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Australian Story - Season 31 - Episode 05: Morning Star - Witiyana Marika
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00:15Hello.
00:17Wittiana Marika is both a rock star
00:20and one of Australia's most respected Indigenous leaders.
00:24He's from Yakala in the Northern Territory,
00:27famous for its incredible art as well as its major role
00:31in Australia's land rights history.
00:34Wittiana was a founding member of the legendary band Yothu Yindi
00:38and living a rock and roll lifestyle.
00:41But when his community called, he stepped up.
00:55Wittiana's always been a natural performer.
00:57It's in his blood, it's in his DNA.
01:03Your eyes are drawn to him.
01:11When I first met Wittiana Marika,
01:13he was young and handsome and all the women were chasing him.
01:16And I thought, wow, how's this guy going to settle down at home
01:19and really get serious around traditional law and all that?
01:26Wittiana transformed from, you know,
01:28the dreadlocked superstar rock star
01:30into a leader of his people.
01:38He looked at himself that he's ready to do this.
01:43He can do anything.
01:45That's the kind of leadership that he carries now.
01:51He's an archbishop.
01:52He's a high court judge.
01:54He's a professor.
01:55He's a counsellor.
01:57He's like a Lord Mayor.
01:59And he also happens to be a rock star.
02:06Good evening, everyone.
02:09How are we doing?
02:11Mind you, ma'am.
02:13Wittiana means morning star.
02:15So the night that Wittiana was born,
02:18his father's brother had a dream.
02:20And the dream was this young boy coming towards Wittiana's father
02:25with a little white flower, which was a star.
02:29You think about that.
02:30A star was born that night.
02:32Wittiana and Marika.
02:34That's the star that I am.
02:38So I want to be a star.
02:40Film star, rock star, and the star of my birth.
02:45I mean, becoming a real star.
03:04Wittiana grew up in the community of Yirrkala in north-east Arnhem Land.
03:09It's an incredibly remote part of Australia,
03:12on the eastern edge of the Northern Territory.
03:15Yirrkala is the home of the Yungu people.
03:19There are 13 clan groups.
03:21Wittiana was born into the Ritachingu clan.
03:311961, that was the year that I was born.
03:36Here in Yirrkala.
03:40The beginning of becoming a song man.
03:45Mum told us that Dad used to sing into that belly.
03:49Maybe two or three months pregnant.
03:53The special message that you are going to listen to this song.
03:59When you will be born, you'll be already prepared.
04:04It'll be in your system.
04:11This is a place that I spent a lot of time when I was a boy.
04:14A paradise, away from distraction and only you and the nature and the spirit of the land.
04:26Wittiana learned the songs from Dad by sitting next to him and clapping with his clapsticks
04:32and just following the lyrics and the words.
04:37You know, when the old man say,
04:40Hang on, you're really good.
04:42You're going to be a song man.
04:44Don't be shy.
04:45Put your voice out there.
04:49We have to keep those song lines.
04:54It's a literature on its own.
05:00So it has to be kept alive and maintained by song men like him.
05:07The beach at Gove was just like any other beach along the coast, but inland the soil was different.
05:13It was bright red.
05:15It proved to be bauxite, aluminium oxide, and the white man came to go.
05:22Overshadowing all of Wittiana's childhood was the struggle against a huge mine
05:28which was threatened to be built on the Gove Peninsula.
05:33Effectively destroying the lifestyle that was so beautiful in this pristine, gorgeous place.
05:43One of the people who became an incredibly important spokesperson for the opposition to the mine
05:50was Wittiana's father.
05:53Roy Marika, MBE.
05:55Leader of the Yirukala and a leader of Australia's Aboriginals.
05:58The man who was in the very centre of that hot political issue, land rights for Aboriginals.
06:04We like people to come.
06:06If the people and Aborigines can make agreement with each other.
06:14He was a role model for me.
06:16He expected that I would one day be a leader.
06:21Watching that, and I think to myself, I'm going to be like him, to stand strong and fight for my
06:31people.
06:33The people of Yirukala have protested to the federal government about the project.
06:40So the elders came together to create a bark petition to send to Canberra to tell the politicians
06:48that they wanted to have a voice in determining what was going to happen on their land.
06:53But the Yirukal people's views were ignored.
06:56In 1971, the first inhabitants fought back in a court case.
07:01The elders continued to prosecute the case that this was their land.
07:05But instead of prosecuting it through the parliament, they prosecuted it through the courts.
07:11In the end, Justice Blackburn found that the Yirukal people had no native title claim over their land in British
07:19law.
07:20And the mine went ahead.
07:28It was a terrible moment.
07:32Broken my father's heart, my grandfather, and all the clans.
07:40It was just devastating, you know.
