Yolŋu

{{Short description|Aggregation of Indigenous Australian people in northeastern Arnhem Land}} {{About|the people|the language|Yolŋu languages}} {{redirect|Gumatj|the court case about compensation|Commonwealth v Yunupingu}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2024}} {{Use Australian English|date=July 2018}} {{Infobox ethnic group | group = Yolŋu<br />{{small| Yolngu}} | image = | caption = | poptime = | popplace = Australia | langs = Yolŋu Matha (Dhaŋu-Djaŋu, Nhaŋu, Dhuwal, Ritharŋu, Djinaŋ, Djinba), Australian English, Yolngu Sign Language | rels = Traditional religions, Christianity | related = Australian Aboriginals }}

The '''Yolŋu''' or '''Yolngu''' ({{IPA|aus|ˈjuːlŋʊ|IPA}} or {{IPA|aus|ˈjuːŋuːl|}}) are an aggregation of Aboriginal Australian people inhabiting north-eastern Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia. ''Yolŋu'' means "person" in the Yolŋu languages. The terms '''Murngin''', '''Wulamba''', '''Yalnumata''', '''Murrgin''' and '''Yulangor''' were formerly used by some anthropologists for the Yolŋu.

All Yolŋu clans are affiliated with either the '''Dhuwa''' (also spelt '''Dua''') or the '''Yirritja''' moiety. Prominent Dhuwa clans include the Rirratjiŋu and Gälpu clans of the Dangu people, while the '''Gumatj''' clan is the most prominent in the Yirritja moiety.

==Name== The ethnonym Murrgin gained currency after its extensive use in a book by the American anthropologist W. Lloyd Warner,{{sfn|Tindale|1974|p=141}} whose study of the Yolŋu, ''A Black Civilization: a Social Study of an Australian Tribe'' (1937) quickly assumed the status of an ethnographical classic, considered by R. Lauriston Sharp the "first adequately rounded out descriptive picture of an Australian Aboriginal community."{{sfn|Sharp|1939|p=150}} Norman Tindale was dismissive of the term, regarding it, like the term Kurnai, as "artificial", having been arbitrarily applied to a large number of peoples of northeastern Australia. The proper transliteration of the word was, in any case, ''Muraŋin'', meaning "shovel-nosed spear folk", an expression appropriate to western{{sfn|Tindale|1974|p=224}} peripheral tribes, such as the Rembarrnga of the general area Warner described.{{efn|The word, used as an exonym by other tribes, referred to Arnhem Land tribes that had a reputation for aggressive behavior because they had managed to manufacture iron-bladed spears from metal cut from abandoned Caledon Bay water tanks {{harv|Tindale|1974|pp=141–142}}.}}

For Tindale, following recent linguistic studies, the eastern Arnhem Land tribes constituting the Yolŋu lacked the standard tribal structures evidenced elsewhere in Aboriginal Australia, in comprising several distinct socio-linguistic groups in an otherwise integral cultural continuum.{{sfn|Tindale|1974|pp=141,157}} He classified these as the Yan-nhaŋu, Djinang, Djinba, Djaŋu, Dangu, Rembarrnga, Ritharngu, Dhuwal and the Dhuwala.

Warner had deployed the term "Murngin" to denote a group of peoples who shared, in his analysis, a distinctive form of kinship organisation, describing their marriage rules, subsection system and kinship terminology. Other researchers in the field quickly contested his early findings. T. Theodor Webb argued that Warner's Murngin actually referred to one moiety, and could only denote a ''Yiritcha mala'', and dismissed Warner's terminology as misleading.{{sfn|Webb|1933|p=410}} A. P. Elkin, comparing the work of Warner and Webb, endorsed the latter's analysis as more congruent with the known facts.{{sfn|Elkin|1933|pp=415–416}}

Wilbur Chaseling used the term "Yulengor" in the title of his 1957 work.{{sfn|Chaseling|1957}}{{sfn|Bauer|2014a|p=38}}

Since the 1960s, the term Yolŋu has been widely used by linguists, anthropologists and the Yolŋu people themselves. The term applies to both the sociocultural unit and the language dialects within it.{{sfn|Bauer|2014a|p=38}}

==People== Yolŋu comprise several distinct groups, differentiated by the languages and dialects they speak, but generally sharing overall similarities in the ritual life and hunter-gathering economic and cultural lifestyles in the territory of eastern Arnhem land. Early ethnographers studying the Yolŋu applied the nineteenth-century concepts of tribe, horde and phratry to classify and sort into separate identities the units forming the Yolŋu ethnocultural mosaic. After the work of Ian Keen in particular, such taxonomic terminology is increasingly seen as unsuitable and inadequate because of its eurocentric assumptions.{{sfn|Keen|1995|pp=502–527}} Specialists are undecided, for example, whether the languages spoken by the Yolŋu amount to five or eight, and one survey arrived at eleven distinct "dialect" groups.{{sfn|Bauer|2014b|pp=43–44}}

==Language== {{main|Yolŋu Matha|Yolŋu Sign Language}}

Yolŋu speak a dozen languages classified under the general heading of Yolŋu Matha.

==Kinship system== {{See also|Australian Aboriginal kinship}}

Yolŋu groups are connected by a complex kinship system (''gurruṯu''). This system governs fundamental aspects of Yolŋu life, including responsibilities for ceremony and marriage rules. People are introduced to children in terms of their relation to the child ("grandmother", "uncle", etc.), introducing the child to kinship from the beginning.{{sfn|Morphy|2008b}}

Yolŋu societies are generally{{efn|There are complications in the schematic models often adopted in ethnography to analyse kinship. The reader may consult two papers by Ian Keen for details ({{harvnb|Keen|1995|pp=502–527}}; {{harvnb|Keen|2000|pp=419–436}}).}} described in terms of a division of two exogamous patrimoieties: ''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.{{sfn|Morphy|2008b|pp=1–13}} {| class="wikitable" |- |- bgcolor=#efefef !Moiety ! Clan groups |- |'''''Yirritja''''' | Gumatj, Gupapuyŋu, Waŋurri, Ritharrngu, Maŋalili, Munyuku, Maḏarrpa, Warramiri, Dhalwaŋu, Liyalanmirri, Mäḻarra, Gamalaŋa, Gorryindi. |- |'''''Dhuwa''''' |Rirratjiŋu and Gälpu (both of the Dangu sub-group); Golumala, Marrakulu, Marraŋu, Djapu, Ḏatiwuy, Ŋaymil, Djarrwark, Djambarrpuyŋu. |- |}

