Inside Australia's remote indigenous community of Yirrkala
- Published
This week, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott is delivering on an election promise and spending a few days in North East Arnhem Land living and working alongside the Yolngu indigenous people. He will be spending a lot of the week in Yirrkala, one of Australia’s most remote communities and a stronghold of aboriginal culture. (Text and images by Hamish Simpson and Juliet Perry)
Yirrkala and its surrounding communities are situated in the north-east of the Northern Territory on the Gove Peninsula. They benefit from a spectacular natural setting, a year-round tropical climate and a wealth of flora and fauna.
The striking coastline is completely undeveloped, partially due to the dangers that lurk beneath.
The Methodist Church of Australasia established a mission in Yirrkala in 1935. Over the decades that followed members of the 13 clans that owned land in the surrounding area were gradually drawn into the mission. Currently Christianity has a strong presence in the community. Church turnouts are high and a Christian belief system is common currency.
Ancient spiritual practices still very much have their place, however. Burials, marriages and many other rituals continue to sit firmly within the sacred world of Yolngu spirits and deities. These rituals serve as a way of passing down the age-old spiritual understanding to future generations.
Buku-Larrnggay Mulka Centre is an indigenous community-controlled art centre in Yirrkala. "Buku-Larrnggay", meaning "the feeling on your face as it is struck by the first rays of the sun", and "Mulka", "a sacred but public ceremony". Art from the Yirrkala region has developed an appreciative audience since the township was founded in 1935. Now the centre supports a number of award-winning local artists as they exhibit in Australia’s top national museums and abroad.
"The Yolngu people are all capable and entitled to express their sacred identity through art," says the centre. The artists are men and women of all ages from both Yirrkala and approximately 25 homeland centres within a radius of 200 kilometres.
The late Dr Yunupingu (frontman of popular band Yothu Yindi) was Australia's first indigenous headmaster here at Yirrkala. Unusually, the school employs bilingual education methods and teaches in both Yolngu Matha and English in an effort to keep local culture strong and increase attendance. Various other foundations and programs work with the school towards the same goal.
The sport and recreation centre in Yirrkala hosts a number of activities for young people within the Yolngu community. Evening basketball games, after-school football, hip-hop dancing and the occasional disco all feature in a calendar that aims to keep kids healthy and engaged.
A lot of the children in the community have limitless potential within the worlds of sport, art and music, but overcoming some of the challenges associated with community life can be difficult.
The local Australian Rules football league cup is hotly contested and the season is keenly - some would say devoutly - followed by the whole community. Tense games of a high athletic standard play out every weekend to large crowds.
This year the final was between Gopu and Nguykal. "Nguykal" means "kingfish", an ancestral totem within Yolngu culture. Team loyalties run deep. Alliances are firmly connected to clan, family and different communities in the area. Tensions can run high on finals day with occasional over-spills off the field and into the packed sidelines.
This year's winners, Nguykal, ended up local heroes - the players' extended families celebrated in the neighbouring town Nhulunbuy's oval. The party was due to go on for the entire weekend, coinciding with Tony Abbott's much-anticipated arrival in this remote corner of North East Arnhem Land.