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Australian Story - Season 31 - Episode 05: Morning Star - Witiyana Marika
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00:15Hello, Wittiana Marika is both a rock star and one of Australia's most respected Indigenous
00:23leaders. He's from Yakala in the Northern Territory, famous for its incredible art as well as its major
00:30role in Australia's land rights history. Wittiana was a founding member of the legendary band Yothu
00:38Yindi and living a rock and roll lifestyle but when his community called he stepped up.
00:55Wittiana has always been a natural performer, it's in his blood, it's in his DNA. Your eyes are drawn to
01:05him.
01:11When I first met Wittiana Marika he was young and handsome and all the women were chasing him
01:16and I thought wow how's this guy gonna settle down at home and really get serious around traditional
01:21the law and all that. Wittiana transformed from you know the dreadlocked superstar rock star into
01:31a leader of his people.
01:38He looked at himself that he's ready to do this. He can do anything. That's the kind of leadership
01:46that he carries now. He's an archbishop, he's a high court judge, he's a professor, he's a counsellor,
01:56he's like a lord mayor and he also happens to be a rock star.
02:06Good evening everyone.
02:09How are we doing?
02:13Wittiana means morning star. So the night that Wittiana was born
02:18his father's brother had a dream and the dream was this young boy coming towards Wittiana's father
02:25with a little white flower which was a star. You think about that, a star was born that night. Wittiana
02:32Marika.
02:34That's the star that I am. So I want to be a star. Film star, rock star and the star
02:43of my birth.
02:44I'm happy for becoming a real star.
03:04Wittiana grew up in the community of Yirrkala in North East Arnhem Land.
03:08It's an incredibly remote part of Australia on the eastern edge of the Northern Territory.
03:16Yirrkala is the home of the Yungo people.
03:19There are 13 clan groups. Wittiana was born into the Riddichingu clan.
03:30In 1961, that was the year that I was born here in Yirrkala.
03:40The beginning of becoming a song man.
03:44Mum 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.
04:04They'll be in your system.
04:11This is a place that I spent a lot of time when I was a boy.
04:15A paradise.
04:17Away from distraction and only you and the nature and the spirit of the land.
04:26We didn't learn the songs from Dad by sitting next to and clapping with his clapsticks and just
04:33following the lyrics and the words.
04:37You know, when the old man say, hang on, you're really good.
04:42You're going to be a song man. Don't be shy. Put your voice out there.
04:49We have to keep those song lines. It'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.
05:11But inland, the soil was different. It was bright red.
05:15It proved to be bauxite, aluminium oxide, and the white man came to go.
05:22Overshadowing all of Widiana's childhood was the struggle against a huge mine,
05:28which was threatened to be built on the Gove Peninsula.
05:34Overshadowing all of the people that were so beautiful in this pristine, gorgeous place.
05:43One of the people who became an incredibly important spokesperson
05:47for the opposition to the mine was Widiana's father.
05:53Roy Marika, MBE, leader 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. If the people and Aborigines can make agreement with each other.
06:14He was a role model for me. He 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 Yirukala people's views were ignored.
06:57In 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 Yirukala people had no native title claim
07:18over their land in British law. And the mine went ahead.
07:28It was a terrible moment.
07:33Broken 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,
07:59the sacred point where rituals start here.
08:10This is the place where my ancestors stood.
08:16And my next generation, where they were going to stand here tall and talk,
08:24tall 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 to 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.
09:00So 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.
09:17And I'm going to learn a lot of things.
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, you know, we want to change this world.
09:58Instead of singing in English, we can blend English and Yirukala.
10:11What a crazy idea.
10:18They started writing songs and singing and we'd sit around and just listen to them sing.
10:24Reflections 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
10:41We've done living now in the young hallway
10:47Ba-ba-ba-ba
10:50Living in the mainstream
10:52Wittiana was a really important part of the image of the band. So he's a very good-looking man,
10:59powerful stage presence, powerful voice.
11:03We're ready together
11:04We're ready together
11:06We're ready together
11:06We're ready together
11:07I was the guy who made all the early Yothi Uni videos
11:16We used to call him the Black Elvis. He's got all of the tribal moves,
11:20but he's got this swagger. He's got this Elvis thing going on that he just mixes in at the right
11:26time and brings it right up front and the audience just love it.
