Barunga, Northern Territory
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Barunga, formerly known as Beswick Creek and then Bamyili, is a small Aboriginal community located approximately southeast of
Katherine Katherine (), also spelled Catherine and Catherina, other variations, is a feminine given name. The name and its variants are popular in countries where large Christian populations exist, because of its associations with one of the earliest Ch ...
, in the
Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...
of Australia. It is part of the
Roper Gulf Region Roper Gulf Regional Council is a Local government areas of the Northern Territory, local government area of the Northern Territory, Australia. The region covers an area of and had a population of 7,397 in June 2018. History In October 2006 t ...
local government area. At the , Barunga had a population of 313. In mid June each year, the Barunga Festival, a three-day event showcasing
Australian Aboriginal culture Australian Aboriginal culture includes a number of practices and ceremonies centered on a belief in the Dreamtime and other mythology. Reverence and respect for the land and oral traditions are emphasised. The words "law" and "lore", the latter ...
, is held. At the 1988 event, the Barunga Statement, which requested a treaty between the
Australian federal government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government or simply as the federal government, is the national Executive (government), executive government of Australia, a federalism, federal Parliamentary system, parliamentary con ...
and
Indigenous Australians Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. The ...
( Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander Torres Strait Islanders ( ) are the Indigenous Melanesians, Melanesian people of the Torres Strait Islands, which are part of the state of Queensland, Australia. Ethnically distinct from the Aboriginal Australians, Aboriginal peoples of the res ...
peoples), was presented to then prime minister
Bob Hawke Robert James Lee Hawke (9 December 1929 – 16 May 2019) was an Australian politician and trade unionist who served as the 23rd prime minister of Australia from 1983 to 1991. He held office as the Australian Labor Party, leader of the La ...
. Just before the 2018 Festival, the Barunga agreement was signed between the
Northern Territory Government The Northern Territory Government is the executive branch of the Northern Territory. The Government of Northern Territory was formed in 1978 with the granting of self-government to the Territory. The Northern Territory is a territory of the Co ...
and all four
land council Land councils, also known as Aboriginal land councils, or land and sea councils, are Australian community organisations, generally organised by region, that are commonly formed to represent the Indigenous Australians (both Aboriginal Australians ...
s.


History

Aboriginal people have lived in Barunga and the surrounding region for thousands of years.


Maranboy tin mine

In September 1913, a goldfield named
Maranboy Maranboy is the location of a former settlement and tin mine near Barunga, about 70 kilometres east of Katherine in the Northern Territory of Australia. Establishment Aboriginal people such as the Jawoyn have lived in the area surrounding M ...
was declared for a period of two years. Maranboy was located from where Barunga is today. Tin was discovered at Maranboy in 1913 by prospectors Scharber and Richardson. Tin mines and a battery were operational in the same year. Prospectors of European, Chinese and Aboriginal descent worked at Maranboy. The mine closed in 1949 for repairs but never reopened. Many of the Aboriginal people who serviced the mine returned to Beswick Creek.


Plane crash nearby

A
Douglas DC-3 The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner manufactured by the Douglas Aircraft Company, which had a lasting effect on the airline industry in the 1930s to 1940s and World War II. It was developed as a larger, improved 14-bed sleeper ...
belonging to the
Dutch Air Force The Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF; , "Royal Air Force") is the military aviation branch of the Netherlands Armed Forces. It was created in 1953 to succeed its predecessor, the ''Luchtvaartafdeling'' () of the Dutch Army, which was founded i ...
crash-landed near Beswick Creek or Beswick (now Wugularr) in 1947. All passengers survived, with four crew travelling about down the Katherine River to get help. After running out of food they killed one of two dogs they had with them. The wings were eventually removed and the remains of the plane were towed to Katherine.


Tandangal

The Tandangal Native Settlement (from
Jawoyn language Jawoyn (Jawonj, Jawany, Djauan, Jawan, Jawony; Adowen, Gun-djawan), also known as Kumertuo, is a moribund Gunwinyguan language spoken only by elders in Arnhem Land Arnhem Land is a historical region of the Northern Territory of Australia. ...
''dangdangdal''), also known as the Eight Mile Settlement, was established in 1947, located about from Beswick Station. The local people were not consulted about the choice of location nor the method of their removal to the settlement from the King River Compound. In 1948, the Beswick community moved to Tandangal (sometimes known as "old Bamyili"), because of risk of flooding from recent heavy rains. An influenza epidemic spread through the community in May 1951. In June 1951 the people were relocated to the new site, initially known as Beswick Creek Native Settlement, and Tandangal was condemned.


Back to Beswick

By November 1951 the flu had killed seven people. In early 1951, the
Northern Territory Government The Northern Territory Government is the executive branch of the Northern Territory. The Government of Northern Territory was formed in 1978 with the granting of self-government to the Territory. The Northern Territory is a territory of the Co ...
started to develop the Beswick Creek community, building basic housing infrastructure and creating some minor employment opportunities. Local farmers also employed Aboriginal people, even running a peanut farm at Beswick Creek. The farm only lasted a few years. As Beswick grew, new groups formed a camp on the other side of the river known as "The Compound" where the people made humpies.


