Wandjuk Djuwakan Marika OBE (1927 or 1930 – 16 June 1987), was an

Aboriginal Australian Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait Islands ...

painter,

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

and

Indigenous land rights Indigenous land rights are the rights of Indigenous peoples to land and natural resources therein, either individually or collectively, mostly in colonised countries. Land and resource-related rights are of fundamental importance to Indigenou ...

activist. He was a member of the

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 of ...

clan of the Yolngu people of north-east

Arnhem Land Arnhem Land is a historical region of the Northern Territory of Australia, with the term still in use. It is located in the north-eastern corner of the territory and is around from the territory capital, Darwin. In 1623, Dutch East India Compan ...

in the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...

of Australia, and the son of

Mawalan 1 Marika Mawalan Marika (1908–1967), often referred to as Mawalan 1 Marika to distinguish from Mawalan Marika (born 1957), Mawalan 2 Marika, was an Aboriginal Australian artist and the leader of the Rirratjingu clan of the Yolngu people of north-east ...

Early life

Wandjuk Djuakan Marika was born in 1927 (or 1930) on

Bremer Island Bremer Island, or Dhambaliya in the local language is an island in the Arafura Sea, in the northwest of the Gulf of Carpentaria, 3.4 km off the northeast corner of Arnhem Land (''Cape Wirawawoi''), Northern Territory, Australia. History ...

(Dhambaliya) in the

. He was the eldest son of Mawalan 1 Marika and his wife Bamatja, and the brother of

Banduk Marika Banduk Mamburra Wananamba Marika (13 October 1954 – 12 July 2021) was an artist and printmaker from Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia. She was a member of the Rirratjingu clan of the Yolngu people, whose traditional land is Yalangb ...

Dhuwarrwarr Marika Dhuwarrwarr Marika (born 1946), also known as Banuminy, a female contemporary Aboriginal artist. She is a Yolngu artist and community leader from East Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia. She belongs to the Dhuwa moiety of the ...

, Bayngul, and Laklak (all sisters). He was a member of the Rirratjingu group of the Yolngu people.MARIKA, Wandjuk, "Foreword", in ISAACS, Jennifer, ''Australian Dreaming: 40,000 Years of Aboriginal History'', 1980, , p.5 Marika was educated at the Methodist Overseas Mission at

Yirrkala Yirrkala is a small community in East Arnhem Region, Northern Territory, Australia, southeast of the large mining town of Nhulunbuy, Northern Territory, Nhulunbuy, on the Gove Peninsula in Arnhem Land. Its population comprises predominantly ...

Career

His paintings expressed his people's traditional lore and spiritual beliefs, and included ''Djang'kawu Story'' (1960) and ''Birth of the Djang'kawu Children of Yelangbara'' (1982).

Djang'kawu The Djang'kawu, also spelt Djanggawul or Djan'kawu, are creator being, creation ancestors in the mythology of the Yolngu people of Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is one of the most important stories in Aboriginal Austra ...

is the founding ancestor of the Rirratjingu in traditional stories, who gave birth to the clan at

Yalangbara Yalangbara is a coastal area in the East Arnhem (Miwatj) region of Australia's Northern Territory, around south of Nhulunbuy, the largest town in the area. It is on the country of the Rirratjingu clan of the Yolŋu people, and is one of the m ...

. He also painted the story of the

Wawilak sisters The Wawalag sisters, also written as Wauwaluk Wawilak Waggilak, Wagilag, or Wawalik, are ancestral creator beings whose story is part of "the most widespread" sacred rituals in the Aboriginal Australian culture, Aboriginal culture from Arnhem L ...

. The expression of these stories was part of his responsibility as a clan leader, and the skills were passed on by his father, Mawalan 1. In a 1959 painting, ''Sea life (Dreaming of the artist’s mother)'', 1959, Marika expresses elements of his mother’s Warramirri clan. He was so distressed by the reproduction of the Djang’kawu story on a tea towel in 1959 that he stopped painting for years. As he had been taught English at the mission school, he used his skills to assist anthropologists such as

Charles Mountford Charles Pearcy Mountford OBE (8 May 189016 November 1976) was an Australian anthropologist and photographer. He is known for his pioneering work on Indigenous Australians and his depictions and descriptions of their art. He also led the Americ ...

and

Ronald Ronald is a masculine given name derived from the Old Norse ''Rögnvaldr'',#H2, Hanks; Hardcastle; Hodges (2006) p. 234; #H1, Hanks; Hodges (2003) § Ronald. or possibly from Old English ''Regenweald''. In some cases ''Ronald'' is an Anglicised ...

