Gaywu Group of Women - Songspirals

About the Gaywu Group of Women

Gaywu Group of Women is the dilly bag womens group, a deep collaboration between five Yolu women and three non-Aboriginal women over a decade.

Sisters Laklak Burarrwaa, Ritjilili Ganambarr, Merrkiyawuy Ganambarr-Stubbs and Banbapuy Ganambarr are elders of the Yolu people of North East Arnhem Land. Each is a community leader in her own right. Laklak is a caretaker for the Gumatj clan, founder of the familys successful tourism business Bawaka Cultural Experiences, and has been awarded an honorary doctorate from Macquarie University. Merrkiyawuy was principal of Yirrkala School and is now Director for Yolu Education. Ritjilili works for Miwatj Health and Bawaka Cultural Experiences. Banbapuy is the main spokesperson for the family, an author, artist, weaver and teacher. Their daughter Djawundil Maymuru has been on the board of Laynapuy Homelands Aboriginal Corporation and is a key member of Bawaka Cultural Experiences.

The sisters have collaborated on a series of cultural and research projects with Associate Professors Kate Lloyd and Sandie Suchet-Pearson from Geography and Planning at Macquarie University, and Associate Professor Sarah Wright, Future Fellow in Geography and Development Studies at the University of Newcastle. They are all co-authors of Weaving Lives Together at Bawaka, North East Arnhem Land and a book for young adults, Welcome to My Country.

First published in 2019

Copyright Laklak Burarrwaa, Ritjilili Ganambarr, Merrkiyawuy Ganambarr-Stubbs, Banbapuy Ganambarr, Djawundil Maymuru, Sarah Wright, Sandie Suchet-Pearson and Kate Lloyd 2019

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. The Australian Copyright Act 1968 (the Act) allows a maximum of one chapter or 10 per cent of this book, whichever is the greater, to be photocopied by any educational institution for its educational purposes provided that the educational institution (or body that administers it) has given a remuneration notice to the Copyright Agency (Australia) under the Act.

Allen & Unwin

83 Alexander Street

Crows Nest NSW 2065

Australia

Phone: (61 2) 8425 0100

Email:

Web: www.allenandunwin.com

ISBN 978 1 76063 321 9

eISBN 978 1 76087 193 2

Internal design by Bookhouse

Map by Guy Holt

Index by Garry Cousins

Set by Bookhouse, Sydney

Cover design: Lisa White

Cover image: Gaymala Yunupiu, Djirikitj (1998).

(The Buku-Larrgay Mulka Art Centre archives)

Contents

DEDICATION

We dedicate this book to our grandfather, our mothers father, our athi, Djulwa n birr Mungurrawuy Yunupiu. Djulwa n birr is his deep name, a name that we only use in certain significant contexts. Our mother was his first child. He was the teacher for Mum, he taught her everything, taught all of his children. He was a strong leader, a Gumatj clan leader, a master of ceremonies. He was a powerful leader who made sure that Yolu people and his own clan were safe. He always negotiated with non-Indigenous people and other clans. He used to tell us bedtime stories around the campfire. He was a family man with a good heart. We have very fond memories of our grandfather because he loved his grandchildren deeply and treated us all equally. He was involved in our activities. When we had our school fete he was there, at the church choir, at everything.

Djulwa n birr Mungurrawuy Yunupiu, grandfather of Laklak, Ritjilili, Merrkiyawuy and Banbapuy. (The Buku-Larrgay Mulka Art Centre archives and courtesy of Ian Dunlop)

We also want to dedicate this to our grandfather because of his yumalil, his sweet harmony, his sweet voice. He passed it down to our mothers and their daughters and sons. It makes people cry, it touches their heart. Now it is our responsibility to teach and share.

We sisters, Laklak Burarrwaa, Ritjilili Ganambarr, Merrkiyawuy Ganambarr-Stubbs and Banbapuy Ganambarr, together with our daughter Djawundil Maymuru, speak from our place, our Country, Rorruwuy, D t iwuy land and Bawaka, Gumatj land, Yolu Country, in North East Arnhem Land in Australia. When we talk about Country, we are using an Aboriginal English term that refers to specific places, specific Aboriginal peoples homelands. There are many, many Countries within Australia, many peoples, many languages, many Aboriginal nations. To talk of Country means not just land, but also the waters, the people, the winds, animals, plants, stories, songs and feelings, everything that becomes together to make up place. Country is alive for us, it cares for us, communicates with us, and we are part of it.

Kate Lloyd, Sandie Suchet-Pearson and Sarah Wright speak also from their place, as paki (non-Indigenous) women, living on unceded Aboriginal land in New South Wales. They would specifically like to acknowledge Gumbaynggirr Country, Darug Country and Awabakal Country, where Kate, Sandie and Sarah live and work and where we have all worked together at various times as a collective. Kate, Sandie and Sarah thank from the bottom of their hearts the Elders, past, present and emerging, particularly those who have mentored, taught and guided them, including Aunty Shaa Smith, Uncle Bud Marshall, Yandaarra, Uncle Michael Jarrett, Uncle Lexodious Dadd, Aunty Corina Norman-Dadd and Aunty Sandra Griffin. Kate, Sandie and Sarah want to acknowledge and celebrate the strength of the cultures and ongoing connections with Country that, in the face of many deep and violent colonising atrocities, continue to survive and thrive every day in the places where they live and work.

We sisters and Kate, Sandie and Sarah as the Gaywu Group of Women would also like to acknowledge the Countriesthe places, people, beings, songspirals and storieswhere our words travel, the many different places where they will be shared and read. As we share our knowledge with you, we respectfully offer this in relationship with you and the stories, laws, songs and histories of your place.

When the British came they didnt see, or they ignored or refused to see, the songspirals, the Law, the culture that is here. And they claimed the land. They had only been here for the shortest time and they claimed it. But the land was already claimed. We have boundaries, clan boundaries, we have Law, culture and language. We know which clan belongs to which land.

This book is important and powerful because it comes out of Yolu minds, Yolu hearts, Yolu mouths. It is us, speaking for ourselves.

Gaymala Yunupiu, Djirikitj (1998). (The Buku-Larrgay Mulka Art Centre archives)

arra yukurra nhma mo n uk gapu, gma yukurra arranha bala uylili barrku gulula,