A ''Yirritja'' person must always marry a ''Dhuwa'' person (and vice versa). Children take their father's moiety, meaning that if a man or woman is ''Dhuwa'', their mother will be ''Yirritja'' (and vice versa).{{sfn|Morphy|2008b}}

Kinship relations are also mapped onto the lands owned by the Yolŋu through their hereditary estates – so almost everything is either ''Yirritja'' or ''Dhuwa'' – every fish, stone, river, etc., belongs to one or the other moiety. For example, Yirritja ''yiḏaki'' (didgeridoos) are shorter and higher-pitched than Dhuwa ''yiḏaki''.{{sfn|Dhuwa and Yirritja Yiḏaki}} A few items are ''wakinŋu'' (without moiety).

The term ''yothu-yindi'' (after which the band takes its name) literally means ''child-big (one)'', and describes the special relationship between a person and their mother's moiety (the opposite to their own).{{sfn|Morphy|2008b}} Because of ''yothu-yindi'', Yirritja have a special interest in and duty towards Dhuwa (and vice versa). For example, a Gumatj man may craft the varieties of ''yiḏaki'' associated with his own (Yirritja) clan group and the varieties associated with his mother's (Dhuwa) clan group.{{sfn|Yothu-Yindi and Yiḏaki Crafting}}

The word for "selfish" or "self-centred" in the Yolŋu languages is ''gurrutumiriw'', literally "kin lacking" or "acting as if one has no kin".{{sfn|Morphy|2008b}}

The moiety-based kinship of the Yolŋu does not map in a straightforward way to the notion of the nuclear family, which makes accurate standardised reporting of households and relationships difficult, for example in the census.{{sfn|Morphy|2008b}} Polygamy is a normal part of Yolŋu life: one man was known to have 29 wives, a record exceeded only by polygamous arrangements among the Tiwi.{{sfn|Keen|1982|p=620}}

===Avoidance relationships=== As with nearly all Aboriginal groups, avoidance relationships exist in Yolŋu culture between certain relations. The two main avoidance relationships are: :son-in-law – mother-in-law :brother – sister

Brother–sister avoidance, called ''mirriri'', normally begins after initiation. In avoidance relationships, people do not speak directly or look at one another, and try to avoid being in too close proximity with each other.{{Citation needed|date=June 2022}}

===Prominent family names=== * Gurruwiwi – Gälpu clan (Dhuwa moiety, Dangu people) * Marika – Rirratjingu clan (Dhuwa moiety, Dangu people) * Yunupingu – Gumatj clan (Yirritja moiety)

==Yolŋu culture, law and mythology== {{see also|Australian Aboriginal culture#Arnhem Land}}

===Law=== The word for "law" in Yolŋu is ''rom'',{{sfn|Christie|2007|p=157, n.1}} and there are particular ceremonies associated with Rom, known as Rom ceremony.{{sfn|Caruana|2014}} The complete system of Yolŋu customary law is known as Ngarra,{{sfn|Gaymarani|2011|p=285}} or as the ''Maḏayin''{{sfn|Kelly|2014|p=33}}{{sfn|Nhulunbuy}} (also written ''madayan''{{sfn|Mortimer|2019|p=76}} and Mardiyhin{{sfn|Lewis|2007}}).

''Maḏayin'' 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. ''Maḏayin'' includes all the people's law (''rom''); the instruments and objects that encode and symbolise the law (''Maḏayin girri''); oral dictates; names and song cycles; and the holy, restricted places (''dhuyu ṉuŋgat wäŋa'') that are used in the maintenance, education and development of law. Galarrwuy Yunupingu has described ''Rom watangu'' as the overarching law of the land, which is "lasting and alive... my backbone".{{sfn|Yunupingu|2016}} This law covers the ownership of land and waters, the resources on or within these lands and waters.{{sfn|Gaymarani|2011|pp=286–287}} It regulates and controls production and trade and the moral, social and religious law, including laws for the conservation and the farming of plants and aquatic life.{{cn|date=January 2026}}

Yolŋu believe that living out their life according to ''Maḏayin'' is right and civilised. The ''Maḏayin'' creates a state of ''Magaya'', which is a state of peace, freedom from hostilities and true justice for all.{{sfn|Williams|1986|pp=?}}

The story of Barnumbirr (Morning Star), depicting the first death in the Dreamtime, is the beginning of ''Maḏayin'', the cycle of life and death.{{sfn|Lewis|2007}}

A document listing various Yolŋu laws, authorised by both Dhuwa and Yirritja political leaders and described as "brief and incomplete in both depth and scope", was published "for guests attending the Narra' at Galiwin'ku" on 3 September 2005.{{efn|'These words of instruction are for discipline and teaching. They proceed from the man (the deep-seated political and spiritual authority) of the Djirrikay and Dalkarra (the Dhuwa political leaders and the Yirritja political leaders), and from the hJarra' (the Parliamentary and Judicial sacred chamber of law).'{{sfn|Melourr|2005}}}}

=== ''Gaṉma'' === A Deakin University study published in 2000 investigated Aboriginal knowledge systems in reaction to what the authors regarded as Western ethnocentrism in science studies. The author argues that Yolŋu culture is a system of knowledge different in many ways from that of Western culture, and may be broadly described as viewing the world as a related whole rather than as a collection of objects. The relationship between Yolŋu and Western knowledge is explored by using the Yolŋu idea of ''gaṉma'' (''Yerin'' in the Guringai language), which metaphorically describes two streams, one coming from the land (Yolŋu knowledge) and one from the sea (Western knowledge) engulfing each other so that "the forces of the streams combine and lead to deeper understanding and truth".{{sfn|Hughes|2000}}

