Reconciliation
"I would like to share my culture and my knowledge with everyone regardless of who they are and where they come from. This is my gesture of friendship and goodwill which I hope will lead to better understandings between Balanda and Yolngu (Aboriginal people from North East Arnhem Land).
This is my part in the Reconciliation process.
In return, I hope you will gain insights into my people's life and our struggles...
I hope you will respect our law, our culture, and our way of life - autonomy and independence. My family and I wish to live a life that we have control of... this is why we are running this business by ourselves, instead of relying on other people to do it for us."
Djalu Gurruwiwi, 2009
*****
Djalu Gurruwiwi, 2009
- Adjustment Movement in Arnhem Land - "An in-depth account of the historically important Adjustment Movement of Elcho Island in Arnhem Land. Documents the challenges and struggles arising from the conflicts between Yolngu and outsider cultures, with the display of secret sacred objects at a public memorial the end result. Mentions Monyu, father of Djalu Gurruwiwi."
The Battle of Blue Mud Bay
The story of the Dutch and the Yolngu along the coast of NE Arnhem Land, when the Dutch ship Arnhem landed in Blue Mud Bay in 1623.
"While there are very few records about these events in the Dutch archives, and no written historical account, the meeting has a significant presence in Aboriginal oral accounts of their pre-colonial history, and offers an insight into Indigenous resistance against the first white men to set foot on Australian shores."
click > The Battle of Blue Mud Bay 7 August 2005 Audio from:www.abc.net.au/rn/hindsight/.../2544961.htm
******************************************
............................................................... On the Reconciliation Process; In-between the Netherlands and the Aboriginal Nations Aurukun and Yolngu Cor van Keuk; Wititj custodian
...............................................................
Plea to the Dutch Government for Reconciliation between the Netherlands and the Yolngu people of NE Arnhem Land Amsterdam, 090405; Cor van Keuk <<<click
|
"To all of you who want to come to my land to learn, I say, “welcome, come to my land.” From here in Australia and from overseas. Here, the didjeridu is a gift for all of you, like a gift making the way for others. Okay. Because everyone on the non-Aboriginal side has gifts. And on the Yolngu side, there's gifts. See, it's like that. Yes, all of you come.
And non-Aboriginals will join with us. Yes, good."
George Burarrwanga - Yolngu rock'n'roll man (1957 - 2007)
"My show sends out many messages," he says. "White fellas and black fellas have got to come together in a new era but they can't do that until they know the truth of the past." Burarrwanga says the world must understand that Aboriginal people are "human beings on this planet - we are people who will not be pushed around".
During the multilingual show ... Burarrwanga appeared near naked on stage carrying a spear and woomera. He told the story of his ancestral "grandfather", who heroically repels a landing party from a Dutch ship, slapping away musket balls fired at him and eventually spearing three men with one spear. Members of his family could be seen singing and dancing in a multi-media backdrop produced by video artist Tony Collins. Artistic director Malcolm Blaylock says this year's Darwin Festival [2005] will have a strong emphasis on the cultures of Aborigines and Indonesians. The strong historical connections between the Yolngu people of Arnhem Land and the Makassarese people of Indonesia were revived when dancers from the cultures performed on an open-air stage on August 15 2005." from: www.theage.com.au/news/music/yolngu-rocknroll-man/2005/07/25/
___________________________________ 
|
From: Interview with Dutch Ambassador Willem Andreae, Garma 2010
"Interviewer: Do we know much about the Arnhem and its captain?
Ambassador Willem Andreae: Yes, we know a little bit. But mainly in the negative. And that is that the ship came with another Dutch ship and the other ship was the leading ship, so to say. But the Arnhem split of because it was very badly damaged in a storm and had run aground a number of times and wanted to go back home through the safest and the fastest way, which was not the way the other ship was planning to go back. So in the middle of the night in the month of May 1623 they lifted anchor and disappeared into the dark. And hit the western coast, literally, of the gulf of Carpenteria, which is Arnhem Land.
I: Did they have to stay here for any time. To repair the boat or...?
WA: Well, we don't know. We don't know what happened... This ship didn't leave any logbook, any journal. That may have to do because they split of from the other boat, but in the meantime they charted the whole coast here and those charts have been used by other Dutch explorers that came after, like well-known people like Abel Tasman for instance.
