so much power remains in all of us. We can feel what has been taken from our countrymen, we can feel your pain and we stand together with you to find that pathway to unity." Politicians, academics, and community figures highlight the major issues of the year at the Garrtjambal Auditorium - a key location at Garma. Politicians from all sides are invited. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says he sees Garma as a cornerstone for First Nations politics, and a space where politicians, academics and community leaders highlight and discuss key issues. "We will not abandon substance for symbolism or retreat to platitudes at the expense of progress." But it's not just a place for leaders. As the sun sets each night, there's an eruption of movement on the sands of the sacred Bunggul site, a ceremonial close to the day's proceedings. The sounds of the Bilma or clapsticks echo through the leaves of the surrounding stringy bark forest. Music, dancing, and yarning continues throughout the night, as many make the most of the magic of the festival. Deeper in the bush among the stringy-bark trees hangs the Gapan Gallery, an outpost of the Yirrkala art centre print studio. Yothu Yindi Foundation CEO, Denise Bowden, says Garma is an invitation for ordinary people to experience a cultural exchange like no other. "Music and dance and art, song, a love of learning of a different culture. It's a really healthy platform upon which we can get through some challenging discussions." Guests experience a rich cultural immersion. From weaving workshops to wood carving, traditional art, music and dance is the heartbeat of the four day festivities. Denise Bowden says Garma has become an important part of Australian life. "I would never have thought it to grow to such an extent that it has now and we are very fortunate to be able to now take four days to share with the nation how important Garma has become."