===Sacred objects=== ''Raŋga'' is a name for sacred objects or emblems used in ceremony.{{sfn|Rothwell|2008}}{{sfn|Art Gallery of New South Wales}}

===Mythology=== ===={{anchor}}Wangarr==== The concept of Wangarr (also spelt Wanja or Waŋa{{sfn|James|2022}}) is complex. Attempts to translate the term into English have called the Wangarr beings variously "spirit man/woman", "ancestor", "totem", or various combinations. The Yolŋu believe that the Wangarr ancestor-beings not only hunted, gathered food and held ceremonies as the Yolŋu do today, but also that they created plants and geographical features such as rivers, rocks, sandhills and islands, and these features now incorporate the essence of the Wangarr. They also named species of plant and animal, and made these sacred to the local clan; some Wangarr took on the characteristics of a species, which then became the totem of the clan. Sacred objects and certain designs are also associated with certain Wangarr, who also gave that clan their language, law, paintings, songs, dances, ceremonies and creation stories.{{sfn|Dhimurru Aboriginal Corporation}}

In 2022 Rirratjŋu lore man Banula Marika advised choreographer Gary Lang and his NT Dance Company on a new work called ''Waŋa'', performed in collaboration with MIKU Performing Arts and Darwin Symphony Orchestra, which shows the story of a spirit's journey after death.{{sfn|James|2022}}

====Wawalag sisters==== {{further|Wawalag}}

==Yolŋu seasons== {{main|Indigenous Australian seasons#Yolŋu seasons}}

Yolŋu identify six distinct seasons: ''Miḏawarr, Dharratharramirri, Rärranhdharr, Bärra'mirri, Dhuluḏur, Mayaltha and Guṉmul''.{{citation needed|date=July 2019}}

==History== ===Makassan contact=== {{main|Makassan contact with Australia}}

Yolŋu engaged in extensive trade annually with Makassan fishermen at least two centuries before contact with Europeans. They made yearly visits to harvest trepang and pearls, paying Yolŋu in kind with goods such as knives, metal, canoes, tobacco and pipes. In 1906, the South Australian Government did not renew the Makassans' permit to harvest trepang, and the disruption caused economic losses for the regional Yolŋu economy.{{citation needed|date=July 2019}}

Yolŋu oral histories and the Djanggawul myths preserve accounts of a Baijini people, who are said to have preceded the Makassan. These Baijini have been variously interpreted by modern researchers as a different group of (presumably, Southeast Asian) visitors to Australia who may have visited Arnhem Land before the Makassans,{{sfn|Berndt|2005|p=55}} as a mythological reflection of the experiences of some Yolŋu people who have travelled to Sulawesi with the Macassans and came back,{{sfn|Swain|1993|p=170}} or perhaps as traders from China.{{sfn|Needham|Wang|Lu|1971|p=538}}

Yolŋu also had well-established trade routes within Australia, extending to Central Australian clans and other Aboriginal countries. They did not manufacture boomerangs themselves but obtained these via trade from Central Australia.{{sfn|Thomson|Peterson|2005|p=?}} This contact was maintained through use of message sticks, as well as mailmen – with some men walking several hundred kilometres in their work to send messages and relay orders between tribes.{{citation needed|date=July 2019}}

===European contact=== Yolŋu had known about Europeans before the arrival of British in Australia through their contact with Macassan traders, which probably began around the sixteenth century. Their word for European, ''Balanda'', is derived from the Makassar language via the Malay "orang belanda" (Dutch person).{{sfn|Walker|Zorc|1981|pp=109–134}}

===Nineteenth century=== In 1883, the explorer David Lindsay was the first colonial white to penetrate Yolŋu lands for the purposes of making a survey of its resources and prospects. He trekked along the Goyder River to reach the Arafura Swamp on the western fringe of Wagilak land.{{sfn|White|2016|p=323}} In 1884, {{convert|10000|mi2|km2}} of Arnhem Land was sold by the colonial British government to cattle grazier, John Arthur Macartney. The property was called Florida Station and Macartney stocked it with cattle overlanded from Queensland. The first manager of the property, Jim Randell, bolted a swivel cannon to the verandah of the homestead to keep the Indigenous people away, while Jack Watson, the last manager of the property, reportedly "wiped out a lot" of "the blacks" living on the coast at Blue Mud Bay.{{sfn|Macartney|1909}}{{sfn|Gaunt|1934|p=3}}{{sfn|Battler|1926|p=4}} During the period of Watson's management, another large massacre is recorded to have happened at Mirki on the north coast of Florida Station. The Yolŋu people today remember this massacre where many people including children were shot dead.{{sfn|Ryan|2019}}{{sfn|Read|2002|pp=29–35}} The battles between the graziers and the local population resulted in a severe depopulation of Yolŋu, but the stiffness of resistance temporarily ended efforts by the intruding ''balanda'' to take over further territory, and efforts at settlement ground to a halt.{{sfn|Morphy|2008a|p=117}} Monsoonal flooding, disease and the strong resistance from the local Aboriginal population resulted in Florida Station being abandoned by Macartney in 1893.

===Twentieth century=== [[File:Japanese graves.jpg|thumb|Graves of the Japanese trepangers killed in the Caledon Bay crisis]] In the early 20th century, Yolŋu oral history relates, punitive expeditions were launched into their territories.{{sfn|Morphy|2008a|p=118}} From 1903 to 1908, the property rights of much of Arnhem Land were held by the Eastern and African Cold Storage Supply Company. This Anglo-Australian consortium leased the region under the name of Arafura cattle station and attempted to construct a massive cattle raising and meat production industry. The company employed roving gangs of armed men to shoot the resident Aboriginal population.{{sfn|Roberts|2005|pp=169–170}} The first mission to Yolŋu country was set up at Milingimbi Island in 1922. The island is the traditional home of the Yan-nhaŋu. Beginning in 1932, over two years, three incidents of killing outsiders caused problems for the Yolŋu.