I: So could you give us the history of those different visits to Arnhem Land.
WA: ... we don't know much about what happened. Only the Arnhem got back safely in the month of June 1623. But what happened really in that month of May 1623 we don't know. And one of the things that I would like to know more about is perhaps on the side of the Yolngu people that somebody would be able to tell me if they have some more information on this. I know that there are certain rumors on a clash between the Dutch and the Yolngu in Blue Mud Bay, but I've verified this. I've talked to a number of people, including people from the Blue Mud Bay area, and they all tell me that to the extent there were clashes this was not between the Yolngu and the Dutch, but this was between the Yolngu and the crew of Flinders. ...
I: Does the Dutch government want to make a special friendship with the Yolngu as a result of this early contact?
WA: Well, in the year 2006 we commemorated 400 years of the first Dutch making landfall and the first contacts between the Dutch and the population of Australia. We reconciled with the people in Weipa, across the Weipa, in Cape York. We also reconciled with the people in Geraldton. And we reconciled with the people on the Tiwi Islands. But it appeared that we overlooked the Yolngu, until I came here today and... Well, to the extent there is a need for reconciliation, we will have reconciliation. If there is no need, we'll just have fun.
I: Well, thank you very much. And I hope this Garma festival leads you to find some more information about the Arnhem's visit to Arnhem Land.
WA: I dearly hope so. And if anybody can help us out with information on these first contacts between the Dutch and the Yolngu, please let me know.
I: Thank you."...
Click >>> Resources: Arnhem Land: Interview with the Dutch Ambassador at GARMA - 06 August 2010, audio >>>transcript
from Indigenous Stock Exchange: Resources: www.isx.org.au/resources/YolnguBusiness/bydate_index.html
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Visit Dutch Ambassador to Garma Festival
'...Close to 400 years of contact between the Netherlands and the people of Arnhem Land provide the basis for an arts project aimed at helping the young women of the region develop skills to provide livelihoods and address the high incidence of youth suicide. ...
Netherlands ambassador to Australia Willem Andreae made the announcement while attending the Garma Festival underway in Arnhem Land where the theme for this year’s event is ‘Indigenous Education and Training’.
“My presence at the Garma Festival is to underscore the historic relationship the Netherlands has with the people in Arnhemland. The Garma Festival is one of Australia’s most significant events to celebrate Indigneous culture. This year, the focus is on Indigenous education and training. Hence, our decision to finance this arts project with ICV and express our support for the people of Arnhem Land.”
...Low self esteem among young Aboriginal people is a key factor leading to rates of Indigenous suicide estimated to be two to three times that of the non-Indigenous population." ...
From: Home - Netherlands Missions <<< Newsflash | 9 August 2010 - www.netherlands.org.au/ -
WILLEM JANSZOON AND THE DUTCH EXPLORATION OF AUSTRALIA The Anglocentric claim that Captain Cook "discovered" Australia... obscures the less sensational fact that VOC mariners engaged in deliberate and accurate exploration of Australia's northern, western and southern coasts (plus Tasmania). In fact, Willem Janszoon (Duyfken; 1606) was sent by the VOC on a deliberate voyage of exploration which he carried out with great skill and courage. Though he was on the Cape York coast during the northwest monsoon, the stormy wet-season, when it was a dangerous lee shore, he produced a detailed chart easily reconcilable with a modern chart and better than anything produced until the 19th century... It was speculated that King Solomon's fabled gold mines were there— that like Guinea in west Africa it would be a source of much gold — that it would be a "new Guinea". That was the unknown Nova Guinea that Janszoon was sent to search for and found. This was the first of the deliberate, planned, European invasions of Australia, ordered by the Dutch East India Company. backgroundinformation from VOC Historical Society
...............................................................
|
'Netherlands ambassador to Australia Willem Andreae pictured making the presentation to Yothu Yindi Foundation Chair Galarrwuy Yunupingu while attending Garma underway from August 6th – 10th in Arnhem Land.' --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------MORE DUTCH / AUSTRALIAN RECONCILIATION -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> ---------------------- TIWI <<< click''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' ----------------- AURUKUN <<< click''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' BANDJULANG <<< click''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''"""""""""""""""""" """"""""""""""""""""""""" """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
|
...............................................................
