Witiyana Marika is 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 Isl ...

musician, filmmaker, and elder, known for being a founding member of the band

Yothu Yindi Yothu Yindi ( Yolngu for "child and mother", pronounced ) are an Australian musical group with Aboriginal and '' balanda'' (non-Aboriginal) members, formed in 1986 as a merger of two bands formed in 1985 – a white rock group called the Swam ...

and producer of the film ''

High Ground High ground is an area of elevated terrain, which can be useful in combat. The military importance of the high ground has been recognized for over 2,000 years, citing early examples from China and other early-dynastic cultures who regularly engag ...

''.

Background

Marika was born into 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 Arnhem Land,

Northern Territory of Australia The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Aust ...

, and raised in

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

. He a member of the Marika family, and is also a son by lore of the actor

David Gulpilil David Dhalatnghu Gulpilil (1 July 1953 – 29 November 2021), known professionally as David Gulpilil and posthumously (at his family's request, to avoid naming the dead) as David Dalaithngu for three days, was an Indigenous Australian actor ...

(who died in 2021). His mother was noted artist Ms. D. (Djerrkngu) Eunice Yunupingu (1945–2022). She won the 2022 NATSIAA Telstra Bark Painting Award.

Music career

Marika was in the original line-up of Yothu Yindi when they formed in 1986. He sang in traditional style, singing clan songs of the Yolngu people known as

manikay Indigenous music of Australia comprises the music of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples of Australia, intersecting with their cultural and ceremonial observances, through the millennia of their individual and collective histori ...

, played bilma

clapsticks Clapsticks, also spelt clap sticks and also known as bilma, bimli, clappers, musicstick or just stick, are a traditional Australian Aboriginal instrument. They serve to maintain rhythm in voice chants, often as part of an Aboriginal ceremo ...

, and danced. In 2017, along with fellow longtime members Malngay Yunupingu and Stuart Kellaway and several new musicians, including his son

Yirrmal Yirrmal Marika (born 1993), known mononymous person, mononymously Yirrmal, is an Indigenous Australian vocalist. A Yolngu man, his music features traditional sounds and elements of Yolŋu languages, Yolŋu music. Early life Yirrmal Marika was ...

, he played in Yothu Yindi & The Treaty Project, with the newly-formed band performing live across Australia into 2019.

Film

Marika played the role of the grandfather as well as being co-producer and senior cultural advisor to the film ''

'', which took around 20 years to make and is based on true events. The film was directed by Stephen Maxwell Johnson, who is a friend of Marika since they met in 1989 and who had made the music video for the Yothu Yind's second single, "

Djäpana "Djäpana", subtitled Sunset Dreaming, is an 1989 song by Australian musical group Yothu Yindi. History The song was first released in August 1989 as the second and final single from the group's debut album, '' Homeland Movement''. The song wa ...

", which won an ARIA award. Taking part in the project was important to Marika, as he is passionate about the necessity to educate broader Australia about past history of

massacres A massacre is the killing of a large number of people or animals, especially those who are not involved in any fighting or have no way of defending themselves. A massacre is generally considered to be morally unacceptable, especially when per ...

and colonial violence. As a teenager, as part of a ceremony undertaken with his grandfather on their homeland Gäṉgän (Gan Gan), he was taught about the massacre of over 100 people of his grandmother’s clan, Dhalwaŋu. He had further researched the details of the massacre with his friend and cousin Dr M. Yunupingu, who shared the same grandmother. Two men survived the massacre by hiding in the water and using rushes to breathe through, a trick used by a little boy in the film. Marika said the film was taking his people's story to the world, in the same way that Yothu Yindi took their music to the world. He played an essential role in navigating relations between the mostly white (" balanda") filmmakers and the

traditional owners Native title is the designation given to the common law doctrine of Aboriginal title in Australia, which is the recognition by Australian law that Indigenous Australians (both Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islander people) have right ...

of Cannon Hill,

Gunbalanya Gunbalanya (also spelt Kunbarlanja, and historically referred to as Oenpelli) is an Aboriginal Australian town in west Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia, about east of Darwin. The main language spoken in the community is Kunwi ...

and Gunlom, where filming took place and permissions were needed to access the land.

Other roles

Marika is a senior member (or elder) of the

clan, and a senior ceremonial leader and a teacher of

songline A songline, also called dreaming track, is one of the paths across the land (or sometimes the sky) within the animist belief systems of the Aboriginal cultures of Australia which mark the route followed by localised "creator-beings" in the Dre ...

s and ceremonies for his clan and community. He has worked as a co-presenter in cross-cultural education, delivering seminars to businesses and academia. He was formerly vice chair of the Aboriginal Resource Development Services (ARDS) and chair of Buku-Larrngay Mulka Arts Centre Committee and Dhimurru Land Management. He is a director of Rirratjingu Mining Pty Ltd and Rirratjingu Investments Pty Ltd. In 2021 he directed the

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

at Buku-Larrngay, where he played with Yothu Yindi.

Personal life and family

Marika has two wives (as of 2014), as is customary among Yolngu people, in order to form larger clans and stronger families. Marika says that the women are treated equally, and there are many benefits to growing up in a large extended family. The blues singer

is Marika's son.

References

External links

* * * (29 April 2019) "Filmed live across Australia and New Zealand, between November 2017 and March 2019." {{DEFAULTSORT:Marika, Witiyana 21st-century Australian singers 21st-century Australian male singers Indigenous Australian musicians Living people Year of birth missing (living people)