1950s to present

The Barunga school was first opened in 1954 with 42 children enrolled. The elders changed the name of "The Compound" to Bamyili in 1965. In 1984, it changed its name to Barunga. In 1985 the Barunga Festival was first held. In 1988, the Barunga Statement was presented to the prime minister at the event.


Facilities

Barunga School provides education for students from preschool to the middle years, with up to
Year 12 Year 12 is an educational year group in schools in many countries including England, Wales, Northern Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. It is sometimes the twelfth or thirteenth year of compulsory education, or alternatively a year of post-comp ...
supported by the NT Open Education Centre. , the school is developing links with
Wugularr Wugularr (pronounced: ''woo-gah-larr''), known previously by its English name Beswick, is a small community in the Northern Territory of Australia. Djilpin Arts is an Aboriginal corporation and art centre founded by actor and musician Tom E. Lew ...
and
Bulman ''Bulman'' is a British television crime drama series, principally written and created by Murray Smith. It was first broadcast on ITV on 5 June 1985. The series, featuring retired ex-cop George Bulman (Don Henderson) and his assistant Lucy Mc ...
schools through the
Vocational Education and Training Vocational education is education that prepares people for a Skilled worker, skilled craft. Vocational education can also be seen as that type of education given to an individual to prepare that individual to be gainfully employed or self em ...
(VET) program. The Bagala Community Store opened in September 2017, after local women raised the need for good food at affordable prices. It is the only store in the NT entirely owned and operated by Indigenous people. it stocks fresh produce and other foods, as well as hardware, mechanical goods, small electrical appliances as well as major appliances. The community has a health clinic, camping grounds, sports oval,
basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...
courts,
softball Softball is a Variations of baseball, variation of baseball, the difference being that it is played with a larger ball, on a smaller field, and with only underhand pitches (where the ball is released while the hand is primarily below the ball) ...
pitch and council office.


Barunga Festival

Bangardi Robert Lee (1952–2005), a leader of the Bagala clan of the
Jawoyn The Jawoyn, also written Djauan, are an Australian Aboriginal people living in the Northern Territory of Australia. The Bagala clan are of the Jawoyn people. Language Jawoyn, known as Kumertuo, is a non- Pama–Nyungan language that belongs ...
people, initiated the Barunga Sport and Cultural Festival in 1985. It became an important forum for sharing ideas, showcasing the
Aboriginal Australian Aboriginal Australians are the various indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, excluding the ethnically distinct people of the Torres Strait Islands. Humans first migrated to Australia 50,000 to 65,000 year ...
and
Torres Strait Islander Torres Strait Islanders ( ) are the Indigenous Melanesians, Melanesian people of the Torres Strait Islands, which are part of the state of Queensland, Australia. Ethnically distinct from the Aboriginal Australians, Aboriginal peoples of the res ...
cultures and talent, and to engage with social and political issues. It has become an annual music and cultural celebration, held on the
Queen's Birthday The King's Official Birthday or Queen's Official Birthday is the selected day in most Commonwealth realms on which the birthday of the monarch is officially celebrated in those countries. It does not necessarily correspond to the date of the m ...
long weekend (second weekend) in June attracting over 4,000. It features a program of workshops, dancing
ceremonies A ceremony (, ) is a unified ritualistic event with a purpose, usually consisting of a number of artistic components, performed on a special occasion. The word may be of Etruscan origin, via the Latin . Religious and civil (secular) ceremoni ...
, traditional
bush tucker Bush tucker, also called bush food, is any food native to Australia and historically eaten by Indigenous Australians and Torres Strait Islander peoples, but it can also describe any native flora, fauna, or fungi used for culinary or medicinal ...
-gathering,
didgeridoo The didgeridoo (;()), also spelt didjeridu, among other variants, is a wind instrument, played with vibrating lips to produce a continuous Drone (music), drone while using a special breathing technique called circular breathing. The didgerido ...
-making,
basket weaving Basket weaving (also basketry or basket making) is the process of weaving or sewing pliable materials into three-dimensional artifacts, such as baskets, mats, mesh bags or even furniture. Craftspeople and artists specialized in making baskets ...
and musical performances and sport. In 2018, popular Tiwi band B2M played at the festival. The 2020 festival was postponed from June to September, then cancelled due to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
. The 2021 event went ahead as scheduled on 11–13 June.