In 1932 five Japanese trepangers were speared by Yolŋu men, in what became known as the Caledon Bay crisis. Yolŋu men testified that their actions arose in response to the abuse of their women and to thrashings and firing on them by the Japanese crew.{{sfn|Conor|2013|p=61}} Two whites, Fagan and Traynor, were killed near Woodah Island the following year, and soon afterwards, in July, Constable McColl, who was investigating the incidents, was speared on that island.{{sfn|Thomson|1992|p=21}}{{efn|'Police, delayed by the wet season, pursued the men at Blue Mud Bay, where Constable Stewart McColl was speared in July. The police were later accused of handcuffing four women who were left under McColl's watch with two Aboriginal trackers while their party went after the suspects. McColl is believed to have released all but one woman, Japarri, who called out for help (just before her death she told Ted Egan intercourse did not take place). McColl then fired on her husband Dagiar, who speared him' {{harv|Conor|2013|p=61}}.}} The Aboriginal evidence was ignored in the trials which led to their conviction and the imprisonment of five Yolŋu in Fannie Bay Gaol in present-day Darwin. Only the intervention of missionaries, who had a foothold on the fringes of this area, and of the anthropologist Donald Thomson, who led a groundswell of indignation at the travesty of justice, averted an official reprisal designed to "teach the wild blacks a lesson."{{sfn|Morphy|2008a|p=118}}{{sfn|Conor|2013|p=61}} One sentence was quashed, three sons of a local leader were released as was Dagiar, who had received a death sentence. It was widely believed that the latter, who disappeared, had been lynched by local policemen.{{sfn|Conor|2013|p=61}}

Thomson lived with the Yolŋu for several years (1935–1937) and made some photographic and written records of their way of life at that time. These have become important historical documents for both Yolŋu and European Australians.{{sfn|Thomson|1992|pp=1–2}}

In 1935 a Methodist mission opened at Yirrkala.

In 1941, during World War II, Thomson persuaded the Australian Army to establish a Special Reconnaissance Unit (NTSRU) of Yolŋu men to help repel Japanese raids on Australia's northern coastline (classified as top secret at the time). Yolŋu made contact with Australian and US servicemen, although Thomson was keen to prevent this. Thomson relates how the soldiers would often try to obtain Yolŋu spears as mementos. These spears were vital to Yolŋu livelihood, and took several days to make and forge.

More recently, Yolŋu have seen the imposition of large mines on their tribal lands at Nhulunbuy.{{citation needed|date=July 2019}}

==Yolŋu in politics== {{see also|Yirrkala bark petitions|Milirrpum v Nabalco Pty Ltd|Commonwealth v Yunupingu}} [[File:Galarrwuy Yunupingu.jpg|thumb|Galarrwuy Yunupingu in 1977]] Since the 1960s Yolŋu leaders have been conspicuous in the struggle for Aboriginal land rights.

In 1963, provoked by a unilateral government decision to excise a part of their land for a bauxite mine, Yolŋu at Yirrkala sent to the Australian House of Representatives two petitions mounted on decorated bark, known as the Yirrkala bark petitions. The bark petitions attracted national and international attention and are displayed Parliament House, Canberra as a testament to the Yolŋu role in the birth of the land rights movement.{{sfn|MoAD}}{{sfn|Wright|2024}}

When the politicians demonstrated they would not change their minds, the Yolŋu of Yirrkala took their grievances to the courts in 1968, in the case of ''Milirrpum v Nabalco Pty Ltd'', or the Gove land rights case, heard in 1971. Yolŋu lost the case because Australian law did not allow for the recognition of any prior rights to land to Indigenous people at the time of colonisation. However, the judge did acknowledge the claimants' ritual and economic use of the land and that they had an established system of law, paving the way for future Aboriginal land rights in Australia. It was said to have played a vital part in paving the way to the recognition of Aboriginal land rights in the ''Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1976'' and the Mabo decision in 1992.{{sfn|MoAD}}

The song "Treaty", by Yothu Yindi, which became an international hit in 1989, arose as a remonstration over the tardiness of the Hawke government in enacting promises to deal with Aboriginal land rights, and made a powerful pleas for respect for Yolŋu culture, territory and Law.{{sfn|Corn|2009|p=42}}

In 2019, Galarrwuy Yunupingu, an elder of the Gumatj clan, brought a native title claim on behalf of his clan to the Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia.{{sfn|Pelly|2024}} He also sought compensation of $700 million for the harm caused to their land rights by Commonwealth laws and actions in taking the land, under the ''Native Title Act 1993''.{{sfn|hrlc|2025}} After the Federal Court ruled in favour of the Gumatj, the government appealed the decision to the High Court. In ''Commonwealth v Yunupingu'' the High Court which ruled in favour of the Gumatj claimants in March 2025, although a ruling on compensation was left to another court.{{sfn|Butchers|2025}}

==Yolŋu arts== [[File:Aboriginal hollow log tombs02.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|Yolŋu use hollow logs in traditional burial rituals. They are also an important "canvas" for their art, Aboriginal Memorial, NGA]]

Yolŋu artists and performers have been at the forefront of global recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture. Yolŋu traditional dancers and musicians have performed widely throughout the world and retain a germinal influence, through the patronage of the Munyarryun and Marika families in particular, on contemporary performance troupes such as Bangarra Dance Theatre.{{sfn|Verghis|2014}}

===Yolŋu visual art=== [[File:Australian $1 - original series - reverse.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|right|The $1 note featuring David Malangi's art]] {{further|Memorial pole|Bark painting}}

Before the emergence of the Western Desert art movement, the most well-known Aboriginal art was the Yolŋu style of fine cross-hatching paintings on bark. The hollow logs (larrakitj) used in Arnhem Land burial practices serve an important spiritual purpose and are also important canvases for Yolŋu art. David Malangi Daymirringu's bark depiction of Manharrnju clan mourning rites of the clan, from a private collection, was copied and featured on the original Australian one-dollar note. When the copyright violation came to light the Australian government, through the direct agency of H. C. Coombs, hastened to remunerate the artist.{{sfn|Evans|2016}}

Yolŋu are also weavers. They weave dyed pandanus leaves into baskets. Necklaces are also made from beads made of seeds, fish vertebrae or shells. Colours are often important in determining where artwork comes from and which clan or family group created it. Some designs are the insignia of particular families and clans.

