Yirrkala bark petitions
The Yirrkala bark petitions are significant historical documents created by the Yolngu people of Yirrkala in Australia's Northern Territory, first presented to the federal government in 1963. These petitions, made from painted eucalyptus bark, mark the first instance of traditional Indigenous law being recognized within Australian Commonwealth law, symbolizing a pivotal moment in acknowledging Indigenous rights. The Yolngu people, comprising thirteen clan groups that speak Yolngu Matha and its dialects, have inhabited Arnhem Land for thousands of years, maintaining rich cultural and trade histories. The petitions arose in response to the government's leasing of traditional land for mining without consultation, highlighting the Yolngu's deep connection to their land and sacred sites.
Over the years, additional petitions were submitted in 1968, 1988, 1998, and 2008, each addressing various concerns related to Indigenous rights, land compensation, and self-determination. While not all petitions led to immediate action, they played a crucial role in raising awareness and prompting discussions within the Australian government regarding Indigenous land rights and recognition. The Yirrkala bark petitions are thus seen as foundational in the ongoing struggle for Indigenous recognition and rights in Australia, marking a step towards greater legal acknowledgment of Indigenous lore alongside government law.
Yirrkala bark petitions
The Yirrkala bark petitions are documents presented by Elders of the Yolngu people of Yirrkala to the Australian federal government beginning in 1963. The petitions, which are on painted eucalyptus bark sheets, are the first traditional documents recognized by the Commonwealth Parliament and as such are the earliest example of Indigenous lore combined with Commonwealth law. They represent the first official recognition of Indigenous people in Australian law. The Yolngu people submitted additional bark petitions in 1968, 1988, 1998 and 2008.
Background
Yirrkala is in the Northern Territory, 18 km south of Nhulunbuy on the east coast of the Gove peninsula. The people of Yirrkala are the Yolngu. Their community includes thirteen clan groups sharing a common language, Yolngu Matha, as well as speaking their own dialects.
Arnhem Land includes a plateau and lowlands. Aboriginal people have inhabited the region since the late Pleistocene, with rock carvings and other artifacts dated to about 65,000 years ago.
The Yolngu had frequent contact with traders, most notably a centuries-long trade relationship with people from Indonesia, who harvested trepang, or sea cucumbers and pearls. They brought goods such as knives, canoes, pipes and tobacco. The Yolngu also had extensive trade routes within the continent by which they obtained boomerangs made in Central Australia, for example.
The Yolngu people recognize Madayin, a concept of law that includes the rights of the citizens and the rights of the owners of the law. According to scholars, Madayin melds religion and guidance for living in a way that outsiders cannot easily grasp. Madayin includes rom, or the people’s law; Madayin girri’, or all that symbolises the law; and other elements, such as song cycles. Madayin describes ownership of the land and water, as well as what is contained in them. It also includes laws for conserving plant and animal life as well as production and trade. Magaya, a state of peace and justice, can supposedly be achieved by adhering to the Madayin. Madayin also refers to sacred clan designs that the Yolngu people have painted on their bodies and ceremonial objects for thousands of years.
In 1623, Dutch explorer Willem van Colster arrived aboard the Arnhem and explored the coast. British explorers eventually claimed all of Australia. This acquisition was justified under the claim that the continent was terra nullius, Latin for ‘land belonging to no one’. Subsequent land laws were based on this claim, which ignored the presence of Indigenous people. Colonization by Britain, based on this notion, also occurred in New Zealand, North America and other parts of the world.
The first long-term settlements established in the area by Europeans began in 1908 when Christian missionaries arrived at Roper River. Other mission stations on the coast followed, but for several decades, the missionaries and traders arriving by sea were the only outsiders with whom the Yolngu people interacted regularly. Exposure to Europeans inspired artistic changes, for example painting on eucalyptus bark with ochres.
Arnhem Land was made an Aboriginal reserve in 1949. Few outsiders ventured into the area until manganese was found on Groote Eylandt, about 50 km off the coast, in the early 1960s. Soon after this discovery, the Gove Peninsula was revealed to be the site of one of the world’s largest deposits of high-grade bauxite. The Yolngu people saw Caucasian workers putting up sticks to map minerals, which were at the surface. While the local Church Missionary Society (CMS) had intervened to ensure the Aboriginal people saw a portion of the profits from the manganese deposits, they were not involved in discussions about the bauxite at Gove Peninsula. Instead, the Commonwealth government dealt with mission headquarters in Melbourne to negotiate for the mining company, Nabalco.