The Barunga Statement (1988)

In 1988, as part of
Bicentennial __NOTOC__ A bicentennial or bicentenary is the two-hundredth anniversary of a part, or the celebrations thereof. It may refer to: Europe * French Revolution bicentennial, commemorating the 200th anniversary of 14 July 1789 uprising, celebrated ...
celebrations, the
prime minister of Australia The prime minister of Australia is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Australia. The prime minister is the chair of the Cabinet of Australia and thus the head of the Australian Government, federal executive government. Under the pr ...
Bob Hawke visited the Northern Territory for the Barunga Festival, where he was presented with a statement of Aboriginal political objectives by
Galarrwuy Yunupingu Galarrwuy Yunupingu (30 June 1948 – 3 April 2023), also known as James Galarrwuy Yunupingu and Dr Yunupingu, was an Indigenous Australian activist who was a leader in the Aboriginal Australian community. He was involved in Indigenous land ...
and
Wenten Rubuntja Wenten Rubuntja Pengarte (1926 – July 2005) was an Aboriginal Australian artist and Arrernte man. His early watercolour paintings are typical of the Hermannsburg School of art, while his later work includes dot painting. He was also an Ab ...
. Painted on a 1.2 metre square sheet of composite wood, it became known as the "Barunga Statement". It stated: Hawke responded by saying that he wished to conclude a treaty between Aboriginal and other Australians by 1990, but his wish was not fulfilled. Controversy erupted over the exposure of sacred material in the
bark painting Bark painting is an Australian Aboriginal art form, involving painting on the interior of a strip of tree bark. While examples of painted bark shelters were found in the south-eastern states (then colonies) of Tasmania, Victoria, and New South W ...
, leading some Indigenous leaders to call for its return. Some leaders alleged the presentation of the painting resulted in at least ten deaths due to "munya", which translates as remorse in the Aboriginal system of payback. In 1991, Hawke's last act as prime minister was to hang the Barunga Statement at
Parliament House, Canberra Parliament House is the meeting place of the Parliament of Australia, the Legislature, legislative body of Politics of Australia, Australia's federal system of government. The building also houses the core of the Executive (government), execut ...
. He did so one minute before
Paul Keating Paul John Keating (born 18 January 1944) is an Australian former politician and trade unionist who served as the 24th prime minister of Australia from 1991 to 1996. He held office as the leader of the Labor Party (ALP), having previously ser ...
was sworn in as the new prime minister, stating "its presence here calls on those who follow me, it demands of them that they continue efforts that they find solutions to the abundant problems that still face the Aboriginal people of this country".


Yothu Yindi song "Treaty"

In June 1991 Australian Aboriginal band,
Yothu Yindi Yothu Yindi (Yolŋu Matha, Yolngu for "child and mother", pronounced , natively ) are an Australian musical group with Australian Aboriginal, Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal members, formed in 1986 as a merger of two bands formed in 1985 – a wh ...
, wrote and released the hit song "
Treaty A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between sovereign states and/or international organizations that is governed by international law. A treaty may also be known as an international agreement, protocol, covenant, convention ...
" to commemorate the statement. Lead singer
Mandawuy Yunupingu Mandawuy Djarrtjuntjun Yunupingu , formerly Tom Djambayang Bakamana Yunupingu, and also known as Dr Yunupingu (17 September 1956 – 2 June 2013), was a teacher and musician, and frontman of the Aboriginal rock group Yothu Yindi from 1986. He ...
, with his older brother Galarrwuy, wanted to highlight the lack of progress on the treaty between Aboriginal peoples and the
federal government A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a political union, union of partially federated state, self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a #Federal governments, federal government (federalism) ...
. Mandawuy said:


The Barunga agreement (2018)

On 8 June 2018, just before the opening of the Barunga Festival, the Northern Territory Government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), since known as the Barunga agreement, to begin talks with all four of the Territory's
Aboriginal land council Land councils, also known as Aboriginal land councils, or land and sea councils, are Australian community organisations, generally organised by region, that are commonly formed to represent the Indigenous Australians (both Aboriginal Australians ...
s, on the subject of a treaty. The agreement, which was drafted after a week of discussions which included about 200 elected members of the land councils, included some guiding principles, including that "Aboriginal people were the prior owners and occupiers of the land, seas and waters that are now called the NT of Australia". The land councils involved are the
Northern Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating ...
, Central, Anindilyakwa and
Tiwi Land Council The Tiwi Land Council is a land council in the Northern Territory of Australia established in 1978 to represent Aboriginal Australians living on the Tiwi Islands. It is one of four land councils in the Northern Territory. It was established fo ...
s. One of the essential elements was seen as truth telling, "Truth telling is critical. Unless we understand each other, and understand how we've been impacted even by the best intentions of the other side, it's pretty hard to construct a new relationship". The only two surviving senior men of the nine who painted the Barunga statement in 1988,
Rirratjingu The Dangu (Dhaŋu, Dhangu) are an Aboriginal Australian people of Arnhem Land, in the Northern Territory, one of many Yolŋu peoples. They are, according to Norman Tindale, to be carefully distinguished from the Djaŋu. Two prominent clans ...
clan leader Galarrwuy Yunupingu and fellow Yolngu leader Djambawa Marawili, were present on Friday as the treaty agreement was signed.


See also

* ''
Uluru Statement from the Heart The ''Uluru Statement from the Heart'' is a 2017 petition to the people of Australia, written and endorsed by the Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders selected as delegates to the First Nations National Constitutional Conv ...
'' * Yirrkala bark petitions


References


Further reading


Barunga Festival Official Website
* {{authority control Towns in the Northern Territory Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory