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Yolŋu Baḻandi-waṯaŋumirr

Yolŋu with ancestral connections

In 2002, the Yolŋu researchers worked with the Centre for Indigenous Natural and Cultural Resource Management at Northern Territory University (now Charles Darwin University) and the Yalu’ Marŋgithinyaraw Nurturing Centre at Galiwin’ku to make clear and bed down the Yolŋu philosophy which would underpin the Yalu’ Centre’s work within the community. For nurturing work to be conducted properly, the interconnectedness of all Yolŋu must be understood and engaged.

In this paper, Garŋgulkpuy (dec in 2023) uses the example of her own Wangurri bäpurru to describe the interconnections among different bäpurru groups. Using the metaphor of strong, thick ropes (baḻandi) she points out the ties through songs, through the balance of saltwater and freshwater, of meaty foods and carbohydrates, of mother and child.

Sitting on a beach, a Wangurri Yolŋu ‘deliberately uses’ the Wangurri songs to tell her where she is, what she is doing, what food she will be collecting, what tools she will be using, and what the menfolk will be doing when hunting turtle. ‘Our song tells us that what we perceive is a function of our ancestral connections’. Other bäpurru use their own songs for their own ways of seeing themselves in the world.

Even the water in our Wangurri brains has a special sacred name which ensures that Wangurri people’s minds are protected and respected. Other groups have other names for their sacred minds.

Yolŋu Baḻandi-waṯaŋumirr

by Joanne Garŋgulkpuy

Yalu’ Marŋgithinyaraw, Galiwin’ku

Language: Dhuwal

2002

Translations and notes by Michael Christie and Garŋgulkpuy, Faculty of Indigenous Research and Education, Northern Territory University

This paper contributes to research into Indigenous Governance being conducted by the Yalu’ Marŋgithinyaraw Research Group at Galiwin’ku, and the Centre for Indigenous Natural and Cultural Resource Management at the Faculty of Indigenous Research and Education, Northern Territory University. It deals with the links between Yolŋu identity – through ancestral songs and connections – and the harvesting of resources.

The first column contains the original essay by Garŋgulkpuy written as part of her study in 2002. The second and third columns provide literal and free translations by Michael Christie and Garŋgulkpuy.

Outline:

1 Introduction. Yolŋu are distributed in distinct groups knowing their lives through ancestral songs etc.

2 Yolŋu from both the freshwater country and the saltwater country have the full balance of carbohydrate and meat food through their individual skills and resources, and through sharing.

3 Our Wangurri song teaches Wangurri people how we should live our daily lives, as well as how we should see our world.

4 It is our affiliation to particular groups and their affiliations to the natural and cultural world – places, species, and practices – which drives our knowledge and our and our behaviour.

5 Within each group we have a particular way of talking about our collective knowledge as a clan, and we can see how that helps knowledgeable Yolŋu keep the peace by directing people to consider themselves in terms of their ancestral affiliations.

6 Within the mother-child clan relationship (yothu-yindi) our clan-based mind-sets show us how to behave responsibly as children/caretakers and as mothers (like using peaceful Yirritja seawater for sorting out problems for our shark-like Dhuwa mother’s clan)

7 All Yolŋu groups have names to link their minds into ancestral practice, in every aspect of everyday life from hunting to politicking, within and between Even when Yolngu have passed away, our bodies are still sacred objects belonging to our own groups.