11:38Well, I heard it on the radio
11:41And they started writing a little song, Treaty. Everyone loved that song when it came out.
11:49You know, everyone played the same song over and over and over.
11:57When Yothi Yindi put out Treaty, everything suddenly exploded
12:02They went from being a backyard band in Ukala to being a household name across Australia
12:15The song started to race up the charts, not just in Australia, but in other countries, too
12:21Okay, this is Yothi Yindi DC. Check this out. You're gonna enjoy this
12:29Preeti was the first time that a song essentially about Yolngo rights, Aboriginal rights, was in the mainstream
12:38My life just changed and I was becoming a famous Yolngo rock star
12:47And that puts us up there, the top of the world
12:57Rock and Rolls, you know, there's alcohol, there's drugs, there's just day in, day out, you travel, you perform
13:03And it took its toll, it took its toll on Whittayana, 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
13:20talent
13:22I was really sad
13:25While I was doing that
13:27My father was very, very ill
13:31And I could feel his energy
13:36That he was calling me home
13:38Come back my son, come back
13:46Whittayana was driving his car out towards the remote community of Ramengining
13:50And Whittayana's young son was in the car
13:54There was alcohol
13:56There was alcohol
13:58We came into Kapuoyak
14:02Bending sharp corner
14:04Full speed
14:06We was going around the corner and then bang
14:10We just hit the side of the road and then flipped
14:16The car flipped
14:171, 2, 3, 4, 5
14:23Rolls
14:24He struck me here
14:27It was pretty bad
14:29You know, we 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 if 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
15:05Come back to the land
15:06Come back to the songs
15:08Come back to the culture
15:09And that's what he did
15:13He decided to leave the band
15:15He came home to work with his father
15:17Who was then
15:18Yeah, 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
15:43His 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
15:57Brings reconciliation
15:58Brings harmony
16:02A real leader
16:15Today is a happy
16:17Saturday
16:20As a memorial for my twin brother
16:24A time to reflect about his life and journey
16:30Widiyana was called upon basically for everything around his community
16:34Welcoming ceremonies
16:36And every funeral
16:37Welcome
16:39Welcome welcome welcome
16:40People that came in today
16:45From my brother's memorial
16:48He's the person who's comforting the woman who's lost her child
16:54He's there in the middle of the night when 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 and there's sort of violence going on
17:20You'll see Widiyana
17:21He'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 and Widiyana will just walk up
17:37Take them by the hand
17:39Remove the weapon
17:41Put his arm around him and walk him off
17:43He'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
18:04It takes the wisdom
18:05It takes the knowledge
18:12These ceremony leaders are really from 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
18:25But without that your son won't get initiated
18:28Without that you can't bury a family member that's deceased
18:36Widiyana's role as a ceremonial leader is well respected amongst all the clans
18:44His portfolio amongst the clan that he leads would be the spiritual health of the land and its people
18:57Widiyana appears to be walking in both worlds very effectively these days
19:03So he's managing to maintain his important ceremonial role whilst going off and performing in a band whilst going off
19:12and and being a star in a film
19:17I was making a film called high ground which he was helping me produce and I thought he could play
19:23an important part in that film
19:27It's a story that tracks a period in our history of the frontier wars and the massacres
19:34And how the the the families stood up in the face of adversity and fought
19:47There's an old man in the film who's the the elder the leader and Widiyana stood up
19:53And it was kind of like he was born to do it your uncle has broken the law
20:00He wants to know what law you're talking about what?
