tag:theconversation.com,2011:/au/topics/yolnu-12308/articlesYolŋu – The Conversation2022-12-15T23:31:49Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1959232022-12-15T23:31:49Z2022-12-15T23:31:49ZA rare disease in the Top End affects muscles for speech. Here’s how we’re designing alternative ways to communicate in Yolŋu languages<p>Machado-Joseph-Disease (MJD) is a rare neurodegenerative disease that affects muscles in the body, including those required for speech. It is <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2451994422000013?via%3Dihub">prevalent</a> in some remote First Nations communities in the Northern Territory and Queensland. </p>
<p>Yolŋu First Nations people from northeast Arnhem Land are among those disproportionately affected. Yolŋu knowledge is shared through clan songlines, painting of clan designs, ceremonial song, dance, and storytelling. Growing up with a strong clan-based identity is the <a href="http://www.growingupyolngu.com.au/">highest priority</a> for Yolŋu families, and language is paramount. </p>
<p>This is why Julie Gungunbuy, a Yolŋu researcher from Galiwin'ku community, and Balanda (non-First Nations) researcher Rebecca Amery have developed Yolŋu (Djambarrpuyŋu) alternative communication systems. Julie is the principal Yolŋu researcher working on <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/07434618.2022.2129782">the study</a> exploring communication difficulties for Yolŋu living with MJD, a disease in her extended family.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-do-we-support-indigenous-people-in-australia-living-with-musculoskeletal-conditions-187068">How do we support Indigenous people in Australia living with musculoskeletal conditions?</a>
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<h2>What is Machado-Joseph disease?</h2>
<p>Neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson’s, Huntington’s, and Machado-Joseph disease cause cells in the brain to die slowly over time. Cognitive function is not affected in MJD, but speech gradually becomes more difficult to understand, until eventually it is no longer possible. </p>
<p>MJD results in a slow loss of control of muscles and function that also affects mobility, vision, and sleep. A single copy of the disordered gene from one parent is enough to cause MJD. Children have a <a href="https://rarediseases.org/rare-diseases/machado-joseph-disease/">50% chance</a> of inheriting the disease from an affected parent and can experience the first symptoms at a young age. </p>
<p>People living with MJD usually require full assistance with daily activities within ten years from the first onset of symptoms. When speech becomes unclear, alternative ways of communicating such as using gestures, pointing to words, pictures, photos, and symbols are helpful. With appropriate medical care, people can live for more than a decade with severe-stage MJD.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/rather-than-focusing-on-the-negative-we-need-a-strength-based-way-to-approach-first-nations-childrens-health-187986">Rather than focusing on the negative, we need a strength-based way to approach First Nations childrens' health</a>
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<h2>Creating Yolŋu communication systems for loss of speech</h2>
<p>For First Nations families and communities, practising culture through their primary language is crucial for health and wellbeing. It’s how deeper thoughts and feelings are expressed and understood, and how families and cultures stay strong.</p>
<p>Six years ago, together with other Yolŋu researchers in Julie’s family, the MJD Foundation and Charles Darwin University, we began to collaborate on developing alternative communication systems to support Yolŋu living with MJD when their speech becomes hard to understand. </p>
<p>Julie’s galay (first cousin) Barbara Rarrapul has the disease and is one of our research participants. She will eventually lose the ability to control and coordinate muscles to speak. She knows five languages: Djambarrpuyŋu (the most common Yolŋu clan language), as well as Gumatj, Wangurri, Warramirri and English.</p>
<p>We developed alternative communication systems with Yolŋu words, grammar, and pictures that Yolŋu can use to communicate by pointing to the words and pictures to share their message when their speech is too hard to understand. The creation of these systems was guided by Yolŋu language, culture, and personal preferences of participants, rather than by modifying existing systems in English. </p>
<p>In collaborative family research sessions, we developed cards with the Yolŋu alphabet, syllables, and words, as well as everyday pictures to explore different ways of representing components of Yolŋu speech. </p>
<p>In planning for inevitable loss of speech, we developed four alternative communication system prototypes for Yolŋu with varied confidence with Yolŋu literacy. </p>
<p>The prototypes include Yolŋu and English alphabets and a core vocabulary of almost 250 Yolŋu words, including common words from daily conversation and core concepts from Yolŋu culture. The systems were designed to emphasise identity and relationships and enable Yolŋu people to communicate in ways that are inviting and familiar.</p>
<p>The Yolŋu research team developed a metaphor to represent and share the research from a Yolŋu perspective: gulaka-buma or “harvesting yams”. </p>
<p>You need to go hunting for yams with experienced people who know the right time of year and what leaves to look for. You have to walk carefully through the jungle, so you don’t break the vines. Follow the vine right down to the head of the yam. Dig right down, all the way to the end and pull out the yam with roots on it. Don’t break it halfway. If you run out of daylight, cover it up and leave it. Come back another day when you have more time and keep digging.</p>