Yolŋu dhäruk Literal translation English translation
1
Yolŋu buku-ḻiwmaram dhuwal wäŋaŋur gan mala-bunhamin[1]. Romŋur, ga bukmak limurr ŋuthar marrtjin, ga marŋgithin marrtjin romgu limurruŋgalaŋaw. Yolŋu face-round this land were clangroup- creating1 inside the law, and all we grew up, and went learning law which belongs to us. Yolŋu from all around this country have been giving life to new generations within the law, and we all grew up, and learnt our law.
Ŋanapurrnydja dhuwal Yolŋu Australiapuynydja mala- barrkuwatjkunhawuy[2] dhuwandja Northern Territory-ŋurnydja. We are Yolŋu of Australia in various distinct groups here in the Northern Territory. We are Aboriginal people of Australia distributed in distinct groups here in the Northern Territory.
Napurrnydja Yolŋuny ŋuthar ga marŋgithin marrtjin napurr dhäwuw malaŋuw märranharaw buŋgulŋur, manikayŋur, buku-ḻupŋur, milkarriŋur[3] ga dharrwa bulu. We Yolŋu grew and became knowing we went getting stories from ceremony, song, cleansing ceremony, keening, and much else. We Yolŋu people grew up and we learnt the various stories, we got them from the ceremonies, and the ancestral songs, from the mortuary rites, from the keening, and from many other sources.
Dhiyaŋ ŋunhi dhäwuy malaŋuy ga mel-ḻakaram djäma mala, napurr dhu djäma räl-gäma[4] ḏiltjilil ga bala raŋilil. These those different stories, reveal activities, we will implement and carry our räl to the bush and to the beach. These very stories reveal the work of our day to day life, and we practise them as we carry our knowledge, confidence and skills into the bush and on to the beach.
2
Manymak! Yolŋu moṉukpuy, napurr ŋuli ḻakaranhamirr djambatj[5] bili napurr dhu märram ŋatha ŋunha ḏamurruŋ’ŋur, matha-yal’ ga ŋunha ḏiltjiŋurnydja murnyaŋ’[6]nha. Good. People of the saltwater, we always speak of ourselves as djambatj. because we will get food from the salt, tongue relaxers, and there in the bush, starchy, filling food. Okay, we  saltwater Yolŋu, call ourselves good hunters because we can get meats from the sea, and fruit and vegetable from the bush.
Wiripuny Yolŋunha bala gapu-raypinyŋur ga nhina. Ḻukany walal ŋuli marrtji ŋarirriny,  bitjan bili nhakun napurr marrtji ŋuli ḻuka. Bili walal ŋuli ḻakaram walalaŋguwuy matha-yal’ ga murnyaŋ’ manikaykurr ga buŋgulkurr bitjan bili nhakun napurr moṉukpuyyu. Other Yolŋu there away by freshwater are sitting. They always eat fish, in the same way as we always eat. Because they always speak their own tongue relaxers and fillers, through song and ceremony just as we of the salt water. Other Yolŋu belong to freshwater country, They eat fish just like we saltwater people do. Because they always sing of their own meat and vegetable foods in their own songs and ceremonies, just as we saltwater people do.
Yolŋunydja rom ga bitjan waŋa gam’: Ŋunhi dhu Yolŋu djambatj marrtji ḏuwaṯthun, märram yan ŋayi dhu matha-yal’ ḏiltjiŋurnydja, balanya nhakun gurrumaṯtji, weṯi, djanda ga minhala ga dharrwa bulu. Yolŋu law is saying this: when a djambatj Yolŋu will go up, he will easily obtain tongue- coolers in the bush, like for example goose, wallaby, goanna, tortoise and much else. Yolŋu custom says: If a good hunter goes into the bush, he can get meat like goose, wallaby, goanna, tortoise and many other things.
Ga gapu raypinybuyyu Yolŋuy dhu märram yän, nhä malaŋunha gapuy moṉukthu ga ŋayatham, ŋunhiyiny ŋuli räl-gurrupanmirra. And the fresh water Yolŋu will always get, whatever things that salt water is holding,  that  it is which always give räl reciprocally. And the freshwater Yolŋu will still get some of those things which the salt water holds, because the work and the resources are shared around.
3
