Rirratjingu Aboriginal Corporation (RAC) and the Rirratjingu clan are incredibly proud to announce that two members of the community have been nominated for the Australian of the Year Awards in 2024 as Northern Territory recipients. Witiyana Marika and Yalmay Yunupiŋu are dedicated senior Rirratjingu elders and Aboriginal activists in North East Arnhem Land.
Australians are shortlisted for the award by making a significant contribution to the Australian community and nation. The nominees are highly-respected in their region and work to inspire discussion and change nationally. It is a privilege for our RAC members to be recognised for a prestigious National award.
Guided by the values of the Rirratjingu forefathers, Witiyana and Yalmay work to build a stronger, healthier, and secure future for North East Arnhem Land. They uphold the history, culture, and principles of the wider Yolŋu people in their work. Their achievements have led them to be role models to the communities in the Gove Peninsula region and beyond.
The Australian of the Year awards, sponsored by the National Australia Day Council will be broadcast from a National stage in Canberra on 25th January. RAC staff members will travel to Canberra with Witiyana and Yalmay to support and celebrate their nominations as eminent Australians.
Witiyana Marika
Witiyana Marika - Australian of the Year Awards - 2024 NT Local Hero
Witiyana Marika was born in Yirrkala and is a prominent elder in the Rirratjingu clan. His contribution to both RAC and the community is outstanding. A Director of RAC and RAC business arms, Rirratjingu Mining and Rirratjingu Investments, Witiyana's achievements also include teaching his culture through music and film.
Ceremonial Leader
Witiyana is a valued member of the RAC board and is a role model for our ceremonial program. As a leader of the clan, he conducts traditional Buŋgul for events and ceremonies and teaches songlines to the next generation. The cultural ceremony is a remarkable celebration of music, dance, and ritual that brings the heart and soul of the clan together in a world that is continually changing.
Musician
Beyond his contributions to the local community, Witiyana has found fame across Australia through his music. He is a founding member of the famous rock band, Yothu Yindi who have brought traditional Yolŋu music to the forefront of the industry for decades. Incorporating clan songs of the Yolŋu people, known as manikay, bilma (clapstick instruments), and traditional dances, Yothu Yindu represents the Gove Peninsula on national stages. With hit albums and singles including Treaty, Djapana (Sunset Dreaming), Tribal Voice, and more, the band has been nominated for 12 ARIA Awards and won eight.
Filmmaker
Witiyana has also brought significant awareness and education to broader Australia on the history of massacres and colonial violence against Indigenous people. He was a co-producer, Senior Cultural Advisor, and also starred in the 2020 Australian film, High Ground. The film was directed by Stephen Maxwell who filmed Yothu Yindi's music video. Although fictional, the film is based on true events in the 1930s NT massacres, including Witiyana's own Grandmother's clan. The film took an Aboriginal story to the World's screens and respectfully depicts the historical truth and emotional past of Australia.
Community
The Rirratjingu Elder's achievements have put the Gove Peninsula on the map. It is an honour to watch him gain well-deserved recognition at the Australian of the Year awards. Witiyana is a generous, positive, and inclusive clan member who treats every person with respect and integrity. His cultural knowledge is invaluable to RAC and he is always a huge supporter of our work for the communities. He has been a local hero in our eyes for decades and will remain a local hero for years to come after the Australian of the Year awards.
I wish to carry on my father’s legacy of protecting this country and our culture, and sharing
Yolŋu culture with the world.
We want our voice to be heard, because our culture, language and people have been on this
land since time immemorial and we continue to survive until now.
Our language and culture is what makes us people, and I want to ensure that the next
generation can stand their ground and continue practicing their culture and continue this
legacy.
Between touring the world with Yothu Yindi, making films, and writing books I have lived my
entire life in Yirrkala and have seen the fight that my people have been fighting.
In my culture, things are done differently. We are a spiritual people. Without my culture, I
would be lost. I would be no one, just a piece of paper. Still and lifeless.
I want to make sure that this continues until long after I’m gone.
Witiyana Marika
Yalmay Yunupiŋu
Yalmay Yunupiŋu - Australian of the Year Awards - 2024 NT Senior Australian
Yalmay Yunupiŋu is one of the Northern Territory recipients of the Senior Australian of the Year award. Yet, her work for Aboriginal education in the Gove Peninsula can resonate with Indigenous people across all Australia. She has been a significant and prominent Rirratjingu clan leader in North East Arnhem Land for decades. Most notably, she has forged changes to the region's education program through her integrity and commitment to the Yolŋu language and culture.