None of the groups involved contacted the Yolngu people or the mission in Yirrkala. Instead, on 13 March 1963, the Commonwealth government took more than 300 sq km of land from the Arnhem land reserve and granted mining leases for the property. The government’s refusal to consult with the residents of Yirrkala prompted the people to protest the mining agreement with the Commonwealth government.
Impact
Members of the Labour opposition party who were members of the Federal Council for Aboriginal Advancement visited Yirrkala. They suggested that the Yolngu people ask for an inquiry and list their concerns. The elders wrote and typed two petitions, one in English and the other in Yolngu Matha. Both petitions were mounted on traditionally painted bark sheets that depict the stories of Dhuwa and Yirritja, the two moieties. The leaders’ concerns were that they had not been consulted about mining on their land, and that they might be prevented from reaching sacred sites.
As a result of the first petitions, which were received by the House of Representatives on 14 August 1963, Parliament created the Select Committee on Grievances of Yirrkala Aborigines, Arnhem Land Reserve. The committee noted the rights documented in the petitions and recommended that Parliament protect sacred sites and ensure the Yolngu people were compensated for the loss of the land. The committee also suggested a mining project monitoring committee be formed.
The mining leases were granted to Nabalco regardless. Leaders of the Yolngu people took their case to the Northern Territory Supreme Court in December 1968. The Gove Land Rights Case, as it came to be known, was unsuccessful. The judgement noted that Yolngu law was not part of Australian law, and therefore could not be considered in making a decision.
The bark petition submitted in 1968 requested Gove township be renamed Nhulunbuy, which it was. The 1988 bark petition called for Indigenous rights, land rights, compensation, and self-determination. The petition, which is called the Barunga Statement, was presented to Prime Minister Bob Hawke. Although he promised to work on a treaty, this did not occur. The 1998 petition requested diplomatic talks between the Yolngu people’s leaders and Parliament. It was not successful because of procedural issues, namely that it should have been directed to the House of Representatives but was instead given to Prime Minister John Howard, who reportedly had it put into storage with gifts he received in office.
In 2008, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd presented the Apology to Indigenous Australians to the House. A bark petition that was given to Rudd requesting that Indigenous people’s rights be recognised in the Australian Constitution also was not implemented because it was not directed to the House of Representatives.
While not always successful, the Yirrkala bark petitions began the process of getting Australia’s government to recognise the rights of the Yolngu people. The petitions led to land right and other concerns eventually being addressed and included in Commonwealth government laws.
Bibliography
“The Bark Petition.” National Film and Sound Archive of Australia, dl.nfsa.gov.au/module/1386/. Accessed 9 Dec. 2020.
Kelly, Danial. “The Legal and Religious Nature of Aboriginal Customary Law: Focus on Madayin.” University of Notre Dame Australia Law Review, vol. 16, Dec. 2014, pp. 50–73. search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=991470216789026;res=IELAPA. Accessed 10 Dec. 2020.
“Mabo and Native Title.” Australians Together, 17 Nov. 2020, australianstogether.org.au/discover/australian-history/mabo-native-title/. Accessed 10 Dec. 2020.
“Madayin: Eight Decades of Aboriginal Australian Bark Painting from Yirrkala.” Kluge – Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection of the University of Virginia, 2020, kluge-ruhe.org/exhibition/madayin/. Accessed 10 Dec. 2020.
“Milirrpum v Nabalco Pty Ltd, 1971.” MABO: The Native Title Revolution, mabonativetitle.com/xk‗MilirrpumvNabalcoP.shtml. Accessed 10 Dec. 2020.
“The Yirrkala Bark Petitions.” NITV, 14 Aug. 2016, www.sbs.com.au/nitv/explainer/yirrkala-bark-petitions. Accessed 10 Dec. 2020.
“Yirrkala Bark Petitions 1963 (Cth).” National Archives of Australia, www.foundingdocs.gov.au/item-did-104.html. Accessed 9 Dec. 2020.
“Yirrkala Bark Petitions Signed.” Deadly Story, www.deadlystory.com/page/culture/history/Yirrkala‗Bark‗Petitions‗signed. Accessed 9 Dec. 2020.