<p>It’s Julie’s hope that this research, and these alternative communication systems in Yolŋu languages, become a major step forward to supporting quality of life for Yolŋu people living with MJD. </p>
<p>This research highlights the importance of collaborating with First Nations peoples in their primary languages to enable meaningful participation in finding their own solutions. </p>
<p>The communication systems are a potential game changer for Yolŋu families, and the localised, collaborative, and respectful partnerships seen in this process are a model for enabling us to continue to develop more equitable allied health services in Australia.</p>
<p><em>Research participant names featured have been published with permission.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/195923/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rebecca Amery received research funding from a Research Training Program scholarship with Charles Darwin University and a Top-Up Industry Scholarship from the MJD Foundation. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Julie Gungunbuy works for the MJD Foundation.</span></em></p>Degenerative illness Machado-Joseph disease, which affects speech, is prevalent among First Nations people in northern Australia. Researchers have now created Yolŋu communication systems to help mob.Rebecca Amery, Clinical Education Coordinator - Speech Pathology, Charles Darwin UniversityJulie Gungunbuy, Aboriginal Health and Community Worker with the MJD Foundation, Indigenous KnowledgeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1372472020-04-28T05:19:56Z2020-04-28T05:19:56ZTogether we rise: East Arnhem Land artists respond to COVID-19 with the gift of music<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/330653/original/file-20200427-145499-y9vme2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=30%2C42%2C4007%2C2094&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Yirrŋa Yunupiŋu sings. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.facebook.com/VisitEastArnhemLand/photos/a.311490989046835/1431484573714132/?type=3&theater">Facebook/Yolŋu Radio</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Recent weeks have been a blur of livestreams as politicians and chief medical officers have taken to Facebook and YouTube to announce Australia’s emergency measures to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. </p>
<p>But on Saturday evening, I eagerly logged onto Facebook, along with more than 50,000 others, to enjoy a livestream of an entirely different kind. It was the first in a series of four <a href="https://www.eastarnhemland.com.au/east-arnhem-live">East Arnhem Live</a> music concerts to be streamed weekly.</p>
<p>It not only offers a welcome respite from the social isolation many Australians are now feeling, but it is also an ingenious way for Arnhem Land’s prolific musicians to share their music with audiences around the world.</p>
<h2>On location</h2>
<p>The Northern Territory’s Arnhem Land is home to dozens of remote Indigenous communities, including the <a href="https://doi-org.proxy.library.adelaide.edu.au/10.1111/1467-9655.00024">Yolŋu communities</a> in the far northeast. While there are presently no known cases of COVID-19 in Arnhem Land, the region’s economic stability relies heavily on artists’ income, which is greatly supported by local tourism during the dry season and international touring to festivals all year round.</p>
<p>Streamed on Saturday, April 24 and still available <a href="https://www.eastarnhemland.com.au/east-arnhem-live">online</a>, the first East Arnhem Live concert featured singer <a href="https://www.eastarnhemland.com.au/blog/eight-east-arnhem-land-artists-to-add-to-your-playlist">Yirrŋa Yunupiŋu</a>, the current frontman of rock band Yothu Yindi, with Arian Pearson on acoustic guitar. To showcase Arnhem Land’s natural beauty, the concert was filmed on location at <a href="https://goo.gl/maps/BgrvMi9dobH3478Z8">Gälaru (East Woody Beach)</a> against the sun setting over the Arafura Sea, and incorporated stunning aerial cinematography of Dhamitjinya (East Woody Island).</p>
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<span class="caption">East Arnhem Live with Yirrŋa Yunupiŋu and Arian Pearson.</span>
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<p>At a length of four songs over 14 minutes, it was a tantalisingly brief event that left me wanting more. It stirred deep nostalgia for my own experiences in Arnhem Land over the past 25 years and long collaborations with local musicians there.</p>
<p>Yirrŋa Yunupiŋu’s four-song set exemplified the very best of Yolŋu songwriting, building significantly on the heavy traditional influences of the style developed by Yothu Yindi around 1990. The influence of Manikay, the ancestral song tradition performed by Yolŋu communities in their public ceremonies, is ever-present in Yirrŋa’s own songs. This is evidenced by the <em>bi<u>l</u>ma</em> (paired sticks) he played throughout the concert.</p>
<p>With no more than a few hundred senior Yolŋu Manikay singers alive today, the present threat of COVID-19 brings into sharp relief the rarity and uniqueness of Manikay as a quintessentially Australian musical tradition. This is indeed a national treasure of global significance that deserves to be better supported and cherished in Australia and globally.</p>
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<h2>An anthem for our time</h2>
<p>The concert’s opening song was Sweet Arnhem Land, a balladic ode to the region’s immense beauty that includes a direct quote from the Manikay repertoire of Yirrŋa’s clan, the Gumatj. This Manikay quotation references the great ancestral hunter, Ganbulapula, and its melody should be instantly recognisable to anyone who has attended the Garma Festival and experienced public ceremonial repertoire being performed there by the Gumatj clan.</p>