Linguist
Yalmay's exceptional career started with a tireless dedication to translating Dr Seuss's books into Yolŋu Matha language for the community library. It has always been important for Yalmay to pass on the historic and cultural language to children. Her goal was for young Australian students to feel represented in their education.
Teacher
Following the translations, Yalmay qualified as a teacher, along with her Yothu Yindi famous husband, Dr Mandawuy Yunupiŋu. Together they championed the first bilingual curriculum for Yirrkala Bilingual School.
Over four decades, Yalmay became the "mother of Yirrkala School". She encouraged children to have self-worth and confidence in their culture. Yalmay introduced the "Garma Curriculum", which is a Yolŋu philosophy and teaches Yolŋu history, knowledge, and culture. Her devotion even led her to speak up against a Labour Government policy in 2009. It stated that all Northern Territory schools should teach only English for the first four hours. With the school's support, she stood firm. The Yirrkala bilingual school remained a proud champion of Indigenous Bilingual curriculums.
In 2005, Yalmay received the Teacher of Excellence award from the Northern Territory Department of Education. She was also an Honorary University Fellow at Charles Darwin University. Her contribution to the region's education goes beyond excellence, it touches the heart of the community. It inspires the next generation to represent and celebrate their culture in a modern world.
Traditional Healing
Even though she retired from the school in 2023, Yalmay's contribution to the community is far from over. She is a respected elder with an immense amount of knowledge. She continues to share this through consultations, projects, and traditional bush medicine healing.
Community
She is an outstanding role model to the Rirratjingu clan and the wider Yolŋu communities, especially to the next generation of women. Throughout all her achievements, Yalmay has remained a generous, funny, and kind person who RAC and all clan members respect. Beyond the Australian of the Year awards, her educational contributions will remain close to our hearts. We know it will continue to inspire for decades to come.
My birth name Marika means lightning and thunder. So when I speak to people it’s with a quiet lightning and thunder called Murradakthun. This is my personality, how I would express myself.
Education and the Yirrkala Bilingual School have always been my passion, and my most treasured accomplishment in life, besides my family and community.
I might have retired from school, but I haven’t stopped wanting to educate people to see the benefit in both worlds way of working. Yolŋu ga Balanda education.
Goŋ-Djambutj. Yolŋu healing. Ancient bush medicine. Ancient bush food. To heal people.
It’s time Australia learns about this.
Yalmay Yunupiŋu
Recognition for the Rirratjingu Community
The well-earned nominations for the Australian of the Year awards shine a light on Witiyana and Yalmay's clan. Rirratjingu has a steep history of contributing to Indigenous Australian success.
The Rirratjingu forefathers, in particular Roy Marika and Milirrpum Marika, are known for the birth of Australian Lands Rights by creating the first Bark Petitions in 1963. Their dedication to gaining the rights to their traditional land led to the official Aboriginal Lands Rights Act in 1976. It gave power and strength to all Aboriginal clans across Australia and is still seeing benefits decades later.
Today, the Rirratjingu clan is continually guided by their forefather's vision, values, and devotion:
to hold tightly to our culture and tradition,
to be firm and strong for our land and our culture
to protect and care for our people, and
to stay united and stand tall.
Witiyana Marika and Yalmay Yunupiŋu bring an immense amount of pride to the Rirratjingu clan. They represent the principles and spirit of all clan members and it is amazing to watch the Yolŋu community touch the heart of the National Australia Day council and the public. We are excited to see what these awards will inspire our young people to achieve in North East Arnhem Land. RAC will continue to celebrate Witiyana and Yalmay as local heroes in the community.
How to follow the Australian of the Year Awards Show
The Australian of the Year Awards will be broadcast from the National Arboretum in Canberra on ABCTV and ABC iview on 25th January 2024 at 7:30pm,. If you miss the live stream, you will be able to watch on catch-up on ABC iview.
It will be an honour for RAC to attend the awards with our Rirratjingu elders nominated. We will celebrate them and keep the community informed on our social media pages. To keep up to date and support our local heroes, follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Linkedin.