Manymak. Yirritjay Yolŋuy dhu manikay ḏar’ṯaryun, ḻakaram ŋayi dhu ‘Yolŋuny Wurarrnha ŋayi dhu ga nhäma raŋi Djältji, Watjpalala, Gäwunu, ga Mänurr[7]ŋayi dhu ŋorra ŋunhiyiny dharrwa dhu matha-yal’ ḻakaram ga märram napurr dhu. Good. Yirritja Yolŋu will sing a song, he will tell: ‘Yolŋu Wurarr he will be seeing the beach Djältji, Watjpalala, Gäwunu, ga Mänurr it will be lying’, that one will be telling many tongue-coolers, and we will get it. Okay, and when a Yirritja person sings, they might sing for example, “That Wurarr group is going to see the long open beach Djältji, Watjpalala, Gäwunu, and Mänurr lying there”, that implies that there is a  lot  of good meaty food there, and we will gather it successfully.
Ŋunha ŋayi dhu warryundja marrtji warrawuku[8] räl-marrtji ŋayi dhu djuḻkumuw. There he will pull along a warrawuku paperbark raft räl go he will for cockles. Maybe s/he is dragging along a warrawuku, the ancestral Wangurri paperbark raft, piled up with cockle shells.
Ŋunha bäydhi ŋayi dhu rurraŋ’thun gathulny’tja dharpaw goḏu maypalmirriw[9] There alternatively he will search through the mangroves for a tree with mangrove worms. Or maybe hunting through the mangroves for a tree which we would call goḏu-maypalmirr (because we refer to it in a specially respectful way).
Ŋuruŋiyi manikayyu ŋuli dhunupamirriyam Yolŋuny djambatj ga räl-mirriyam ŋunhi ŋayi dhu ḻarrum matha-yal’wu yuwalkkum yän, miyalknhany yolŋuny ŋuli walal ḻakaram räl-ḏumurrnha ŋunhi ŋayi dhu dharrwakumany maypalnydja. That song will make straight the djambatj Yolŋu, and give him räl, if he should look for tongue-coolers truly only, of a woman they would say big-räl if she will make many the shellfish. That Wangurri (Yirritja) song makes clear what the Yolŋu hunter  is  to do, and prepares him for his search for the best and most  efficient source of meat. And women are also called räl-ḏumurr if they  have for example collected a lot of shellfish.
Balanya nhakun ŋäṉḏiy[10] walal ŋuli manikay miyaman ga ḻakaram walalaŋguwuy djambatj miyapunuw, yurr ŋurruŋuny walal ŋuli ŋäthilmirriyam, rawu, ga ḻuŋarrinynha, ga ]aku walalaŋ yäkumirr mala Wuwarku, Bultjimarra, Daymirriny. Like those mothers, they always sing a song and tell of their own djambatj turtle hunter, but first they will prepare the rope, and the harpoon and their canoes with names Wuwarku, Bultjimarra, Daymirri. In the same way, my mothers’ people always sing the song, and tell the stories of their own good hunters, for turtle. They have properly prepared the rope and the harpoon and their canoes which have their own particular clan- affiliated names, like Wuwarku, Bultjimarra, Daymirri.
Miyaman walal dhu manikaynydja, dhunupayam[11]] marrtji walal dhu rom wiripuwal Yolŋuwal, nhaltjan dhu miyapunuw marrtji. They will sing a song, make straight they will, the custom/law for other Yolŋu, how they will go for turtle. They sing their own ancestral song, and it shows them the way ahead, all their different styles, how they should go out for the turtle hunt.
4
Romdja manikaynydja walalaŋ, ŋäṉḏipuluw[12] ga wakupuluw ga gurrkurrnydja djämany mala bukmakkun Yolŋuw. The law their song, of the mother's mob, and children's mob, and the connections work for all Yolŋu. The law which is in their own song, is also for their mothers' people and their (sisters') children's people, and so it makes connections through kinship to all the other various groups of Yolŋu.
Ga nhinany napurr ga dhuwal malany, Yirritja ga Dhuwa, ga dhiyaŋ napurr ga mala-bunhamirrnydja. And sitting here are we Yolŋu, Yirritja and Dhuwa, and by means of this we are having new generations of our children. So we live as groups, Yirritja and Dhuwa, and through this, we continue to give life to new generations.