<p>The second song was a cover of Kind of Life, which was first released by Yothu Yindi on the 1991 Tribal Voice album. It was a fitting homage to earlier pioneers of popular music from Arnhem Land, such as Wi<u>t</u>iyana Marika and the late Mandawuy Yunupiŋu AC of Yothu Yindi, who were the first to gain global acclaim.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/my-favourite-album-yothu-yindis-tribal-voice-83643">My favourite album: Yothu Yindi's Tribal Voice</a>
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<p>The third song, We Rise, is nothing short of an anthemic triumph. Its stirring sentiment of solidarity in the face of great change and adversity will readily resonate with many Australians at this challenging time. </p>
<p>Yirrŋa’s final song, Ba<u>n</u>umbirr (Morning Star), pays respect to his mother’s clan, the Rirratjiŋu. Once again, it includes a direct quote from traditional Manikay repertoire, which this time comes from the Rirratjiŋu clan’s iconic Morning Star song series.</p>
<p>With more than 53,000 views on Facebook since Saturday night, this first East Arnhem Live concert has been an outstanding success. While I greatly look forward to the day when I can fly to Arnhem Land again to see dear friends and hear music there in person, this concert series is a most welcome substitute that offers an unexpectedly intimate and poignant experience. And it shares the great beauty of Yolŋu song against the backdrop of the natural environment from which it sprung.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/friday-essay-how-indigenous-songs-recount-deep-histories-of-trade-between-australia-and-southeast-asia-123867">Friday essay: how Indigenous songs recount deep histories of trade between Australia and Southeast Asia</a>
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<h2>Tradition and innovation</h2>
<p>The Yolŋu people have long engaged with new technologies while retaining their own sense of autonomy. This latest innovation in streaming concerts via social media platforms is in keeping with their pre-colonial exchanges with visiting Asian seafarers. </p>
<p>It was this same longitudinal dialogue between tradition and innovation that made the music of bands like Yothu Yindi possible.</p>
<p>Musicians Yirrŋa Yunupiŋu and Arian Pearson are to be congratulated heartily for this first East Arnhem Live concert, as are the series’ presenters at ARDS Aboriginal Corporation and Yolŋu Radio, and sponsors at Rirratjiŋu Aboriginal Corporation and Developing East Arnhem. </p>
<p>The next three Saturday nights promise to be equally special with unmissable concerts by the Andrew Gurruwiwi Band on May 2 and Yirrmal Marika on May 9, and an unprecedented closing stream of traditional ceremony by the Rirratjiŋu clan on May 16.</p>
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<p><em>The next three East Arnhem Live concerts will stream on the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/VisitEastArnhemLand/">East Arnhem Land Facebook page</a> at 6.30 pm ACST on Saturday, May 2, May 9 and May 16.</em></p>
<p><em>Charles Darwin University’s <a href="http://learnline.cdu.edu.au/yolngustudies/gupaappdownload.html">Gupapuyŋu App</a> provides a Yolŋu language pronunciation guide that is free to download.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/137247/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Readers are advised that this article names a deceased founding member of Yothu Yindi with all traditional Yolŋu mortuary restrictions having been lifted by his family long ago. Aaron Corn receives funding from the Australian Research Council and is a Director of the not-for-profit National Recording Project for Indigenous Performance in Australia. Aaron Corn explores the music of Yothu Yindi in his book, Reflections & Voices (2009), published by Sydney University Press.</span></em></p>A series of four live-streamed concerts from Arnhem Land offers a welcome break from bad news and a way for Indigenous musicians to share their talents with the world.Aaron Corn, Professor, Elder Conservatorium of Music · Director, Centre for Aboriginal Studies in Music (CASM) · Director, National Centre for Aboriginal Language and Music Studies (NCALMS), Faculty of Arts, University of AdelaideLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/311802014-09-20T05:10:44Z2014-09-20T05:10:44ZBirthing on Country could deliver healthier babies and communities<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/59619/original/dgvxjv9c-1411187055.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Inuit women carrying their kids in traditional hooded parkas. Indigenous midwifery programs have expanded across Canada and are linked to excellent health outcomes.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/weartpix/4077750393/in/photolist-7dkx8g-5Lj5pb-bY1c83-4YDTNQ-4YA3VH-4YDTQ7-4YzCK6-4YzCN2-4YEZMD-afWiDB-dcj9Ub-4YDTRC-5Lj5TN-926jvd-4YDTUN-4YzCMM-4YDTQy-4YDTTE">Spencer/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Tony Abbott <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-09-20/arnhem-land-leaders-call-for-an-end-to-poison-welfare/5758040">spent most of this week in North East Arnhem Land</a>, part of his <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/federal-election-2013/abbott-calls-for-new-era-of-engagement-with-indigenous-australia-20130810-2rony.html">long-held hope</a> “to be not just the Prime Minister but the Prime Minister for Aboriginal Affairs”. In the final of our <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/abbott-in-arnhem-land">Abbott in Arnhem Land</a> series, we asked our experts: what stories does the PM need to hear?</em></p>
<p>Imagine you are 36 weeks pregnant and about to have your third baby. But coming from a small community, you can’t give birth at your local hospital because the maternity ward has closed down. Instead, you’re told you have to go to a hospital in a big city you’ve never been to before, hours away from anyone you know, which feels as foreign as being sent to another country. </p>