07:51This is the first place that miners came in and destroyed the site first, the sacred point where rituals start
08:02here.
08:10This is the place where my ancestors stood.
08:16And my next generation, where they were going to stand here tall and talk, tall and proud and strong.
08:29When Wittiana was a teenager, his dad sent him down south to Melbourne to be a part of a dance
08:36troupe,
08:36to basically teach his culture, his language and his dancing to school groups across Victoria.
08:45And he saw it as an opportunity to learn the ways of the Western world.
08:52He spoke 13 clan languages, but he hardly even spoke English at that point.
08:59So I thought to myself, I'm going to learn English.
09:03I'm going to talk like a white man, for the good of myself and for the people of Yirukala,
09:11to learn and stand and fight back.
09:19Wittiana's uncle was Mandawai Yunupingu, a school teacher in Yirukala, who would rise to become principal.
09:28He was also an up-and-coming musician who wanted to go places.
09:34Mandawai pretty early on clued onto the fact that Wittiana was very talented,
09:38and they might be able to grow something together.
09:44Yeah, Mandawai saw me dancing, and he chose me.
09:49He's the one who chose me.
09:50And he told me, I'm going to form a band.
09:55Oh, yeah?
09:56We want to change this world.
09:58Instead of singing in English, we can blend English and Yirukala.
10:04Ha, ha, ha, ha.
10:11What a crazy idea.
10:13Ba, ba, ba, ba, ba, but I'm not one dream.
10:18They started writing songs and singing, and we'd sit around and just listen to them sing.
10:25Reflections in the water I see.
10:28They thought they were a little small band, until somebody heard it and said,
10:33why don't we record this?
10:35Sharing the dreams of the red, black and gold.
10:40We've done living now
10:42With the young away
10:46Ba-ba-ba-ba
10:49Living in a mainstream
10:52Widiyana was a really important part of the image of the band.
10:57So he's a very good-looking man,
10:59powerful stage presence, powerful voice.
11:03We're living together
11:04We're living together
11:09I was the guy who made all the early Yothi Uni videos.
11:16We used to call him the Black Elvis.
11:18He's got all of the tribal moves,
11:20but he's got this swagger, he's got this Elvis thing going on
11:24that he just mixes in at the right time
11:27and brings it right up front
11:29and the audience just love it.
11:38Well, I heard it on the radio
11:41And they started writing a little song, Treaty.
11:46Everyone loved that song when it came out.
11:49You know, everyone played the same song over and over and over.
11:57When Yothi Uni put out Treaty, everything suddenly exploded.
12:02They went from being a backyard band in Yukala
12:05to being a household name across Australia.
12:08CHEERING
12:10I'm going to talk to Yothu Yindi.
12:12Yothu Yindi.
12:13Yothu Yindi.
12:15Their song started to race up the charts,
12:18not just in Australia, but in other countries too.
12:21OK, this is Yothu Yindi.
12:22DC, check this out.
12:23You're going to enjoy this.
12:29Preeti was the first time that a song,
12:31essentially about Yolngo rights, Aboriginal rights,
12:34was in the mainstream.
12:38My life just changed
12:40and I was becoming a famous Yolngo rock star.
12:47And that puts us up there,
12:51the top of the world.
12:57Rock and rolls, you know, there's alcohol, there's drugs,
13:00there's just day in, day out, you travel, you perform.
13:04And it took its toll.
13:05It took its toll on Whittian, it took its toll on Munda.
13:10I was drinking too much sometimes.
13:13It was bad to my body.
13:16It was just ruining my talent.
13:22I was feeling sad.
13:25While I was doing that,
13:27my father was very, very ill.
13:31And I could feel his energy,
13:35that he was calling me home.
13:38Come back, my son.
13:40Come back.
13:45Whittianna was driving his car
13:47out towards the remote community of Ramenginning
13:50and Whittianna's young son was in the car.
13:55There was alcohol.
13:58We came into Kapo Yap,
14:02bending sharp corner, full speed.
14:05We was going around the corner and then bang.
14:11We just hit the side of the road
14:14and then flipped.
14:16The car flipped.
14:18One, two, three, four, five.
14:23Roll.
14:24He struck me here.
14:27It was pretty bad.
14:29We thought we were going to lose them both.
14:36And it was the biggest wake-up call of his life
14:39because he realised he wasn't going to live
14:41if he kept it up
14:43and he was hurting other people.
14:45And that's when he said,
14:47no more drinking.
14:49I'm going to be an elder.
14:54It was time to come back home
14:56and be a leader
14:58to step into my father's footstep.
15:02Dad said, come home.
15:04Come back to the land.
15:06Come back to the songs.
15:08Come back to the culture.
15:09And that's what he did.
15:12He decided to leave the band.