and

Catherine Berndt Catherine Helen Berndt, ''née'' Webb (8 May 1918 – 12 May 1994), born in Auckland, was an Australian anthropologist known for her research in Australia and Papua New Guinea. She was awarded in 1950 the Percy Smith Medal from the University o ...

to understand Yolngu culture. He co-founded the

Aboriginal Arts Board The Australia Council for the Arts, commonly known as the Australia Council, is the country's official arts council, serving as an arts funding and advisory body for the Government of Australia. The council was announced in 1967 as the Austra ...

in 1973, and became chairman in 1976, a post he held until 1979. As an actor, Marika appeared in the films ''

Where the Green Ants Dream ''Where the Green Ants Dream'' (german: Wo die grünen Ameisen träumen, links=no) is a 1984 German film directed by Werner Herzog, made in Australia. Based on a true story about Indigenous land rights in Australia but slated as a mixture of fac ...

'' (1984) and ''

Initiation Initiation is a rite of passage marking entrance or acceptance into a group or society. It could also be a formal admission to adulthood in a community or one of its formal components. In an extended sense, it can also signify a transformation ...

'' (1987). He also appeared in the television

miniseries A miniseries or mini-series is a television series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. "Limited series" is another more recent US term which is sometimes used interchangeably. , the popularity of miniseries format h ...

Women of the Sun ''Women of the Sun'' is an Australian historical drama television miniseries that was broadcast on SBS Television and later the Australian Broadcasting Company in 1981. The series, co-written by Sonia Borg and Hyllus Maris, was composed of four ...

''. He was both actor and composer in ''Where the Green Ants Dream''. He was the author of ''The Aboriginal Children's History of Australia''.

Activism

Marika wrote frequent but unsuccessful letters to the

Australian federal government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster-style systems of government, the Australian Government i ...

to protest against

mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic via ...

activities on Yolngu lands. In August 1963 he helped to send the first of several bark petitions to the Commonwealth government protesting the decision to grant mining leases on the

Gove Peninsula The Gove Peninsula is at the northeastern corner of Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia. The peninsula became strategically important during World War II when a Royal Australian Air Force base was constructed at what is now Gove ...

. The

Yirrkala bark petition The Yirrkala bark petitions, sent by the Yolngu people, an Aboriginal Australian people of Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory, to the Australian Parliament in 1963, were the first traditional documents prepared by Indigenous Australians that ...

was the first Indigenous document to be officially recognised and accepted by the

Australian Parliament The Parliament of Australia (officially the Federal Parliament, also called the Commonwealth Parliament) is the legislature, legislative branch of the government of Australia. It consists of three elements: the monarch (represented by the ...

. Marika lobbied for the creation of the Aboriginal Artists Agency in 1973 to protect the

copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, education ...

of Aboriginal artists and

Indigenous intellectual property Indigenous intellectual property is a term used in national and international forums to describe intellectual property that is "collectively owned" by various Indigenous peoples, and by extension, their legal rights to protect specific such prop ...

Recognition and honours

In 1979 he was appointed an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

in the Queen's Birthday Honours list. A photographic portrait of Marika by

Juno Gemes Juno Gemes (born 1944) is a Hungarian-born Australian activist and photographer, best known for her photography of Aboriginal Australians.National Portrait Gallery in

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

, and several of his paintings feature in the

Art Gallery of New South Wales The Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW), founded as the New South Wales Academy of Art in 1872 and known as the National Art Gallery of New South Wales between 1883 and 1958, is located in The Domain, Sydney, Australia. It is the most importa ...

. His name was given to the Wandjuk Marika 3D Memorial Award, a category of the prestigious

National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award The National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award (NATSIAA) is Australia's longest running Indigenous art award. Established in 1984 as the National Aboriginal Art Award by the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory in Darw ...

, awarded annually by the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory.

Personal life and death

His son Mawalan 2 Marika is also an artist, and his daughter is Rarriwuy Marika. Wandjuk Marika was the uncle of

Raymattja Marika Raymattja Marika , also known as Gunutjpitt Gunuwanga, (1959 – 11 May 2008) was a Yolngu leader, scholar, educator, translator, linguist and cultural advocate for Aboriginal Australians. She was a Director of Reconciliation Australia and a m ...

. Marika died on 16 June 1987.

References

External links

Wandjuk Marika
at the

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marika, Wandjuk 1927 births 1987 deaths People from the Northern Territory Indigenous Australian actors Australian Officers of the Order of the British Empire 20th-century Australian painters