<p>Doctors say it’s safer in the big city hospital where they have lots of specialists if anything goes wrong. But your partner, children and other family members are not able to come because you can’t afford to pay their travel and accommodation. </p>
<p>You don’t speak the language. You didn’t choose to come here. You are all alone. You are so uncomfortable and so stressed – so how could this be good for baby?</p>
<p>This happens regularly to Aboriginal women across Australia. In many cases, being sent into a major city a long way from home to birth is equivalent to being sent to a foreign country. </p>
<p>But it doesn’t have to be this way. </p>
<p>We could <a href="http://cfpcwp.com/MCDG/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/CD004667_standard.pdf">reduce</a> the number of babies being born too early and dying before they reach their first birthday. We could make a difference to <a href="http://www.aom.on.ca/files/Communications/Reports_and_Studies/JMWH_Nunavik_Midwifery_VanWagner_JulyAug2007.pdf">every stage of life</a> – reduce chronic disease, improve mental health, reduce drug and alcohol abuse and reduce community violence. </p>
<p>We could <a href="http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2813%2961406-3/fulltext">save our health system</a> millions of dollars. And the benefits could extend beyond health, strengthening parenting roles and restoring skills and community pride. </p>
<p>And we know that all that can be done, because it’s already been <a href="http://www.inuulitsivik.ca/healthcare-and-services/healthcare/midwives">shown to work</a> in Canada.</p>
<h2>Having babies closer to home</h2>
<p>In Australia, we call it “<a href="https://www.saxinstitute.org.au/publications/evidence-check-library/maternity-service-delivery-models-for-indigenous-communities/">Birthing on Country</a>”, which is about bringing birth closer to home. Birthing on Country is about real jobs and education. It’s about <a href="http://www.pimatisiwin.com/online/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/03EpooStonier.pdf">local Aboriginal midwives</a>. It’s about shaping a healthier health system; one that is both medically and culturally safe for all.</p>
<p>Birthing on Country has been recommended in many government reports over 30 years. Even our current <a href="http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/maternityservicesplan">National Maternity Plan</a> says that Birthing on Country programs need to be set up and tested. </p>
<p>We need to see if Birthing on Country really can make a difference here, as it has overseas. We can’t keep having Aboriginal mums and bubs being <a href="http://www.aihw.gov.au/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=60129545698">two to three times more likely to die in childbirth</a> than other Australians; it’s time for change.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Aboriginal Australians talking about birthing on country, from “The Face Of Birth” DVD. (http://www.faceofbirth.com/)</span></figcaption>
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<p>So why has there been no investment in Birthing on Country? </p>
<p>There is a general <a href="http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2393/14/275#">fear</a> of birthing in Australia, with some people concerned about women having babies in places that don’t have 24/7 access to an emergency caesarean operation. Instead, when surgery cannot be provided, we tend to close the whole maternity service. </p>
<p>But the further women have to travel for birth, the worse their <a href="http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6963/11/147">outcomes</a>. Establishing birth centres, even in remote areas, could be a <a href="http://www.bmj.com/content/343/bmj.d7400">safer option</a>, yet only 2% of women in Australia give birth in a <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19566562">birth centre</a>.</p>
<h2>Learning from the Inuit</h2>
<p>In Canada, what began as the <a href="http://www.inuulitsivik.ca/healthcare-and-services/healthcare/midwives">Inuit “experiment”</a> is now referred to as the jewel in the crown of Inuit achievements. </p>
<p>The experiment started in 1985 in a place called Nunavik. It was in response to a high number of young people committing suicide. </p>
<p>Women, sitting around a sewing circle, linked the social dysfunction in the community to the dislocation that occurred during birth. They agreed they would no longer be flown eight hours away from home to have their babies in a “safe” hospital in Montreal. Instead, they set up a birthing centre in their remote community, without local access to a doctor or caesarean. </p>
<p>Even when people tried to close them down, warning “mothers and babies would die”, they stayed open. The <a href="http://www.naho.ca/inuit-midwifery/documents/2005-07NunavikICMkeynotefinal_000.pdf">elders knew</a> that “to bring birth back to the communities is to bring back life”.</p>
<p>One Aboriginal Canadian doctor was <a href="http://www.naho.ca/inuit-midwifery/documents/2005-07NunavikICMkeynotefinal_000.pdf">quoted as saying</a>: </p>
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<p>Culturally appropriate health care requires respect for the choice of community based child birth and may also challenge the world view of medically trained health professionals who are concerned with access to medical technologies and medico-legal liabilities.</p>
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<p>Today, the birthing centres have on-site midwifery training and have expanded across Nunavik and into other remote communities in Ontario, North West Territories and Nunavut. </p>
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<p></p><p><a href="http://vimeo.com/44525868">TV Show Video Clip - Inuit Midwife Apprenticeship Program, Nunavik</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/nataborhealthorg">Inuit Tuttarvingat</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p><p></p>