===Yolŋu music=== The Yothu Yindi band, especially after its song "Treaty", performed the most popular indigenous music since Jimmy Little's ''Royal Telephone'' (1963). The band became Australia's most successful contemporary indigenous music group, and performed throughout the world. Their work has elicited serious musicological analysis.{{sfn|Stubington|Dunbar-Hall|1994|pp=243–259}}

Arnhem Land is the home of the ''yiḏaki'', which Europeans have named the didgeridoo. Yolŋu are both players and craftsmen of the ''yiḏaki''. It can only be played by certain men, and traditionally there are strict protocols around its use.{{clarify|date=October 2010}}

Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu (1971–2017) was a famous Yolŋu singer.

==Prominent Yolŋu people== {{div col|colwidth=20em}} * Baker Boy (Danzal Baker) * Laurie Baymarrwangga * George Rrurrambu Burarrwanga * Gary Dhurrkay * Gatjil Djerrkura * Nathan Djerrkura * David Gulpilil * Djalu Gurruwiwi * Leila Gurruwiwi * Rarriwuy Hick * David Malangi * Djambawa Marawili * Banduk Marika * Raymattja Marika * Roy Marika * Wandjuk Marika * Janet Munyarryun * Ray Raiwala * Galarrwuy Yunupingu * Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu * Mandawuy Yunupingu {{div col end}}

===Politicians=== * Yingiya Mark Guyula, independent member for Nhulunbuy in the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly.

==Films about Yolŋu== * ''Ten Canoes'' * ''Westwind: Djalu’s Legacy'', about Djalu Gurruwiwi (there are also other films about him) * ''Yolngu Boy'' * ''High Ground''

==Garma festival== Every year, Yolŋu come together to celebrate their culture at the Garma Festival of Traditional Cultures. Non-Yolŋu are welcome to attend the festival and learn about Yolŋu traditions and Law. The Yothu Yindi Foundation oversees this festival.

==Alternative names== * ''Murngin'' * ''Wulamba'' * ''Yalnumata''

Sources: {{harvnb|Keen|2005|p=80}} {{harvnb|AIATSIS: N230}};

==See also== * Gove land rights case * Indigenous Australian food groups * Yirrkala bark petitions * Taboo against naming the dead * Australian Aboriginal astronomy

