‘All mucked up’: sharing stories of Yolŋu–Macassan cultural heritage at Bawaka, north-east Arnhem Land

Bilous, Rebecca

doi:10.1080/13527258.2013.807399

Cited by 8 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…This is not to say they are not history, but that they were not shared as models for western history or science (see Bilous, 2015b: 366; Lloyd et al., 2010: 709). Indeed, some Yolŋu explicitly resist balanda (white) historical interpretations of their oral traditions, asserting that Bayini stories should “be told and heard without recourse to generalisations and larger explanatory frameworks” (Bilous, 2015a: 913).…”

Section: Historical Oral Traditional and Linguistic Evidence For Inte...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Aboriginal people of the Kimberley and Northern Territory coasts have a long history of interaction with seafarers from Island Southeast Asia. Oral traditions (including Dreaming stories), Austronesian borrow words, and sites of interaction are testament to this cross‐cultural history (e.g., see Bilous, 2015a; Evans, 1992, 1997; McIntosh, 1996, 2013). Often called “Macassans” in the archaeological literature, historical records show that trepang (sea cucumber, bêche‐de‐mer ) fishers from Island Southeast Asia operated seasonally in northern Australia from at least 1750 CE (Boomgaard, 2005; Macknight, 1976; Sutherland, 2000; but see Macknight, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Re‐assessing regional chronologies for island southeast Asian voyaging to Aboriginal Australia

Urwin,

Bradley,

McNiven

et al. 2023

Archaeology in Oceania

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According to written histories, trepang fishers from Island Southeast Asia (“Makassans”) frequented coastal northern Australia from c.1750 to 1907 CE. Yolŋu oral traditions and old Austronesian borrow words in coastal Aboriginal languages suggest a long and complex history of foreign voyaging to northern Australia. Yet archaeological radiocarbon chronologies for the Southeast Asian trepang industry and earlier voyaging encounters are few and the dates have never been comprehensively reviewed. Only one Arnhem Land trepang fishery site has been dated extensively, and others have produced unusually old dates of c.1200–1500 CE. The Groote Eylandt rockshelter of Dadirrigka yielded an enigmatic sherd of friable earthenware above a radiocarbon date of c.1100 CE. Here we have compiled, reviewed and recalibrated all 49 radiocarbon dates directly associated with Southeast Asian contact sites, stratigraphy and rock art in northern Australia. We discuss the dates and their archaeological contexts region by region to assess their reliability. We also report for the first time Yanyuwa (southwest Gulf of Carpentaria) oral traditions which shed light on their past kinship and exchange relationships with Makassan visitors. The radiocarbon dates provide tentative support for four phases of interaction in northwest Arnhem Land and Groote Eylandt, including pre‐Makassan encounters and the organised trepang industry of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. There is a paucity of archaeological excavations and radiocarbon data from northeast Arnhem Land, the Kimberley and the southwest Gulf of Carpentaria, where historical writings, linguistics and oral traditions are still the most reliable indicators of the timing and nature of cross‐cultural interaction.

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Section: Historical Oral Traditional and Linguistic Evidence For Inte...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Re‐assessing regional chronologies for island southeast Asian voyaging to Aboriginal Australia

Urwin,

Bradley,

McNiven

et al. 2023

Archaeology in Oceania

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“…Some of these were sacred stories that we heard sung in ceremonies…each move was a change in context as far as my education was concerned' (Yunupiŋu, 1994, p. 2-3), 'my first real learning that I received was about the wäŋa, the environment, and my relationship to my community' (Marika, 1999, p. 108). Indeed, there is a movement to include specific Yolŋu land as 'author' in recent historical and geographical research (Bilous, 2015), acknowledging the agency involved: 'this is knowledge generated with humans and nonhumans at, through and with Bawaka. Bawaka is in our stories, and our stories are in Bawaka' (Wright et al 2012, p. 53).…”

Section: Learning 'From Country'?mentioning

confidence: 99%

School is Home, Home as School: Yolngu '˜On Country' and 'Through Country' Place-Based Education From Gäwa Homeland

Gelderen

Guthadjaka²

2019

AIJRE

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In the review of rural, regional and remote education in Australia, Halsey briefly reflected on the old conundrum of how traditional Indigenous culture and 'western' knowledge (as represented in mainstream curriculum) might be integrated in remote schooling contexts. The recommendation supplied was for 'greater opportunity in the curriculum for learning about and valuing home and Homelands knowledge and life skills' (Halsey, 2018, p. 32). But what are 'homelands' and why were they viewed as so vital by the Indigenous Elders Halsey consulted? In fact, in north-east Arnhem Land, such a (seemingly) simple recommendation rests upon a long and complex history of Indigenous negotiation with balanda (white) educational policies and practices. At the Warramiri YolÅ‹u homeland of GÃ¤wa, a philosophy of education has developed to encompass a profound place-based prioritisation. Community research from GÃ¤wa will be outlined to elucidate this localised Indigenous 'on country' and 'through country' pedagogy, and a practical demonstration of the philosophy in terms of the incorporation of a Warramiri 'turning' seasonal-cycle curriculum will also be briefly discussed.

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“…They are told in museums (Bennett, 2005;West, 2008;Bilous, 2011), geographic journals (Bilous, 2013b) and fiction (Baillie, 1994). These stories, however, are particularly important to Yolŋu (Indigenous people from northeast Arnhem Land) and are regularly shared and celebrated in art (Clarke, 2000;West, 2008), in performance (Janson, 2001;Palmer, 2007) and in stories (Lloyd et al, 2010;Bilous, 2013a). The stories are also shared with Balanda (ngapaki or non-Yolŋu) visitors to Arnhem Land.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…She remains at Bawaka today, her spirit protecting everything -the people, land, animals and nature. Stories about Bayini have been explored in a number of papers, some of which were co-written with members of the Burarrwanga family (Lloyd et al, 2010;Wright et al, 2012;Bilous, 2013a). Across Yolŋu communities in north-east Arnhem Land, there are varied traditions and understandings of Bayini, and she has in fact become the centre of a great deal of academic debate as historians, anthropologists and archaeologists attempt to understand and define 'her' (see Bilous, 2013a for further detail).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Making connections: Hearing and sharing Macassan-Yolηu stories

Bilous

2015

Asia Pac Viewp

Self Cite

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Yolŋu people living in northeast Arnhem Land regularly celebrate their connections with the Macassan trepangers from Indonesian Sulawesi in storytelling, art and music. The history of this contact is well known in academic literature, and these stories of Macassan contact are told regularly by Yolŋu people to tourists visiting northeast Arnhem Land. This paper explores the impact that hearing stories about the Macassans from one Yolŋu family's tourism business had on a group of Australian Indonesian language teachers, visiting as part of an Endeavour Language Teaching Fellowship. It draws on ideas related to telling and hearing stories and argues that these particular stories enabled the teachers to make powerful connections: with each other and with Australia's histories and geographies. The paper also explores the ways in which the teachers went on to become storytellers themselves, using stories to make connections in their students' learning.

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‘All mucked up’: sharing stories of Yolŋu–Macassan cultural heritage at Bawaka, north-east Arnhem Land

Cited by 8 publications

References 16 publications

Re‐assessing regional chronologies for island southeast Asian voyaging to Aboriginal Australia

Re‐assessing regional chronologies for island southeast Asian voyaging to Aboriginal Australia

School is Home, Home as School: Yolngu '˜On Country' and 'Through Country' Place-Based Education From Gäwa Homeland

Making connections: Hearing and sharing Macassan-Yolηu stories

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