<p>They have developed as a sustainable model and are <a href="https://fcsktp.ryerson.ca/xmlui/handle/123456789/46">linked to excellent health outcomes</a>, increased education levels, reduced family violence, the restoration of dignity and self-esteem, community healing and greater social functioning.</p>
<p>The model allows inter-generational learning and support while promoting respect for traditional knowledge and building local capacity. </p>
<p>In the words of <a href="http://www.pimatisiwin.com/online/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/03EpooStonier.pdf">Jusapie Padlayat</a>, elder and chair of the Inuulitsivik Health Board:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I can understand that some of you may think that birth in remote areas is dangerous. And we have made it clear what it means for our women to birth in our communities. And you must know that a life without meaning is much more dangerous.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>When you walk into the birthing centres you can immediately see the impact it’s having on the community. You can see it when watching an Inuit midwife providing care to an Inuit women, in her own language. Better still is the smile on her husband and young children’s faces, knowing she will not be leaving family to have her baby. </p>
<p>The model is so successful it is creeping into the cities, with an Aboriginal birth centre <a href="http://www.torontobirthcentre.ca/">opening in Toronto</a> last year. (You can read more at Canada’s <a href="http://www.aboriginalmidwives.ca/toolkit/nunavik">National Aboriginal Council of Midwives website</a>.)</p>
<h2>Returning birth to Country in Australia</h2>
<p>The first <a href="http://www.qcmb.org.au/media/pdf/Birth%20On%20Country%20Report.pdf">National Birthing on Country Workshop</a>, held in Alice Springs in 2012, recommended we set up Birthing on Country sites here in Australia, including in some remote communities. But to do that, they must be funded for long-term success. </p>
<p>In her closing speech at the event, award-winning Yolŋu elder <a href="http://www.australianoftheyear.org.au/honour-roll/?view=fullView&recipientID=415">Djapirri Mununggirritj</a> from Yirrkala in North East Arnhem Land (where the Prime Minister visited this week) declared:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>birthing is the most powerful thing that happens to a mother and child … our generation needs to know the route and identity of where they came from; to ensure pride, passion, dignity and leadership to carry us through to the future … We need to put together a strong voice, and one of us can report this in Canberra</p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/59621/original/439w3k28-1411189436.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/59621/original/439w3k28-1411189436.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/59621/original/439w3k28-1411189436.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/59621/original/439w3k28-1411189436.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/59621/original/439w3k28-1411189436.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/59621/original/439w3k28-1411189436.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/59621/original/439w3k28-1411189436.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/59621/original/439w3k28-1411189436.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Yolŋu elder and Reconciliation Australia board member Djapirri Mununggirritj</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.reconciliation.org.au/about/">Reconciliation Australia</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The report from the <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/265553883_Australian_Health_Ministers%27_Advisory_Council_Birthing_on_Country_Workshop_Report">National Birthing on Country Workshop</a> has gone to Canberra and been given to government – but we don’t yet have Birthing on Country sites.</p>
<p>Queensland is probably the closest, with a state-wide workshop held in December 2013, but sites are yet to be chosen. Funding has not been allocated. We can’t let it stall again. </p>
<p>We know it will be challenging and we know it is controversial. But we know it can be done successfully, across the country. Birthing on Country programs can be set up in urban, rural and remote areas. </p>
<p>As Djapirri Mununggirritj also said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>if Indigenous people and non-Indigenous people come together, there is power … We need to create that connection … connection that comes from the grassroots … and I know you around the tables are very very smart people.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>To quote another wise woman, award-winning Aboriginal health worker and Malabam Health Board member Molly Wardaguga from Arnhem Land (who has passed away): “Hey you mob – it’s time to listen.”</p>
<hr>
<p><strong><em>Further reading in this <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/abbott-in-arnhem-land">Abbott in Arnhem Land</a> series:<br>
<a href="https://theconversation.com/welcome-to-my-country-seeing-the-true-beauty-of-life-in-bawaka-31378">Welcome to my Country: seeing the true beauty of life in Bawaka</a><br>
<a href="https://theconversation.com/pm-for-aboriginal-affairs-abbott-faces-his-biggest-hearing-test-31021">‘PM for Aboriginal Affairs’ Abbott faces his biggest hearing test</a><br>
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-7-up-the-revealing-study-tracking-babies-to-adults-27312">Australia’s 7 Up: the revealing study tracking babies to adults</a><br>
<a href="https://theconversation.com/well-connected-indigenous-kids-keen-to-tap-new-ways-to-save-lives-30964">Well-connected Indigenous kids keen to tap new ways to save lives</a><br>