15:15He came home to work with his father
15:17who was then, yeah, getting on in age
15:19and he wasn't sure how long he was going to be around
15:22to get from him as much as possible,
15:25learn from him as much as possible
15:27before his father died.
15:31One of the founding fathers of the land rights movement
15:34has died at the age of 67.
15:38My father passed away in 1993.
15:42His father's voice still rings in his ears
15:47that he wants him to carry on his role
15:51and to be a person that brings people together.
15:55Yeah.
15:57Brings reconciliation.
16:00Brings harmony.
16:03A real leader.
16:05A real leader.
16:15Today is a happy, sad day.
16:20It's a memorial for my twin brother.
16:24A time to reflect about his life and journey.
16:30Widiyana was called upon basically for everything
16:33around his community.
16:34Welcoming ceremonies and every funeral.
16:37Welcome, welcome, welcome people
16:41that came in today
16:45from my brother's memorial.
16:49He's the person who's comforting
16:50the woman who's lost her child.
16:54He's there in the middle of the night
16:55when someone has been run over.
16:57Widiyana will appear with his clapsticks.
17:00He's like a spiritual ambulance, if you like.
17:12Every now and then tensions within the community erupt.
17:16Everyone's shouting at each other
17:18and there's sort of violence going on.
17:21You'll see Widiyana.
17:22He'll just start with the clapsticks.
17:26And he walks straight through the middle of these scenes
17:30as he's got a force field around him
17:32and slowly things subdue
17:35and Widiyana will just walk up,
17:37take them by the hand,
17:39remove the weapon,
17:41put his arm around him
17:42and walk him off.
17:44He's leading the whole show in the community.
17:48Widiyana is really a peacemaker.
17:58Being a strong man is hard.
18:01It takes time.
18:03It takes wisdom.
18:05It takes knowledge.
18:12These ceremony leaders are really,
18:14from a cultural perspective,
18:15the top of the pile in the community.
18:17They're the most important people.
18:22It's not a job that pays a regular wage, of course,
18:26but without that,
18:27your son won't get initiated.
18:29Without that,
18:30you can't bury a family member that's deceased.
18:36Widiyana's role as a ceremonial leader
18:38is well-respected amongst all the clans.
18:44His portfolio amongst the clan that he leads
18:49would be the spiritual health of the land and its people.
18:57Widiyana appears to be walking in both worlds
19:01very effectively these days.
19:03So he's managing to maintain his important ceremonial role
19:08whilst going off and performing in a band,
19:11whilst going off and being a star in a film.
19:14And action!
19:17I was making a film called High Ground,
19:20which he was helping me produce,
19:21and I thought he could play an important part in that film.
19:28It's a story that tracks a period in our history
19:31of the frontier wars and the massacres
19:34and how the families stood up
19:37in the face of adversity and fought.
19:47There's an old man in the film
19:49who's the elder, the leader,
19:52and Widiyana stood up,
19:53and it was kind of like he was born to do it.
19:57Your uncle has broken the law.
20:00Naram!
20:02He wants to know what law you're talking about.
20:05What?
20:07It was my first acting role,
20:11and I haven't been to a school or whatever, you know?
20:16Nah.
20:17It's just natural.
20:19Just right there.
20:20Bang.
20:21By the power and knowledge and spirituality.
20:27This is my law.
20:29It come from the soil, from Mother Earth.
20:33Yours come from across the sea.
20:35I understand balance.
20:38But in this country...
20:39My country.
20:41So high ground, in a sense, is about the resistance,
20:45and the resistance goes on to this day.
20:49Prominent Gumarch leader, Gullaroy Yunupingu,
20:52says he plans to lodge a native title compensation claim
20:55over Brookside Mining Land in Gove within months.
20:59Over 50 years after all of the hubbub around the establishment of the mine,
21:07the bark petitions,
21:09we're back in the courts with a huge case
21:12claiming that the Yungu people were dispossessed without just terms.
21:20The case will hear arguments about whether Yungu people have a right to compensation.
21:25The court claim wound through the courts for some years,
21:29and then it finally made its way to the highest court in the land.
21:34And the opening of that high court session is incredible.
21:40A whole group of Yungu people, men and women,
21:44from different clans, come to the opening of that court session.
21:50And Wilyana sat there with his brothers every day during the high court case,
21:54and he'd lead them in every morning with his bildwa and song.
22:04Traditional owners in the Northern Territory
22:06have had a significant win in the high court
22:09in a landmark case over native title rights.
22:14The high court decided that the land hadn't been acquired on just terms,
22:18and compensation was owed.
22:21It could be a huge amount of money.
22:23The original claim is for over half a billion dollars,
22:26but it's back to the federal court now to determine that.
22:32My father, he would have been the happiest man alive, you know,
22:36when he would have been here today for winning the case.
