Understanding what makes Yolŋu stronger
Waka Ŋurrkanhayŋu – Regenerating the Existence of Life is a long-term, Yolŋu-led research initiative focused on reducing the risk of natural and social disasters and strengthening the health, wellbeing, resilience and self-determination of Yolŋu communities.
The initiative was requested by Yolŋu Traditional Owners, clan leaders and CEOs in Galiwin’ku on Elcho Island following the devastating impacts of two Category 4 cyclones. Since 2020, Yolŋu and Western researchers have been working together through a two-way, community-based participatory action research approach to revive and strengthen Yolŋu ways of being, knowing and doing.
Identifying pathways for strength and resilience
The project investigated what makes Yolŋu stronger and what weakens Yolŋu, including the root causes and systemic drivers of health inequity and ill-health. Through this work, the research team identified the most important and effective pathways for strengthening Yolŋu capabilities and capacities, restoring health and wellbeing, and reducing the risk of natural and social disasters.
Eight interconnected pathways emerged, including strengthening Yolŋu governance, repatriating Yolŋu belongings, establishing knowledge and language centres on Country, strengthening Yolŋu education, living back on Country and caring for Country, two-way exchanges on Country, developing independent Yolŋu income streams, and documenting and sharing these pathways.
Eight interconnected pathways emerged
Eight interconnected tangible key adaptive capability and capacity building pathways emerged:
- creating a Yolŋu Village Authority/Council made up of clan leaders and CEOs from all 16 clans using Yolŋu governance and kinship systems,
- repatriating belongings (artifacts, video and sound recordings, stories, photos),
- building an ecological local Yolŋu knowledge and language centre on Country appropriate for all 16 clans and the tropical climate,
- creating an independent school that prioritises Yolŋu education on clan Countries by clan knowledge holders using Yolŋu curriculums and pedagogies,
- living back on Country on clan homelands and caring for Country according to the Yolŋu ROM,
- developing and conducting two-way exchanges with Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples on Country,
- creating independent Yolŋu income streams (royalties, carbon credits, social enterprises), and
- filming and sharing documentaries of pathways.
Living Back on Country
Living Back on Country is one of the key pathways to emerge from the Waka Ŋurrkanhayŋu research.
The Living Back on Country project builds on the knowledge generated through the broader initiative to explore how living on clan homelands and caring for Country according to Yolŋu law can contribute to restoring the health and wellbeing of Yolŋu and Country.
Learn more
The University of Canberra provides further information about the Waka Ŋurrkanhayŋu initiative, its research approach and the pathways identified through the project.
Videos
Media
- Croakey Health Media (2023): From remote housing to federal parliament, Indigenous-led co-design is a game changer,
- Croakey Health Media (2022): HEAL2022: engaging with climate complexity through snapshots and stories
- AIATSIS Native Title Newsletter, Issue 1, pp. 5-8 (2022): Waka Ŋurrkanhayngu: Regenerating the existence of life
- UC UNCOVER (2021) – Reclaiming and reviving indigenous knowledges to reduce disaster risk
- UNDRR Prevention Web (2021) – Reclaiming and reviving indigenous knowledges to reduce disaster risk