<a href="https://theconversation.com/indigenous-australias-rapid-rise-is-shifting-money-and-votes-26524">Indigenous Australia’s rapid rise is shifting money and votes</a><br>
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-crowded-homes-can-lead-to-empty-schools-in-the-bush-30971">How crowded homes can lead to empty schools in the bush</a><br>
<a href="https://theconversation.com/would-you-risk-losing-your-home-for-a-few-weeks-of-work-30911">Would you risk losing your home for a few weeks of work?</a><br>
<a href="https://theconversation.com/listen-to-your-elders-inviting-aboriginal-parents-back-to-school-31300">Listen to your elders: inviting Aboriginal parents back to school</a><br>
<a href="https://theconversation.com/indigenous-australians-need-a-licence-to-drive-but-also-to-work-31480">Indigenous Australians need a licence to drive, but also to work</a><br>
<a href="https://theconversation.com/keeping-indigenous-teens-in-school-by-reinventing-the-lessons-30960">Keeping Indigenous teens in school by reinventing the lessons</a><br>
<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-can-a-dna-test-reveal-if-youre-an-indigenous-australian-31767">Explainer: Can a DNA test reveal if you’re an Indigenous Australian?</a><br>
<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-indigenous-constitutional-recognition-means-31770">Explainer: what Indigenous constitutional recognition means</a></em></strong></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/31180/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sue Kildea leads a team who have received funding from the NHMRC to conduct an evaluation of an urban model of health system reform called 'Birthing in our Community' - the Birthing on Country urban model. A partnership between the Mater Health Service, the Institute of Urban Indigenous Health and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community Health Service (Brisbane). She has spent many years recommending government do the things suggested in this article. She regularly applies for funding to improve maternal, infant and birthing services for Aboriginal mums and babies. She is employed by the Mater Health Service and the University of Queensland. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Fleur Magick Dennis works for and is affiliated with Gungarrimaa Aboriginal Corporation and Aboriginal Cultural Birthing and Parenting NSW. Gungarrimaa Aboriginal Corporation receives funding from NSW state government and the federal government.</span></em></p>Tony Abbott spent most of this week in North East Arnhem Land, part of his long-held hope “to be not just the Prime Minister but the Prime Minister for Aboriginal Affairs”. In the final of our Abbott in…Sue Kildea, Professor of Midwifery, The University of QueenslandFleur Magick Dennis, Founder and Convener of Aboriginal Cultural Birthing and Parenting NSW; Aboriginal Cultural Healing Educator at Gungarrimaa Aboriginal Corporation; Master of Indigenous Studies Graduate (Southern Cross University) & Currently a Master of Education Student, Deakin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/313782014-09-15T01:39:10Z2014-09-15T01:39:10ZWelcome to my Country: seeing the true beauty of life in Bawaka<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/58725/original/wfq3qdfj-1410396274.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Djapana – sunset – at Bawaka in North-East Arnhem Land.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sarah Wright</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Tony Abbott <a href="https://www.pm.gov.au/media/2014-06-23/visit-north-east-arnhem-land">is spending this week in North East Arnhem Land</a>, part of his <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/federal-election-2013/abbott-calls-for-new-era-of-engagement-with-indigenous-australia-20130810-2rony.html">long-held hope</a> “to be not just the Prime Minister but the Prime Minister for Aboriginal Affairs”. We asked our experts: what stories does the PM need to hear while he’s in the Top End?</em></p>
<blockquote>
<p>When <em>ngapaki</em>, non-Indigenous people, come to Bawaka they see the beauty of the blue sea and the white sand, but they don’t see what really makes our land beautiful. They don’t see the stories, the connections, the patterns, the rhythms, the songlines. – Laklak Burarrwanga</p>
</blockquote>
<p>We are Yolŋu people, from Bawaka in North East Arnhem Land, which is more than 600 kilometres east of Darwin and is down the coast from <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-09-13/abbott-to-camp-in-arnhem-land/5741340">where the Prime Minister is camping this week</a>. </p>
<p>Bawaka is our homeland, our Country. Country means the land, but it means so much more too.</p>
<iframe width="100%" height="500px" frameborder="0" src="https://a.tiles.mapbox.com/v4/editorial-team.jgdfm94i/attribution,zoompan,zoomwheel,geocoder,share.html?access_token=pk.eyJ1IjoiZWRpdG9yaWFsLXRlYW0iLCJhIjoiQ2dCREhsUSJ9.CH7em9Q5WmOSXAy15sPwng"></iframe>
<p><em>Zoom out on the map to see where Bawaka is in northern Australia.</em></p>
<p>For the past eight years, our research group of five Yolŋu (sometimes written as Yolngu) women and three non-Indigenous academics have been working together sharing the Yolŋu women’s knowledge, especially through the women’s <a href="http://www.lirrwitourism.com.au/">tourism business</a> and the book we wrote together, <a href="http://www.allenandunwin.com/default.aspx?page=94&book=9781743313961">Welcome to My Country</a>.</p>
<p>We want visitors to learn from us, so that Indigenous and non-Indigenous people can grow together. We are for unity and for peace. </p>
<p>We are for learning <a href="http://livingknowledge.anu.edu.au/html/educators/07_bothways.htm">both ways</a>. We are for a future where we all learn from each other.</p>