==Notes== {{notelist}}

===Citations=== {{Reflist}}

==Sources== {{refbegin|30em}} *{{cite news | title = On the track | last = Battler | newspaper = The Morning Bulletin | location = Queensland, Australia | issue = 19,211 | page = 3 | url = http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article54320627 | via = National Library of Australia | date = 13 March 1926 | access-date = 20 October 2020 }} *{{Cite book | chapter = Chapter 3: Cultural and sociolinguistic context | last = Bauer | first = Anastasia | year = 2014a | title = The use of signing space in a shared sign language of Australia | publisher = Walter De Gruyter | chapter-url = https://www.degruyter.com/downloadpdf/books/9781614515470/9781614515470.35/9781614515470.35.pdf | url = https://www.degruyter.com/viewbooktoc/product/248203 | page = 38 | isbn = 978-1-61451-547-0 }} *{{Cite book | title = The Use of Signing Space in a Shared Sign Language of Australia | last = Bauer | first = Anastasia | year = 2014b | publisher = Walter de Gruyter | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=nvTnBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA44 | isbn = 978-1-614-51547-0 }} *{{cite book | title = Djanggawul: An Aboriginal Religious Cult of North-Eastern Arnhem Land | last = Berndt | first = Ronald M. | year = 2005 | author-link = Ronald Berndt | orig-year = First published 1952 | publisher = Routledge | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=a3WrtxazTRkC | isbn = 978-041533022-0 }} *{{cite web | title = The High Court made a landmark decision on native title law. Here's what it means | last=Butchers | first=Bethany | editor-first=Erin | editor-last=Cooper-Douglas | website=The Conversation | date=13 March 2025 | url=https://theconversation.com/the-high-court-made-a-landmark-decision-on-native-title-law-heres-what-it-means-236507 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251124180604/https://theconversation.com/the-high-court-made-a-landmark-decision-on-native-title-law-heres-what-it-means-236507 | archive-date=24 November 2025 | url-status=dead | access-date=7 January 2026 }} *{{cite web | title = Art and object | last = Caruana | first = Wally | publisher = AIATSIS | url = https://aiatsis.gov.au/collections/about-collection/art-and-object | date = 4 August 2014 | access-date = 17 February 2020 }} *{{Cite book | title = Yulengor: nomads of Arnhem Land | last = Chaseling | first = Wilbur | year = 1957 | others = A.P. Elkin | publisher = Epworth Press | url = https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/8474611 | via = Trove | access-date = 14 February 2020 }} *{{Cite book | chapter = Ecological community and species attributes in Yolnghu religious symbolism | last = Christie | first = Michael | year = 2007 | title = The Habitat of Australia's Aboriginal Languages: Past, Present and Future | editor1-last = Leitner | editor1-first = Gerhard | editor2-last = Malcolm | editor2-first = Ian G. | publisher = Walter de Gruyter | chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=eRtMG6soA6EC&pg=PA57 | pages = 57–78 | isbn = 978-3-110-19079-3 }} *{{Cite journal | title = 'Black Velvet' and 'Purple Indignation': Print responses to Japanese 'poaching' of Aboriginal women | last = Conor | first = Liz | journal = Aboriginal History | year = 2013 | volume = 37 | pages = 51–76 | doi = 10.22459/AH.37.2013.03 | jstor = 24046958 | doi-access = free }} *{{cite book | title = Reflections & Voices: Exploring the Music of Yothu Yindi with Mandawuy Yunupingu | last = Corn | first = Aaron David Samuel | year = 2009 | publisher = Sydney University Press | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=5mq1Tl_-KCsC&pg=PA42 | isbn = 978-1-920-89934-9 }} *{{Cite news | title = Dhuwa and Yirritja Yiḏaki | publisher = YidakiStory.com | url = http://yidakistory.com/dhawu/yolngu-rom/dhuwa-and-yirritja-yidaki/ | access-date = 29 July 2018 | ref = {{harvid|Dhuwa and Yirritja Yiḏaki}} }} *{{Cite journal | title = Marriage and Descent in East Arnhem Land | last = Elkin | first = A. P. | author-link = A. P. Elkin | journal = Oceania | date = June 1933 | volume = 3 | issue = 4 | pages = 412–416 | doi = 10.1002/j.1834-4461.1933.tb01676.x | jstor = 40327431 }} *{{Cite news | title = How Aboriginal artist Dave Malangi's design ended up on Australia's money | last = Evans | first = Brett | newspaper = The Sydney Morning Herald | url = http://www.smh.com.au/national/investigations/how-aboriginal-artist-dave-malangis-design-ended-up-on-australias-money-20160217-gmwpct.html | date = 21 February 2016 }} *{{Cite news | title = The Lepers of Arnhem Land and Sketches | last = Gaunt | first = C. E. | newspaper = Northern Standard | location = Northern Territory, Australia | issue = 52 | page = 4 | url = http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article48064516 | via = National Library of Australia | date = 6 July 1934 | access-date = 20 October 2020 }} *{{cite journal | title = An introduction to the Ngarra law of Arnhem Land | last = Gaymarani | first = George Pascoe | journal = Northern Territory Law Journal | year = 2011 | volume = 1 | pages = 283–304 | url = http://nationalunitygovernment.org/pdf/ngarra | archive-date = 17 June 2022 | access-date = 3 September 2017 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220617011105/http://nationalunitygovernment.org/pdf/ngarra | url-status = dead }} *{{cite web | title=High Court determines Commonwealth's liability to native title compensation | website=Human Rights Law Centre| date=6 August 2025 | url=https://www.hrlc.org.au/case-summaries/commonwealth-of-australia-v-yunupingu/ | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251210040217/https://www.hrlc.org.au/case-summaries/commonwealth-of-australia-v-yunupingu/ | ref={{harvid|hrlc| 2025}} | archive-date=10 December 2025 | url-status=live | access-date=7 January 2026 }} *{{cite web | title = Ganma: Indigenous Knowledge for Reconciliation and Community Action | last = Hughes | first = Ian | series = Action Research e-Reports | url = http://www2.fhs.usyd.edu.au/arow/arer/014.htm | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060902074434/http://www2.fhs.usyd.edu.au/arow/arer/014.htm | date = November 2000 | archive-date = 2 September 2006 }} *{{cite news |title = Gary Lang's Waŋa dance collaboration explores ancient and modern beliefs about death |last = James |first = Felicity |publisher = ABC News |location = Australia |url = https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-08-06/nt-gary-lang-spirit-dance/101305682 |date = 5 August 2022 |access-date = 10 August 2022 }} *{{Cite journal | title = How Some Murngin Men Marry Ten Wives: The Marital Implications of Matrilateral Cross-Cousin Structures | last = Keen | first = Ian | author-link = Ian Keen | journal = Man | date = December 1982 | volume = 17 | issue = 4 | pages = 620–642 | series = New Series | doi = 10.2307/2802037 | jstor = 2802037 }} *{{Cite journal | title = Metaphor and the Metalanguage: "Groups" in Northeast Arnhem Land | last = Keen | first = Ian | author-link = Ian Keen | journal = American Ethnologist | date = August 1995 | volume = 22 | issue = 3 | pages = 502–527 | doi = 10.1525/ae.1995.22.3.02a00030 | jstor = 645969 }} *{{Cite journal | title = A Bundle of Sticks: The Debate over Yolngu Clans | last = Keen | first = Ian | author-link = Ian Keen | journal = The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute | date = September 2000 | volume = 6 | issue = 3 | pages = 419–436 | doi = 10.1111/1467-9655.00024 | jstor = 2661083 }} *{{Cite book | chapter = Ecological community and species attributes in Yolnghu religious symbolism | last = Keen | first = Ian | year = 2005 | author-link = Ian Keen | orig-year = First published 1990 | title = Signifying Animals: Human Meaning in the Natural World | editor-last = Willis | editor-first = Roy | publisher = Routledge | chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Ie9RAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA80 | pages = 80–96 | isbn = 978-0-203-26481-2 }} *{{Cite journal | title = Foundational sources and purposes of authority in Madayin | last = Kelly | first = Danial | journal = Victoria University Law and Justice Journal | year = 2014 | volume = 4 | issue = 1 | pages = 33–45 | url = http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/VicULawJJl/2014/4.pdf | doi = 10.15209/vulj.v4i1.40 | doi-access = free }} *{{cite web | title = Dust Echoes: Chapter 4: Morning Star: A Study Guide | last = Lewis | first = Robert | year = 2007 | others = From ''Screen Education'' magazine | website = ABC Education | publisher = Australian Broadcasting Corporation and ATOM | url = https://education.abc.net.au/res/pdf/DustEchoes-MorningStar-StudyGuide.pdf }} *{{Cite journal | title = Rockhampton fifty years ago: reminiscences of a pioneer; Reminiscences of the early days in Rockhampton and elsewhere | last = Macartney | first = J. A. | journal = Rex Nan Kivell Collection | via = Trove | year = 1909 | url = https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/239308979 | access-date = 20 October 2020 }} *{{Cite book | chapter = Missing the Revolution! Negotiating disclosure on the pre-Macassans (Bayini) in North-East Arnhem Land | last = McIntosh | first = Ian S. | year = 2008 | title = Exploring the Legacy of the 1948 Arnhem Land Expedition | editor1-last = Thomas | editor1-first = Martin | editor2-last = Neale | editor2-first = Margo | publisher = Australian National University | chapter-url = http://press-files.anu.edu.au/downloads/press/p116081/html/ch17.xhtml?referer=201&page=23 | pages = ? | isbn = 978-192166644-5 }} *{{cite web | title=Melourr Gapu Dhularrpa Gawiya | website=Parliament of Australia | date =September 2005 | url =https://web.archive.org/web/20070811232300/http://www.aph.gov.au/Senate/committee/legcon_ctte/crimes_bail_sentencing/submissions/sub12att_b.pdf | ref ={{harvid|Melourr|2005}} }} *{{Cite book| chapter = Whose governance, for whose good? the Laynhapuy Homelands Associationand the neo-assimilationist turn in Indigenous policy | last = Morphy | first = Frances | year = 2008a | title = Contested Governance: Culture, power and institutions in Indigenous Australia | editor1-last = Hunt | editor1-first = Janet | editor2-last = Smith | editor2-first = Diane | editor3-last = Garling | editor3-first = Stephanie | editor4-last = Sanders | editor4-first = Will | publisher = Australian National University Press | volume = 29 | pages = 113–151 | isbn = 978-1-876-94488-9 | jstor = j.ctt24hcb3.13 }} *{{Cite conference | title = Invisible to the state: kinship and the Yolngu moral order | last = Morphy | first = Frances | year = 2008b | publisher = Monash University | conference = Negotiating the Sacred V: Governing the Family | url = https://www.researchgate.net/publication/251797299 | via = ResearchGate | pages = 1–13 }} *{{cite book | title = Roger Sandall's Films and Contemporary Anthropology | last = Mortimer | first = Lorraine | publisher = Indiana University Press | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=HUWuDwAAQBAJ | date = 1 October 2019 | page = 76 | isbn = 978-025304395-5 }} *{{cite web | title = N230: Yolngu Matha | publisher = AIATSIS | url = https://collection.aiatsis.gov.au/austlang/language/n230 | date = 26 July 2019 | ref = {{harvid|AIATSIS: N230}} }} *{{Cite book | title = Physics and Physical Technology: Civil Engineering and Nautics | last1 = Needham | first1 = Joseph | last2 = Wang | first2 = Ling | last3 = Lu | first3 = Gwei-djen | author1-link = Joseph Needham | author2-link = Wang Ling (historian) | author3-link = Lu Gwei-djen | year = 1971 | publisher = Cambridge University Press | volume = 4 | series = Science and Civilisation in China | issue = 3 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=l6TVhvYLaEwC&pg=PA538 | isbn = 0-521-07060-0 }} *{{cite web | title=About Yolngu | website=Nhulunbuy Corporation | url=http://ncl.net.au/play/about-yolngu/ | archive-date=20 February 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200220095326/http://ncl.net.au/play/about-yolngu/ | url-status=dead | ref ={{harvid|Nhulunbuy}} }} *{{Cite web|title=A fight over a bauxite mine may launch a new era for land rights | last=Pelly |first=Michael | website=Australian Financial Review | date=4 February 2024 | url=https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/a-fight-over-a-bauxite-mine-may-launch-a-new-era-for-land-rights-20231205-p5ep91 }} *{{cite journal | title = Reconciliation, trauma and the native born | last = Read | first = Peter | journal = Humanities Research | year = 2002 | volume = 9 | issue = 1 | pages = 29–35 | url = https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/bitstream/10440/896/1/Read_Reconciliation2002.pdf }} *{{cite book | title = Frontier justice: a history of the Gulf country to 1900 | last = Roberts | first = Tony | year = 2005 | publisher = University of Queensland Press | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=lgKSBgAAQBAJ&pg=PP182 | isbn = 978-0-702-24083-6 }} *{{cite news | title = Evolution in Sacred Tradition | last = Rothwell | first = Nicholas | publisher = Annandale Galleries | url = http://www.annandalegalleries.com.au/press-details.php?newsID=44 | date = 8 May 2008 | access-date = 19 January 2020 }} *{{cite web | title = Colonial Frontier Massacres in Australia, 1788-1930: Mirki massacre | last = Ryan | first = Lyndall | year = 2019 | publisher = University of Newcastle, Centre for 21st Century Humanities | url = https://c21ch.newcastle.edu.au/colonialmassacres/detail.php?r=713 | access-date = 21 October 2020 }} *{{cite journal | title = Review: W. Lloyd Warner, a Black Civilization: a Social Study of an Australian Tribe | last = Sharp | first = R. Lauriston | author-link = Lauriston Sharp | journal = American Anthropologist | year = 1939 | volume = 41 | issue = 1 | pages = 150–152 | doi = 10.1525/aa.1939.41.1.02a00250 | doi-access = free }} *{{cite journal | title = Yothu Yindi's 'Treaty': Ganma in Music | last1 = Stubington | first1 = Jill | last2 = Dunbar-Hall | first2 = Peter | journal = Popular Music | date = October 1994 | volume = 13 | issue = 3 | pages = 243–259 | doi = 10.1017/s0261143000007182 | jstor = 852915 | s2cid = 153678918 }} *{{cite book | title = A place for strangers: towards a history of Australian Aboriginal being | last = Swain | first = Tony | year = 1993 | publisher = Cambridge University Press | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=d80wTnMnc0AC | isbn = 978-0-521-44691-4 }} *{{Cite journal | title = Coastal Patrol and the Special Reconnaissance Unit 1941-43 | last = Thomson | first = Donald | author-link = Donald Thomson | editor-last = Mulvaney | editor-first = John | journal = Aboriginal History | year = 1992 | volume = 16 | issue = 1 | pages = 1–57 | url = http://press-files.anu.edu.au/downloads/press/p72311/pdf/article0110.pdf }} *{{Cite book| title = Donald Thomson in Arnhem Land | last1 = Thomson | first1 = Donald | last2 = Peterson | first2 = Nicholas | author1-link = Donald Thomson | year = 2005 | publisher = Miegunyah Press | isbn = 978-0-522-85205-9 }} *{{Cite book | title = Aboriginal Tribes of Australia: Their Terrain, Environmental Controls, Distribution, Limits, and Proper Names | last = Tindale | first = Norman Barnett | year = 1974 | author-link = Norman Tindale | publisher = Australian National University Press | url = https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/bitstreams/accca907-ea47-4eb1-8217-aa5d3184e3a0/download | isbn = 978-0-708-10741-6 }} *{{cite news | title = Bangarra Dance Theatre: history in movement | last = Verghis | first = Sharon | newspaper = The Australian | url = http://www.theaustralian.com.au/arts/review/bangarra-dance-theatre-history-in-movement/news-story/a798af16def994e99d48fa5360533647 | date = 7 June 2014 }} *{{cite journal | title = Austronesian Loanwords in Yolngu-Matha of Northeast Arnhem Land | last1 = Walker | first1 = Alan | last2 = Zorc | first2 = R. David | name-list-style = amp | journal = Aboriginal History | year = 1981 | volume = 5 | pages = 109–134 }} *{{cite journal | title = Morphology and Functions of the Australian Murngin Type of Kinship | last = Warner | first = William Lloyd | author-link = William Lloyd Warner | journal = American Anthropologist | date = April 1930 | volume = 32 | issue = 2 | pages = 207–256 | doi = 10.1525/aa.1930.32.2.02a00010 | jstor = 661305 }} *{{cite journal | title = Morphology and Functions of the Australian Murngin Type of Kinship (Part II) | last = Warner | first = William Lloyd | author-link = William Lloyd Warner | journal = American Anthropologist | date = April–June 1931 | volume = 33 | issue = 2 | pages = 172–198 | doi = 10.1525/aa.1931.33.2.02a00030 | jstor = 660835 | doi-access = free }} *{{cite web | title = Wayawu to Dhuruputjpi, (2010) by Galuma Maymuru (8 August 1951- ) | publisher = Art Gallery of New South Wales | url = https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/collection/works/108.2014/ | access-date = 19 January 2020 | ref = {{harvid|Art Gallery of New South Wales}} }} *{{Cite journal | title = Tribal Organization in Eastern Arnhem Land | last = Webb | first = T. Theodor | journal = Oceania | date = June 1933 | volume = 3 | issue = 4 | pages = 406–411 | doi = 10.1002/j.1834-4461.1933.tb01675.x | jstor = 40327430 }} *{{Cite book | chapter = A history of Donydji outstation, north-east Arnhem Land | last = White | first = Neville | year = 2016 | title = Experiments in self-determination: Histories of the outstation movement in Australia | editor1-last = Peterson | editor1-first = Nicolas | editor2-last = Myers | editor2-first = Fred | editor2-link=Fred Myers | publisher = Australian National University Press | chapter-url = http://press-files.anu.edu.au/downloads/press/p331981/pdf/ch16.pdf | pages = 323–346 | isbn = 978-1-925-02289-6 }} *{{cite book| title = The Yolngu and Their Land: A System of Land Tenure and the Fight for Its Recognition | last = Williams | first = Nancy M. | year = 1986 | publisher = Stanford University Press | isbn = 978-0-804-71306-1 }} *{{cite book | title=Näku Dhäruk: The Bark Petitions: How the People of Yirrkala Changed the course of Australian democracy | last=Wright | first=Clare|author-link = Clare Wright | publisher=Text Publishing Company | year= 2024 | isbn=978-1-922-33086-4 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jRG00AEACAAJ }} *{{cite web | title = Yirrkala bark petitions 1963 (Cth) | website = Documenting A Democracy | publisher = Museum of Australian Democracy | url = https://www.foundingdocs.gov.au/item-did-104.html | access-date = 17 February 2020 | ref = {{harvid|MoAD}} }} *{{cite web | title = Yolngu Culture | publisher = Dhimurru Aboriginal Corporation | url = http://www.dhimurru.com.au/yolngu-culture.html | access-date = 17 February 2020 | ref = {{harvid|Dhimurru Aboriginal Corporation}} }} *{{Cite news | title = Yothu-Yindi and Yiḏaki Crafting | publisher = YidakiStory.com | url = http://yidakistory.com/dhawu/yolngu-rom/yothu-yindi-and-yidaki-crafting/ | access-date = 29 July 2018 | ref = {{harvid|Yothu-Yindi and Yiḏaki Crafting}} }} *{{cite magazine | title = Rom Watangu: An Indigenous leader reflects on a lifetime following the law of the land | last = Yunupingu | first = Galarrwuy | author-link = Galarrwuy Yunupingu | magazine = The Monthly | url = https://www.themonthly.com.au/issue/2016/july/1467295200/galarrwuy-yunupingu/rom-watangu | date = July 2016 | access-date = 19 July 2020 }} {{refend}}

==Further reading== {{refbegin}} *{{cite web |title=About Yolngu |publisher=Nhulunbuy Corporation |url=http://ncl.net.au/play/about-yolngu/ |ref=none |access-date=29 January 2020 |archive-date=20 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200220095326/http://ncl.net.au/play/about-yolngu/ |url-status=dead}} *{{cite web |title=Dust Echoes |website=ABC Education |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |quote=a series of twelve beautifully animated Dreamtime stories from Central Arnhem Land... |url=https://education.abc.net.au/home#!/digibook/2570774/dust-echoes |date=16 May 2017 |ref=none}} − 12 Episodes, each with accompanying Study Guide: Whirlpool, Mermaid, Brolga, Morning Star, Namorrodor, Curse, Moon Man, Be, Spear, Wawalag (or Wagalak) sisters, Bat and the Butterfly, and Mimis. * [https://www.12canoes.com.au/ Twelve Canoes] – video (made in collaboration with the people of Ramingining) *{{cite book |title=Twelve Canoes: A Study Guide |last=Lewis |first=Robert |publisher=Atom, Screen Australia, Australian Government |url=https://www.12canoes.com.au/downloads/studyguide/Twelve_Canoes_Study_Guide.pdf |ref=none |access-date=14 February 2020 |archive-date=5 January 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090105160252/https://www.12canoes.com.au/downloads/studyguide/Twelve_Canoes_Study_Guide.pdf |url-status=dead}} *{{cite thesis |type=PhD thesis |title=Printmaking by Yolngu artists of Northeast Arnhem Land: 'Another way of telling our stories' |last=Salvestro |first=Denise Yvonne |publisher=Australian National University |url=https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/handle/1885/110680 |via=Open Research |date=April 2016 |doi=10.25911/5d7636021d35c |ref=none}} [https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/bitstream/1885/110680/1/Salvestro%20Thesis%202016.pdf PDF] *{{cite web |title=Yolngu Culture |publisher=Dhimurru Aboriginal Corporation |url=http://www.dhimurru.com.au/yolngu-culture.html |ref=none}} {{refend}}

{{Aboriginal peoples of the Northern Territory}} {{Authority control}}

Category:Yolngu