''Kanyini'' is a 2006 Australian documentary film, created by Uncle Bob Randall. His dream was to create a film that supported his Kanyini teachings. He approached

Melanie Hogan Melanie Hogan (born 8 July 1977) is a film director and producer, known for her works in Australian documentary cinema. Hogan became first known with her directorial debut ''Kanyini'' which premiered at the Sydney Film Festival in 2006. The film ...

to produce it with him. She directed, filmed and edited the film with the help of Martin Lee whose filming of Uncle Bob Randall's interview made the core thread of the story. The film explores the Kanyini philosophy and the life of Bob Randall, Aboriginal elder, songman and storyteller who lived in

Mutitjulu Mutitjulu is an Aboriginal Australian community in the Northern Territory of Australia located at the eastern end of Uluṟu (also known as Ayers Rock). It is named after a knee-shaped water-filled rock hole at the base of Uluṟu, and is loc ...

, a town beside the world's greatest monolith,

Uluru Uluru (; pjt, Uluṟu ), also known as Ayers Rock ( ) and officially gazetted as UluruAyers Rock, is a large sandstone formation in the centre of Australia. It is in the southern part of the Northern Territory, southwest of Alice Spring ...

, in Central Australia. Bob Randall was a 'Tjilpi' (special teaching uncle) of the

Yankunytjatjara The Yankunytjatjara people, also written Yankuntjatjarra, Jangkundjara, and other variants, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the state of South Australia. Language Yankunytjatjara is a Western Desert language belonging to the Wati la ...

people and a member of the

Stolen Generations The Stolen Generations (also known as Stolen Children) were the children of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent who were removed from their families by the Australian federal and state government agencies and church mis ...

Overview

In ''Kanyini'', Bob Randall c1933-2015shares his knowledge of Anangu wisdom, stories of his personal journey and he explores some of the reasons behind the struggles of Aboriginal Australians in modern Australia. Randall explains that when

European Australian European Australians are citizens or residents of Australia whose ancestry originates from the peoples of Europe. They form the largest panethnic group in the country. At the 2021 census, the number of ancestry responses categorised within Eu ...

s came to Australia, they broke the four Kanyini Principles that were an integral part of Anangu life. Tjuukurpa was broken when Europeans imposed their law on the Anangu, Ngura was broken when Aboriginal people were forced to move away from their traditional lands, Walytja was broken when the children of Randall's generation were removed from their family as part of the

and Kurunpa was broken when Aboriginal spirituality was replaced with

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

. In explaining the loss of his Kurunpa, Randall notes the disconnect between the teachings of the Bible and the actions of the white men who professed them.

Kanyini Principles

Kanyini is a

Pitjantjatjara The Pitjantjatjara (; or ) are an Aboriginal people of the Central Australian desert near Uluru. They are closely related to the Yankunytjatjara and Ngaanyatjarra and their languages are, to a large extent, mutually intelligible (all are va ...

word meaning interconnectedness; caring, support, nurturing, and responsibility. The four principles of Kanyini are:

Overview

Kanyini Principles

Ngura

Walytja

Kurunpa

Tjuukurpa

Awards

See also

References

External links