<p>So we invite you now to come with us to Bawaka, to learn a little about what lies beneath the beauty of Bawaka. We invite you, and the Prime Minister, to take off your shoes and walk with us, to feel your feet in the sand and begin to learn. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/58451/original/t72gh3tm-1410172740.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/58451/original/t72gh3tm-1410172740.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/58451/original/t72gh3tm-1410172740.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/58451/original/t72gh3tm-1410172740.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/58451/original/t72gh3tm-1410172740.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/58451/original/t72gh3tm-1410172740.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/58451/original/t72gh3tm-1410172740.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/58451/original/t72gh3tm-1410172740.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The beach at Bawaka.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sandie Suchet-Pearson</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>When <em>ngapaki</em> come to Bawaka, we ask Bawaka Country to welcome you. Bawaka is alive, it talks to us and cares for us. </p>
<p>We welcome you so that the land and the sea, the tides, the currents, the plants, the animals, the winds, the rocks, the songs and the dreams recognise you. </p>
<p>And <em>we</em> are Bawaka Country too, Yolŋu people, our ancestors and our unborn children, with our Yolŋu languages (<em>dhäruk</em>), our Yolŋu knowledge and our Yolŋu Law (<em>Rom</em>). People are Country too. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/58452/original/27359jjv-1410173895.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/58452/original/27359jjv-1410173895.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/58452/original/27359jjv-1410173895.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/58452/original/27359jjv-1410173895.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/58452/original/27359jjv-1410173895.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/58452/original/27359jjv-1410173895.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/58452/original/27359jjv-1410173895.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/58452/original/27359jjv-1410173895.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Laklak gathering <em>gunga</em>, pandanus, for basket weaving.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sandie Suchet-Pearson</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Country will welcome you as long as you respect it, as long as you behave well and care for the land and the nature, care for each other as family, as kin. </p>
<p>Country is everything in balance, everything connected as kin. Country nourishes us, and we nourish Country. We can’t be separated from it. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/58454/original/hqb2zsjv-1410175005.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/58454/original/hqb2zsjv-1410175005.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/58454/original/hqb2zsjv-1410175005.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/58454/original/hqb2zsjv-1410175005.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/58454/original/hqb2zsjv-1410175005.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/58454/original/hqb2zsjv-1410175005.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/58454/original/hqb2zsjv-1410175005.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/58454/original/hqb2zsjv-1410175005.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Cutting up <em>miyapunu</em>, turtle.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Matt Webb</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/58400/original/ynr6sj4h-1410142348.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/58400/original/ynr6sj4h-1410142348.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/58400/original/ynr6sj4h-1410142348.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=909&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/58400/original/ynr6sj4h-1410142348.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=909&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/58400/original/ynr6sj4h-1410142348.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=909&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/58400/original/ynr6sj4h-1410142348.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1143&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/58400/original/ynr6sj4h-1410142348.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1143&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/58400/original/ynr6sj4h-1410142348.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1143&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In our most recent book, Welcome to My Country, we share some of our stories and knowledge of Bawaka.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Allen & Unwin</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Everything at Bawaka has and tells a story. Everything communicates, through its own language and its own Law. </p>
<p>At Bawaka, it is now the season of <em>Rarranhdharr</em>. </p>
<p>It is a hot, dry season, the time of year when your feet burn when you walk on the sand. The fruits are ripening and the <em>warrkarr</em>, the white lily, is in flower. The <em>warrkarr</em> tells us that it is the right time to hunt stingray. It is a bountiful season. Everything is ripening and getting fat. </p>
<p>If we listen to the <em>warrkarr</em>, we know it is time to hunt. Country is communicating with us. We are connected, the fruits, the stingray, our hot feet and the <em>warrkarr</em>. </p>
<p>All these things have their knowledge and their Law. They must be respected. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/58439/original/39xnx5wg-1410161649.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/58439/original/39xnx5wg-1410161649.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/58439/original/39xnx5wg-1410161649.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/58439/original/39xnx5wg-1410161649.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/58439/original/39xnx5wg-1410161649.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/58439/original/39xnx5wg-1410161649.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/58439/original/39xnx5wg-1410161649.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/58439/original/39xnx5wg-1410161649.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Shandi and Shyrell preparing stingray at Bawaka.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sandie Suchet-Pearson</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Everything at Bawaka tells a story, and everything communicates, but we must know how to listen. </p>
<p>Remember, Country can’t be pulled apart and people can’t be separated from Country. </p>
<p>We live on Country, we won’t be treated as if we have no strength, no knowledge, no Law, no language. </p>
<p>Country makes us strong. Country cares, Country nourishes, Country is who we are. We are Yolŋu.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>In the Yolŋu world, we have a library in the land. You can’t destroy it. If you burn it, it grows again. This land is full of more knowledge than you can imagine. – Laklak Burarrwanga</p>
</blockquote>
<hr>
<p><strong><em>Further reading in this <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/abbott-in-arnhem-land">Abbott in Arnhem Land</a> series:<br>
<a href="https://theconversation.com/birthing-on-country-could-deliver-healthier-babies-and-communities-31180">Birthing on Country could deliver healthier babies and communities</a><br>
<a href="https://theconversation.com/pm-for-aboriginal-affairs-abbott-faces-his-biggest-hearing-test-31021">‘PM for Aboriginal Affairs’ Abbott faces his biggest hearing test</a><br>
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-7-up-the-revealing-study-tracking-babies-to-adults-27312">Australia’s 7 Up: the revealing study tracking babies to adults</a><br>
<a href="https://theconversation.com/well-connected-indigenous-kids-keen-to-tap-new-ways-to-save-lives-30964">Well-connected Indigenous kids keen to tap new ways to save lives</a><br>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Laklak Burarrwanga established her family-owned tourism business Bawaka Cultural Experiences and through this business she shares her knowledge with tourists, including government staff in cross-cultural programs. She is an Honorary Associate of the Department of Environment and Geography at Macquarie University and has been working with academics from Macquarie University and the University of Newcastle for nearly eight years. She is a senior knowledge holder in a Australian Research Council-funded project, working with Kate, Sarah and Sandie.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Banbapuy Ganambarr works with Bawaka Cultural Experiences, a successful Yolŋu owned-and-run Indigenous tourism business. She is also a senior knowledge holder in a Australian Research Council-funded project, working with Kate, Sarah and Sandie.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Djawundil Maymuru works with Bawaka Cultural Experiences, a successful Yolŋu owned-and-run Indigenous tourism business. She is also a senior knowledge holder in a Australian Research Council-funded project, working with Kate, Sarah and Sandie.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kate Lloyd receives funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Merrkiyawuy Ganambarr-Stubbs works with Bawaka Cultural Experiences, a successful Yolŋu owned-and-run Indigenous tourism business. She is also a senior knowledge holder in a Australian Research Council-funded project, working with Kate, Sarah and Sandie.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ritjilili Ganambarr works with her family’s successful Yolŋu owned-and-run Indigenous tourism business, Bawaka Cultural Experiences. She is also a senior knowledge holder in a Australian Research Council-funded project, working with Kate, Sarah and Sandie.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sandie Suchet-Pearson receives funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sarah Wright receives funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p>Tony Abbott is spending this week in North East Arnhem Land, part of his long-held hope “to be not just the Prime Minister but the Prime Minister for Aboriginal Affairs”. We asked our experts: what stories…Laklak Burarrwanga, Elder for the Datiwuy people and a caretaker for the Gumatj clan; Bawaka Cultural Experiences; Honorary Associate of the Department of Environment and Geography, Macquarie UniversityBanbapuy Ganambarr, Author, artist, weaver; teacher at Yirrkala school; Bawaka Cultural Experiences; Honorary Associate of the Department of Environment and Geography, Macquarie UniversityDjawundil Maymuru, Bawaka Cultural Experiences and Honorary Associate of the Department of Environment and Geography, Macquarie UniversityKate Lloyd, Senior Lecturer in Human Geography; Director of the Development Studies and Cultural Change Program, Macquarie UniversityMerrkiyawuy Ganambarr-Stubbs, Principal of Yirrkala Community School; Yolŋu woman; Bawaka Cultural Experiences; Honorary Associate of the Department of Environment and Geography , Macquarie UniversityRitjilili Ganambarr, Elder for the Datiwuy people and a caretaker for the Gumatj clan; Bawaka Cultural Experiences; Honorary Associate of the Department of Environment and Geography, Macquarie UniversitySandie Suchet-Pearson, Senior Lecturer in Human Geography, Macquarie UniversitySarah Wright, Senior Lecturer in Human Geography and Development Studies, University of NewcastleLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.