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Articles on Arnhem Land

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Dhunggala Munungurr (left) sole surviving signatory of the petitions and (on right), a ceremony at which the fourth petition was returned to Yolŋu descendants of their original creators. Photos: Clare Wright, National Gallery of Australia

Friday essay: 60 years old, the Yirrkala Bark Petitions are one of our founding documents – so why don’t we know more about them?

Clare Wright has spent ten years researching the history of these groundbreaking petitions. Though few Australians have heard of them, she writes, we can learn much from the story of their creation.
The view from the Arnhem Land escarpment over the floodplains that contain a hidden landscape. Ian Moffat

Remarkable new tech has revealed the ancient landscape of Arnhem Land that greeted Australia’s First Peoples

Beneath the floodplains of Arnhem Land lies a hidden landscape that has been transformed over millennia as seas rose and fell.
Large painting of a crocodile attributed to Majumbu along with two child hand stencils. Photograph courtesy of the Melbourne Museum, object 019930, object size 2.94m by 1.03m

Returning a name to an artist: the work of Majumbu, a previously unknown Australian painter

Majumbu’s work sits in the Melbourne Museum, but until now he has not been named as the artist.
The bark painting depicting a barramundi that Namadbara created for Spencer at Oenpelli in 1912 and that he identified in the interview with Lance Bennett in 1967, now in Museums Victoria Spencer/Cahill Collection (object X 19909).

Paddy Compass Namadbara: for the first time, we can name an artist who created bark paintings in Arnhem Land in the 1910s

The Spencer/Cahill Collection at Museums Victoria contains approximately 170 bark paintings – and now we can name one of the artists behind them.
Josie Maralngurra touching her hand stencil made when she was around 12. In the background are three white barramundi fish figures with red line-work also created by her father Djimongurr. Photograph by Fiona McKeague, copyright Parks Australia

Friday essay: ‘this is our library’ – how to read the amazing archive of First Nations stories written on rock

Australia’s stunning galleries of rock art are vast repositories of knowledge that can teach us much.
Rock paintings from the main gallery at Djulirri in Namunidjbuk clan estate, showing traditional Aboriginal motifs as well as European boats, airplanes, and more. Photo by Sally K May.

Threat or trading partner? Sailing vessels in northwestern Arnhem Land rock art reveal different attitudes to visitors

Pictures of boats and ships in rock art at the northwestern tip of Australia show the European incursions from the 1800s — but also the much earlier and lesser known sea trade with southeast Asia.
Jacob Junior Nayinggul (left) and Simon Baker in High Ground (2020). Maxo, Bunya Productions, Savage Films

How historically accurate is the film High Ground? The violence it depicts is uncomfortably close to the truth

In depicting brutal massacres and mission life, this film gets a lot right. And the model for its central protagonist may well be a young man called Narlim, exiled from his country in the late 1930s.
S. Anna Florin.

Burnt ancient nutshells reveal the story of climate change at Kakadu — now drier than ever before

Tiny nutshell fragments, found at a rock shelter in the Kakadu region, have helped researchers track past climate change in the region.
A hollow-log coffin painted with Dhal̲waŋu clan Octopus, Perahu Hull, Anchor and Coral Sunset motifs at Gurrumuru against a coral sunset on the horizon. Photo: Aaron Corn

Friday essay: how Indigenous songs recount deep histories of trade between Australia and Southeast Asia

Yothu Yindi’s music introduced the world to the Yolŋu clan traditions of northeast Arnhem Land. But few listeners know these songs echo long histories of engagement with Southeast Asian visitors.
Venice is among the cities that have had public protests against soaring numbers of tourists – including this protest banner on the Rialto bridge. Andrea Merola/EPA/AAP

Rethinking tourism so the locals actually benefit from hosting visitors

The future of tourism depends on ensuring visitors do not wear out their welcome. Giving locals more of a say in tourism can help ensure they share in the benefits and minimise the costs.
Part of Mandy Martin’s painting Cool Burn (2016): in her painting workshops at Djinkarr, Indigenous rangers brought the threats to their land to life on canvas.

Friday essay: caring for country and telling its stories

Feral cats and pigs, mission grass and climate change - in western Arnhem Land, Indigenous rangers are battling many environmental threats. Through painting and performance, they are also telling ‘healthy country’ stories.
The remote rivers of northern Australia could be home to untold numbers of new and threatened fish. Matthew Le Feuvre

We discovered 20 new fish in northern Australia – now we need to protect them

A score of new fish species discovered recently in northern Australia remind us how little we know about our country.

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