Roy Dadaynga Marika (1925 – 1993) 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 I ...

artist and

Indigenous rights Indigenous rights are those rights that exist in recognition of the specific condition of the Indigenous peoples. This includes not only the most basic human rights of physical survival and integrity, but also the rights over their land (includ ...

activist. He was a member of the Marika family, brother of Mawalan 1 Marika, Mathaman Marika,

Milirrpum Marika Milirrpum Marika (1923 – 7 November 1983), also known as Jacky and also referred to simply as Milirrpum, was a Yolngu artist and community leader from East Arnhem Land, Northern Territory of Australia. He was best known for his involvement i ...

and Dhunggala Marika. He was the leader of the Rirratjingu clan of the Yolngu people from 1970 onwards, and the president of the

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 ...

Village Council on the Gove Peninsula in

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 Compa ...

Northern Territory 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 ...

. The Marikas were involved in ''

Milirrpum v Nabalco Pty Ltd ''Milirrpum v Nabalco Pty Ltd'', also known as the Gove land rights case because its subject was land known as the Gove Peninsula in the Northern Territory, was the first litigation on native title in Australia, and the first significant lega ...

'' (named after Roy's older brother Milirrpum, also known as the Gove land rights case). All five were politically active for the rights of the

Indigenous Australians Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...

, and four of them were well-known Aboriginal artists. Includes short bios of: Mawalan 1 Marika (c. 1908–1967), Mathaman Marika (c. 1920–1970), Milirrpum Marika (c. 1923–1983), Roy Dadaynga Marika MBE (c. 1925–1993), Wandjuk Djuwakan Marika OBE (1929–1987), Banduk Marika (1954–2021), Dhuwarrwarr Marika (born c.1946), Wanyubi Marika (born 1967),Yalmay Gurrwun (Marika) Yunupingu (born 1956), Mawalan 2 Marika (born 1957), Jimmy Barrmula Yunupingu (born 1963) (son of Dhuwarrwarr Marika). Roy and his four brothers led the other clans in presenting the

Yirrkala bark petitions 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 ...

to the

Australian 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 Governmen ...

, in the lead-up to the Gove land rights case. He acted in two films:

Werner Herzog Werner Herzog (; born 5 September 1942) is a German film director, screenwriter, author, actor, and opera director, regarded as a pioneer of New German Cinema. His films often feature ambitious protagonists with impossible dreams, people with u ...

's ''

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 '' Banduk'' (1985). Roy's daughter was

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 me ...

and his son is

Banula Marika Banula (David) Marika is an Aboriginal Australian dancer, actor, singer and performer from Yirrkala in North East Arnhem Land, in the Northern Territory of Australia. The son of Roy Marika, he is a member of the Rirratjingu clan of the Yol ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marika, Roy Dadaynga 1920s births 1993 deaths Australian indigenous rights activists Australian Aboriginal artists 20th-century Australian artists Artists from the Northern Territory Place of birth missing Australian painters Australian Members of the Order of the British Empire

See also

References