20:07It was my first acting role and I haven't been to a school or whatever you know
20:15Nah, it's just nettle
20:19Just right there bang
20:21By the power and knowledge and spirituality
20:27This is my law
20:30It come from the soil from mother earth
20:33You come from across the sea
20:35I understand balance
20:38But in this country
20:39My country
20:41So so high ground in a sense is about the resistance and the resistance goes on to this day
20:49Prominent gumarch leader gullaroy unipingu says he plans to lodge a native title compensation claim
20:55Over bookside mining land in gove within months
20:59Over 50 years after all of the hubbub around the establishment of the mine
21:06The bark petitions we're back in the courts
21:10With a huge case
21:12Claiming that the yoongu people were dispossessed without just terms
21:20The case will hear arguments about whether yoongu people have a right to compensation
21:26The court claim wound through the courts for some years and then it finally made its way to the highest
21:31court in the land
21:34And the opening of that high court session is incredible
21:40A whole group of yoongu people men and women from different clans come to the opening of that court session
21:49And wiliana sat there with his brothers every day during the high court case
21:54And he'd leave them in every morning with his billboard and song
22:04Traditional owners in the northern territory have had a significant win in the high court in a landmark case over
22:10native title rights
22:14The high court decided that the land hadn't been acquired on just terms and compensation was owed
22:21It could be a huge amount of money the 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 happiest man alive
22:36What he would have been here today for winning the case
22:45While Witiana was trying to navigate this incredibly difficult court process at the same time he was struggling with his
22:54health
22:57I was in pain and I had a blood test
23:02I realized that I had a problem with my heart
23:07Your your valve is not
23:09pumping properly
23:10It was serious it was serious I could die 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 until he collapsed as I recall and
23:30Yeah, it wasn't looking good
23:32And then one day he came to me and Will and said
23:37They want me to go to Adelaide and 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 you must go you must go we want your life just go
24:00They will help you that those heart surgeons because we need you
24:06We need you this community needs you
24:10He hugged us
24:12And said we're going i'm going
24:18Today we are now standing on sacred ground
24:29My surgery to fix my heart
24:40I can dance and i can sing out and run
24:48It changed him
24:50When he came back he was like full of energy
24:54That he said now i'm going to step out there into the community and step out and
24:59And just take care of this community
25:03Yo, good morning everyone
25:06My families
25:08My board
25:10Widiana's role is becoming increasingly important in the sense that
25:16People are growing old people are passing away and Widiana is stepping up
25:21Only Umara and Bilma
25:24Power
25:25One would hope that he'll get to the point where he is taking over his father's position
25:31As the leader of the redichingled clan
25:40So over the next few years there's some fairly complex issues we need to get through
25:44He's got a massive important role to play and i think because of widiana's ability to work in two worlds
25:51He's actually going to be a major part of
25:53How we do move forward
25:57Rio Tinto have said to us that they're going to close the mine in 2029
26:02But at that point in time
26:05The royalties stop
26:07The town will lose its main current employer
26:11When the compensations finally paid out there could be rivalries there could be some contention
26:17About where that money is going to go and if it's being distributed to the right people in the right
26:23clan groups
26:26I would like to bring the clans together
26:30I want to bring them back as being one people and being unity
26:34There's a better way to live in harmony
26:38Instead of fighting fighting fighting
26:41Because i wanted to be a leader and a good leader you know
26:53So 2025 you're at the indies back
26:57Mandawai passed away in 2013 and so we're now working on what we're calling a multi-generational band
27:03We didn't do any shows for quite some time
27:12They then finally
27:14Reformed the band and and widiana was a big part of of doing that
27:43And i think he'd be proud of widiana today to be continuing that legacy
27:56Wouldiana gets up there and kind of leads the show now he's the front man in that way because everyone
28:02knows that he's the original
28:19We've got two grandkids.
28:23This is girl and a boy.
28:29Two twins.
28:31Look, it's absolutely amazing that Widiana Marika is still alive today with the things
28:35that he's had against him.
28:41He was never meant to die or disappear.
28:47He was meant to be here and to love Yurikala and its people.
28:54It's a crazy wild ride from this incredible dreadlocked rock star into incredibly important
29:03cultural leader.
29:05That was always in him.
29:06That is what his father wanted him to be.
29:09And I think his dad would be really proud.
29:15Fish coming out.
29:18We're the oldest culture on earth today.
29:25You know, always was and always will be.
29:27We are here, we are here, and we will be here forever.
29:52We are here forever.
30:04We are here forever.
30:05We are here forever.
30:09We are here forever.
30:11We are here forever.
30:12We are here forever.
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