7 days ago
An ancient culture of another sort visits Garma
Seneca Martin dances at Garma ( ABC News: Che Chorley )
Flying from across the ocean, feathered regalia meets an ochre-smeared bunggul.
Overhead shot of a Bunggul at Garma. ( ABC News: Che Chorley )
In the red sand, two ancient cultures collide.
Seneca Martin dances at Garma. ( ABC News: Che Chorley )
Dance and song from the vast expanse of Turtle Island (America).
A warrior's dance, performed on sacred Yolŋu ground.
Seneca Martin at Garma. ( ABC News: Che Chorley )
Adorned in history and tradition, passed down for generations.
"My regalia is a representation of my ancestors," Seneca Martin says.
"Long ago they used to be warriors.
"I present myself in that way."
It's not a costume; it's their way of life.
Seneca Martin close-up at Garma ( ABC News: Che Chorley )
Intricate pieces are hand-crafted, earned and bestowed by their families and tribe.
"Everything that I put on is protection and correlation to my tribe which is Lakota and Navajo.
"Everything has a meaning behind it, and everything that is put on me has a blessing with it.
"The eagle feathers, they give me protection from what I can't see."
Like their Yolŋu hosts on Gumatj country, the stories, dance and regalia of these tribes are intertwined with the land and natural environment.
Knowledge and tradition is shared through significant gatherings called powwows.
"How [the Yolŋu] adorn themselves with their face paint, we have all that too," said Kiowa Comanche man Kenny Cozad Sr.
"We have our different colours, like the yellow and the white, each family has a colour too."
A Yolŋu dancer performing the ceremonial bunggul at the Garma Festival this year. ( ABC News: Che Chorley )
The cultural tradition dates back thousands of years. ( ABC News: Che Chorley )
Dancers from different clans emerge with vibrant clothes and patterns painted on their bodies. ( ABC News: Che Chorley )
Delegates from Navajo, Comanche, Kiowa Sioux, Pueblo and Lakota nations in North America attended this year's Garma Festival, travelling to Arnhem Land with the goal of exchanging traditions and knowledge.
"Performing here on this ground, this place, is powerful, I can feel it," Mr Cozad says.
"As an Indigenous people we are close to nature, this ground, trees, I can feel the power, the good energy here."
Kiowa Comanche man Kenny Cozad Sr singing a native American song at Garma. ( ABC News: Che Chorley )
A North American First Nations dancer performs at Garma. ( ABC News: Che Chorley )
Tewa Navajo woman Melonie Matthews performing at the festival on north-east Arnhem Land. ( ABC News: Che Chorley )
Mr Cozad admired the pride young Yolŋu children showed dancing alongside their elders and fathers.
"Watching all the little performers, we were in awe to see them participate, not shy getting out there and representing them."
"It reminded me of our children, we try to instil our culture in them as well."
A baby leading the way at the sacred dance ceremony. ( ABC News: Che Chorley )
The Yolŋu have passed bungguls down generations. ( ABC News: Che Chorley )
Festival attendees join in on the opening bunggul at the Garma Festival. ( ABC News: Che Chorley )
"We've shared our personal stories which are very similar," Melonie Mathews from the Tewa nation in New Mexico says.
"Though our languages may be different, they still feel exactly how they feel at home; the warmth, the compassion, the generational participation — that is exactly how our lives are when we are at home."
Amid the joy of this clash of cultures, their shared struggles of dispossession and colonisation are not far from their minds.
"The fact that we are still all fighting for sovereignty even though in the United States we have sovereignty, supposedly, but it is not necessary as sovereign as people think because we are still under restrictions."
Rirratjinu elder Witiyana Marika and other Yolŋu people expressed their gratitude to their brothers and sisters for sharing their unique ways of life.
"The great unity we made with our international Indigenous nations that flew here with a great strength with the feathers that are with them, like the great bald eagle."
Arnhem Land local Witiyana Marika welcomes North American First Nations people at Garma. ( ABC News: Che Chorley )
North American First Nations people at Garma. ( ABC News: Che Chorley )
Seneca Martin joins a group dance at Bunggul. ( ABC News: Che Chorley )