Ŋunha  wäŋay-ŋarakay ga ŋayatham mulmu, guṉḏa, warrakan, dharpa, munatha, gapu, mala- barrkuwatjkunhawuy, ḏiltjilil,  ṉinydjiyalil, baralalil, raŋilil ga ŋunha djinawan gapuŋura, mala barrkuwatjkunhawuy Yirritjalil ga Dhuwalil, bili napurr ŋuli balyunmirr[13] ŋunhiwili malaŋulil. The land-bone holds grass, rocks, meat, trees, earth, water, separated into groups, into  the bush, on to the saltpans, to the sand hills, to the beaches, and there inside the water, separated into distinct groups to both Yirritja and Dhuwa, because we create our totemic identities to these different things. The land holds plants, rocks, animals, trees, sand, water all over the place, in the bush, on the plains, the hills, the beaches and underneath the sea, each belonging to particular Yirritja and Dhuwa peoples, and our Yolŋu identity is committed to those various things as totems.
Yurr ŋunhiyin ŋunhi räl-gurrupanamirrnydja djäma ŋayi dhuwali yolŋuy nhaltjan napurr dhu nhina maranhu-gäma, ga gurrupanmirr. So exactly there is the work of sharing skill/resources s/he that yolŋu, how we will sit, bring räl, and give to each other. And therein lies the work of sharing for each person, how we will continue to collect food, and share it.
Dhuwal napurr ŋuli dhawaṯthundja gäna, ga ŋuthandja  napurr marrtji ŋuli Yolŋuwal malaŋuwal. Here we come out alone, and yet we grow inside various Yolŋu groups. We are born alone, but we grow up in specific Yolŋu ancestral groupings.
Birrka’yunaraw[14] djämawunydja napurruŋ ga barrkuwatj malaw ga malaw. To justify our work, is separate for groups and for groups. Our understanding of our actions is individual to our particular groups.
5
Balanya nhakun Wangurri Yolŋu dhuwal napurr dhu ḻakaranhamirr 'Gayilinydjil', muḻkurr[15]. Like for example Wangurri Yolŋu here we call ourselves Gayilinydjil, heads. For example, we Wangurri clan Yolŋu, we call our minds, our 'Gayilinydjil'.
Ŋunhi napurr dhu marilil gulŋiyirr ga walal dhu napurruny muḻkurr wutthun; walal dhu wiripuy mala ḻakaranhamirr bitjan gam': 'Ŋunha Gayilinydjil walal ŋanya nhäŋalnydja'. When we will enter into trouble, and they will hit our heads, they will the others say to themselves like this: 'There they saw her Gayilinydjil'. If we got into a fight, and someone hits us on the head, then people will say of us: 'They have seen her Gayilinydjil'.
Dhuwandja dhäruk ŋunha ŋayi dhu Yolŋuy galkikum märryu- ḏapmaram.[16] This speech that he will Yolŋu bring close, by faith-clench. By speaking that way a Yolŋu can work  towards a peaceful solution which keeps everyone united, tied together by goodfaith, trust and confidence.
Yaka ŋayi dhu waŋa bitjandja gam! 'Ŋunha muḻkurr bakthurr' Ŋunhi yäku marraṉan' Ŋayi dhu Yolŋun galŋa-marimirriyirr. He will not say this: 'That head broke'.That name provocative. S/he will that Yolŋu skin-become-ready-for- fight. They are not going to say: 'She got bashed in the head'. That would be asking for trouble. People could get really angry.
Ga bukmakku Yolŋuw dhuwal romdja, bäpurruw, bäpurruw. And for all Yolŋu this law, for tribe for  tribe. This principle applies to all Yolŋu groups.
Djämawunydja romgu napurr dhu märra'marranhamirr napurruŋguwuy ṉurrku birrka’yunawuy bala wäŋalil ŋarakalil, nhaliy ŋunhiyi bili napurruŋ[17] dhu roŋiyirr buṉḏurr[18]nydja balayi bili wäŋalil. For work of the  law we will gather our heads for testing towards the land bone, how that very thing of ours will  return as sacred name to that very place. To make our law work, we have to bring our heads back to thinking about our ancestral land, using those sacred ancestral names which take us back each to our own place.
Balanya napurruŋ dhuwal djämany dhiyaŋ Gomuḻuy[19] ga ḻakaram, Yolŋuw Yirritjawnydja. For example for us this work the Heron is speaking, for Yirritja Yolŋu. For example the Heron demonstrates that same principle for us Yolŋu of the Yirritja moiety.