22:45While Wilyana was trying to navigate
22:47this incredibly difficult court process,
22:51at the same time he was struggling with his health.
22:57I was in pain and I had blood tests.
23:02I realised that I had a problem with my heart.
23:06Your bowel is not pumping properly.
23:10It was serious. It was serious.
23:12I could die at any time, you know.
23:16He was almost skeletal, like he'd driven himself way past any medical barrier.
23:21He was running on not even fumes and just doing his ceremonial obligations
23:27until he collapsed, as I recall,
23:29and, yeah, it wasn't looking good.
23:32And then one day he came to me and Wilyana and said,
23:37oh, they want me to go to Adelaide
23:40and have this really big open-heart surgery.
23:44And he said, I don't want to.
23:49I was afraid. I was dying.
23:53Everyone told me that,
23:55you must go, you must go, we want your life.
23:58Just go.
24:00They will help you, those heart surgeons,
24:03because we need you.
24:06We need you.
24:08This community needs you.
24:10He hugged us
24:13and said, we're going.
24:15I'm going.
24:17Today, we are now standing on sacred ground.
24:29My circuit fixed my heart.
24:33It's thunder hard now.
24:39I can dance
24:41and I can sing hard and run.
24:48It changed him.
24:50When he came back, he was, like, full of energy
24:54that he said,
24:55now I'm going to step out there
24:57into the community
24:58and step out and just take care of this community.
25:04Good morning, everyone.
25:06My families,
25:08my board.
25:10Wilyana's role
25:11is becoming increasingly important
25:14in the sense that
25:15people are growing old,
25:17people are passing away,
25:19and Wilyana is
25:20stepping up.
25:22Only Umara and Milma.
25:24Power.
25:25One would hope
25:26that he'll get to the point
25:27where he is
25:29taking over his father's position
25:31as the leader
25:32of the Ruta Chingle clan.
25:40So, over the next few years,
25:42there's some fairly complex issues
25:43we need to get through.
25:44He's got a massive,
25:45important role to play.
25:47And I think because of Wilyana's
25:49ability to work in two worlds,
25:51he's actually going to be
25:52a major part of
25:53how we do move forward.
25:57Rio Tinto have said to us
25:59that they're going to close the mine
26:00in 2029,
26:02but at that point in time,
26:05the royalties stop.
26:07The town will lose
26:08its main current employer.
26:11When the compensation's
26:12finally paid out,
26:13there could be rivalries,
26:15there could be some contention
26:17about where that money
26:18is going to go
26:19and if it's being distributed
26:21to the right people
26:23in the right clan groups.
26:26I would like to bring
26:28the clans together.
26:29I want to bring them back
26:31as being one people
26:32and being unity.
26:34There's a better way
26:35to live in harmony
26:38instead of fighting,
26:40fighting, fighting
26:40because I want to be a leader
26:43and a good leader.
26:45You know?
26:54So 2025,
26:55Vyothi Indi's back.
26:57Mandelwey passed away
26:58in 2013
26:59and so we're now working
27:01on what we're calling
27:02a multi-generational band.
27:04I'm 64,
27:05but I'm still
27:06flying across the stage.
27:09We didn't do any shows
27:10for quite some time.
27:12that then finally
27:14reformed the band
27:15and Widiana
27:16was a big part
27:17of doing that.
27:19Everybody put your hands together,
27:21boys.
27:21We're coming down this.
27:33We're coming down this.
27:36Mandelwey,
27:36when he's still alive,
27:38he would always think
27:39that he wants
27:41the youth indie band
27:42to continue.
27:43That was his legacy.
27:45And I think
27:46he'd be proud of Widiana today
27:48to be continuing
27:49that legacy.
27:56Widiana gets up there
27:57and kind of leads the show now.
27:59He's the front man
28:00in that way
28:01because everyone knows
28:02that he's the original.
28:03T.A.
28:05T.A.
28:06T.A.
28:08T.A.
28:20Two grandkids.
28:23This is a girl
28:25and a boy.
28:29Two twins.
28:31Look,
28:31it's absolutely amazing
28:32that with the america is still alive today with the things that he's had against him
28:40he was never meant to die or disappear he was he's meant to be here and to love you to
28:50color
28:51and its people it's a crazy wild ride from this incredible dreadlocked rock star into
29:02incredibly important cultural leader that was always in him that is what his father wanted
29:08him to be and i think his dad would be really proud fish coming out we're the oldest culture
29:19on earth today you know always was and always will be we're here we're here
29:32and we'll we'll be here forever
29:38oh
29:40oh oh oh yeah
29:44oh oh oh yeah
29:47Oh, baby.
29:49Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.
29:53Oh, yeah.
29:55Oh, yeah.
29:57Oh, yeah.
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