Islam in Indigenous Australia:
The Wurramu ceremony narrates the story of Walitha'walitha ...
"...(R)eligious or spiritual influence of ‘Macassans’ on Aborigines from Elcho Island (in north-east Arnhem Land) is evident by their adoption of a ‘Dreaming’ creation figure, Walitha’walitha, also known as Allah (McIntosh, ‘Islam’ 53). According to David Burrumarra, the late leader of the Warramiri clan of Elcho Island, one law united Aborigines and ‘Macassans’ at the beginning of time (McIntosh, ‘Islam’ 55). Each was under the direction of an Arnhem Land based creational being named Birrinydji - who was in the image of an all-powerful boat captain – but Aborigines turned their backs on this law, losing everything and allowing Wurramu (an evil figure) to enter their lives. The foregoing of the law of Birrinydji explains why only ‘Macassans’ (and now Europeans) enjoy the wealth once also shared by Aboriginal people. The Wurramu ceremony – still performed regularly in Arnhem Land today, particularly during funerals – narrates the story of Walitha’walitha (Allah) coming to earth to restore peace and harmony so that everyone can share in the wealth of the land. According to anthropologist Ian McIntosh: ‘[T]he religion of the ['Macassan'] visitors, that of Islam, became the vehicle of an Aboriginal Dreaming in which there are visions of a return to inter-racial harmony’ (McIntosh, ‘Allah’ 137).
... There is much evidence of Islamic influence in Yolngu belief in Walitha’walitha and in aspects of particular mortuary rituals, but it is not appropriate to say that Aborigines in north-east Arnhem Land were or are followers of Islam (McIntosh, ‘Islam’ 76). ‘Belief in Walitha’walitha is not seen to be the same as belief in the religion of the ['Macassan'] Other’ (McIntosh, ‘Allah’ 137). Rather, like other aspects of ‘Macassan’ material culture and social institutions utilised by coastal Aborigines, aspects of Islam were creatively adapted to suit their own needs.
The ability of Indigenous communities to maintain their ongoing connections with ‘Macassan’ social, material and spiritual culture is especially pertinent when one considers the strident attempts made by white government officials to prevent these cross-cultural encounters...."
Islam in Indigenous Australia: Historic Relic or C - <<< Click for link
from: www.politicsandculture.org/.../islam-in-indigenous-australia-historic-relic-or-
************************************************************************************
Heavenly Sisters/ Angels of Arnhem Land
New songs from the studio of life. "If you listen you will hear dogs barking, children playing, the answer and call of the Yolngu language. No sterile recording studio here. People come and go from their temporary accomodation close to the Gove Aluminium refinery. Midst the chaos and uncertainty, the beautiful purity and spirit of the Galpu women, striving for a better life for their children and their families, rings out. ... They want their music to be heard and to bring peace to the world and their own community. They would also like the proceeds from the sale of their music to go back to their children and to help re-establish the Galpu clan back on their sacred homelands at Gikal. All of the women are members of Gawurr Praise - the Christian Fellowship of the Galpu clan of East Arnhem Land - dedicated to the spiritual uplift of their community." from: Indigenous Stock Exchange: Enterprises - Heavenly Sisters/ Angels ... -
Recording by Heavenly Sisters/Angels of Arnhem Land. Angels of Arnhem Land - Late Night Live - 16 September 2009 <<< Click from: www.abc.net.au |
Syncretism Or Sychronicity?
Remapping The Yolngu Feeling Of Place as a result of Christianity "For Christian Yolngu in Arnhem Land visions shape the imagined, embodied and affective experiences of places of danger, illness, healing and general wellbeing. In this paper, I argue that Yolngu have consistently constructed their Christian faith through visions stemming from an ancestral aesthetic embodied in the environment. As a result, religious ideology and social action have sometimes been seen as syncretic, raising questions about how Yolngu understand and experience Christian conversion, encounter and revelation. I argue that Yolngu spiritual experiences emerge from the sentiments associated with ancestral places that act as emotive sites for remapping an ancestral aesthetic as Christian experience. The resultant emotional and spiritual synchronicity underlies a Yolngu Christianity that is corporeal and abstracted, negotiated and strategic, practical and experiential." Article; Fiona Magowan, 25 November 2009
|