Originally published with authors permission at Yolŋu Aboriginal Consultants Initiative  https://www.cdu.edu.au/centres/yaci/resources.html

  1. from mala-buma (lit: group-make/create) to procreate. Reflexive form mala-bunhamirr - procreating together within distinct groups. ↵
  2. (lit: groups constituted separately) - distinct, or differentiated ↵
  3. any Yolŋu ceremonial, manikay - ancestral song, buku-ḻup - lit: head-wash - cleansing ceremony, milkarri - lit: tears - women's ceremonial crying for the deceased. ↵
  4. represents the hunting skills, environmental knowledge, confidence, and connections which are productive in the Yolŋu economy.. räl-gäma (räl-carry) to go out hunting taking with you the knowledge, skills and confidence to be successful., räl-ḏumurru -(big räl) person who goes hunting and comes back with lots of fish, shellfish, etc., rälmiriw - someone with no luck hunting., räl-gurrupanmirr - sharing the bounty from hunting expeditions, räl-manapanminya - collaboration, sharing work together ↵
  5. djambatj - skillfull hunter, smart, knowledgeable, insightful thinker. ↵
  6. matha-yal' - tongue-cooler/relaxer and murnyaŋ - sweet and starchy foods are opposites. Matha-yal' is meat which needs to be balanced off with murnyaŋ' which is carbohydrate. ↵
  7. Wurarr - a group of people going hunting - from Wangurri ancestral song. Djältji, Watjpalala, Gäwunu, Mänurr - the beach when the tide is a long way out - from Wangurri ancestral song. I use these words as an example of how, when a Yolŋu person sees even something ordinary in the environment, we properly describe it using words from our own ancestral song (in this case Wangurri tribe). We deliberately see and identify the world from our own particular clan perspective. Our song tells us that what we perceive is a function of our ancestral connections. ↵
  8. warrawuku - word for paperbark raft from Wangurri ancestral song - the hunters may be collecting cockles on to a paperbark raft. People see it and describe it using their own particular clan vocabulary from clan song. ↵
  9. goḏu-maypalmirr - 'the deep inside containing shellfish' - describing a dead tree in the mangroves full of mangrove worms. This is both an expression from the song and something which occurs in real life. We don't speak straight out and say 'a tree with mangrove worms' - 'dharpa ḻatjin'mirr' - we say 'goḏu-maypalmirr' because even though we find these trees in real life as we are hunting, they are also an important totem (to do with the funeral and body of deceased Wurarr people), so we speak of it respectfully, even when we find it out hunting. ↵
  10. ŋäṉḏi - mother - referring here to the mother clan for Wangurri, who are Djambarrpuyŋu clan, shark people and turtle hunters, who have their own ancestral songs which demonstrate their way of life. ↵
  11. dhunupayam - to make straight, to set on the correct path. When they sing, the song teaches all Yolŋu how to read and act upon the world - the technology, the hunting grounds and reefs, the roles people play in the hunt, cutting and distributing, etc - not just for the owners of the song, but for their relations too. Some Dhuwa people might not sing the turtle hunt, but they may have a märi, or a gutharra clan who do, and who share their song and its knowledge. ↵
  12. Yirritja, Dhuwa: Everything in the world, people, places, languages, ceremonies, totems, species, mala-barkuwatjkunhawuy, (see note 2 above) - is either Dhuwa or Yirritja. Dhuwa things have a Yirritja mother clan (ŋäṉḏipulu) and Yirritja things have a Dhuwa ŋäṉḏipulu. Yirritja people have Dhuwa wakupulu (sister's children' clan group) and Dhuwa have Yirritja wakupulu. Yirritja is connected with Yirritja through the mother's mother's people (märi) and the (sisters') daughter's daughter's people (gutharra). Dhuwa people have Dhuwa märi and gutharra ↵
  13. balyunmirr - to be committed to, or identify with as a spiritual/totemic relationship. I as Wangurri am balyunmirr to ḏingu - the cycad nuts and sacred bread - because it is part of my ancestral song and keening. When I die they will sing the cycad ceremonies for me. ↵
  14. birrka'yunara - testing, proving, assessing, accusing, deciding, understanding, justifying. ↵
  15. muḻkurr - head, knowledge, mind, understanding, perspectives, vision. Every clan group has a special word to describe their own mind-set. For example, Djambarrpuyŋu (and other shark people) call their minds waṉḏa - from the shark. Warramiri minds are ṉirrpu. Gälpu minds are bamundurr etc. My Wangurri mind is called Gaylinydjil. One way people show respect for the particular mindsets of different people, is to speak respectfully of their heads, even in times of great trouble. To speak like this will keep people focussed on their ancestral connectedness and responsibilities, it will turn their minds back to their land, their language and sacred business, and their kinship network that make it possible. ↵
  16. märryu-ḏapmaram (lit: faith, trust, confidence, goodwill/instrument-/clench) keeping the situation under control by using the power of ancestral connections (märr), problem solving by appealing to people's strength through identity and kinship. ↵
  17. yothu napurruŋ lit: our child, refers to the clan group which calls them 'mother'. That is, all the children of Wangurri women (they will all be Dhuwa since their mother is Yirritja and belong to a different clan) are considered to be the 'yothu' of Wangurri. The relationship between the yothu clan group and the mother clan group is called yothu-yindi. ↵
  18. buṉḏurr sacred ancestral names which link Yolŋu groups to their ancestral lands and creation stories. ↵
  19. Gomuḻu Yirritja Heron ancestor - referring here to a talk given to the Yalu' Marŋgithinyaraw Yolŋu research group at Galiwin'ku by Barripaŋ about the ancestral crested heron who gave identity and connections to many Yirritja groups, and who instituted the philosophy of yalu. ↵

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