On 14 August 1963, a moment of profound significance unfolded in Australia’s Parliament House. Two bark petitions, crafted by the Yolŋu people of north-east Arnhem Land, were formally presented to the House of Representatives — the first time an Indigenous Australian document was recognised within this chamber, and the first formal assertion of Aboriginal land rights in the Australia's post-colonial history.
The petitions were born from urgency. Just months earlier, the Federal Government had approved bauxite mining on Yolŋu land without consultation or consent, excising over 36,000 hectares from the Arnhem Land Reserve. Sacred places, hunting grounds, and fishing areas were suddenly under threat. The Yolŋu, whose laws and relationship to Country stretched back tens of thousands of years, saw this as an egregious breach of their sovereignty.
First image: Yirrkala artists, Dhuwa moiety.Yirrkala Bark Petition 14.8.1963 46.9 x 21 cm, natural ochres on bark, ink on paper House of Representatives, Canberra.
Second image: Yirrkala artists, Yirritja moiety, Yirrkala Bark Petition 28.8.1963 46.9 x 21 cm natural ochres on bark, ink on paper, House of Representatives, Canberra.
But rather than respond with anger alone, Yolŋu leaders sought to communicate in a way that could not be ignored. They crafted their message in both English and Yolŋu Matha, setting out their connection to Country, their rights as custodians, and their request for respectful consultation; eight requests in all. Their words were then framed within bark panels and painted with signficant designs — visual title deeds encoding the ancestral stories and boundaries of the land and asserting the Yolŋu's rights.
The documents were a petition, in a sense, but they were also a gift of diplomacy and a gesture of negotiation from a long-standing sovereign nation. It was an invitation to listen, and to engage, and they were presented to the House of Representatives accordingly.
The petitions prompted a parliamentary inquiry — another first — which acknowledged Yolŋu grievances and recommended compensation. Despite this, the mining proceeded, and in 1971 the landmark Gove Land Rights case denied recognition of native title under Australian law. While the legal battle was lost, the movement it sparked laid foundations for the 1976 Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act, and for ongoing struggles for justice.
Today, the bark petitions remain both artwork and political document — symbols of resilience, cultural pride, and defiance in the face of injustice.
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The story of the Yirrkala Bark petitions is told in vivid, compelling detail by Professor Claire Wright in Naku Dharuk: The Bark Petitions, one of the most engrossing books I've ever read, and one I recommend to you wholeheartedly. The casual, arrogant dismissiveness of the state, civic and commercial bodies scrambling over one another in their quest for bauxite is searing, and Professor Wright's lyrical narrative style renders their leering greed in fine detail. The grace, dignity and earnestness of the Yolŋu Elders and community stand in stark contrast. An epic, and important book.
Transcript of the Yirrkala Bark Petitions 1963
Bukudjulni gonga’yurru napurrunha Yirrkalalili malanha Balamumu, Narrkala, Gapiny, Miliwurrwurr nanapurru dhuwala mala, ga Djapu, Mangalili, Madarrpa, Magarrwanalinirri, Djambarrpuynu, Gumaitj, Marrakula, Galpu, Dhabunyu, Wangurri, Waramirri, Maymil, Riritjinu malamanapamirri djal dhunapa.
Dhuwala yulnu mala galki 500 nhina ga dhiyala wananura. Dhuwala wanga Arnhem Land yurru djaw’yunna naburrungala.
Dhuwala wanga djaw’yunna ga nhaltjana yurru yulnungunydja dhiyala wanga nura nhaltjanna dhu dharrpanna yulnu walandja yakana lakarama madayangumuna.
Dhuwala nunhi Welfare Officers ga Government bungawa lakarama yulnuwa malanuwa nhaltjarra nhuma gana wanganaminha yaka nula napurrungu lakarama wlala yaka lakarama Governmentgala nunhala Canberra nhaltjanna napurruga guyana yulnuyu Yirrkala.
Dhuwala wanga napurrungyu balanu larrunarawu napurrungu nathawa, guyawu, miyspunuwu, maypalwu nunhi napurru gana nhinana bitjarrayi nathilimirri, napurru dhawalguyanana dhiyala wanganura.
Dhuwala wanga yurru dharpalnha yurru yulnuwalandja malawala, ga dharrpalnha dhuwala bala yulnuwuyndja nhinanharawu Melville Bathurru wanga balandayu djaw’yun nyumukunin.
Dhuwala yulnundja mala yurru nhamana balandawunu nha mulkurru nahma yurru moma ga darangan yalalanumirrinha nhaltjanna dhu napurru bitjarra nhakuna Larrakeahyu momara wlalanguwuy wanga.
Nuli dhu bungawayu House of Representatives djaw’yn yulnuwala nathili yurru nha dhu lakarama interpreteruy bungawalala yulnu matha, yurru nha dhu djaw’yun dhuwala wangandja.
Nunhiyina dhu marrlayun marrama’-ndja nhinanharawu yulnuwu marrnamathinyarawu. Dhuwala napuru yulnu mala yurru liyamirriyama bitjan bili marr yurru napurru hha gonga’yunna wangarr’yu.
Australian matha
Signatories
(From bark petition images) Milirrpum, Djalalingba, Daymbalipu, Dhayila, Dundiwuy, Dhunggala, Raiyin, Manunu, Larrakan, Wulanybuma, Wawunggmarra, Nyabilingu To The Honourable The Speaker and Members of the House of Representatives in Parliament Assembled
The Humble Petition of the Undersigned aboriginal people of Yirrkala, being members of the Balamumu, Narrkala, Gapiny, and Miliwurrwurr people and Djapu, Mangalili, Madarrpa, Magarrwanalinirri, Gumatj, Djambarrpuyny, Marrakulu, Galpu, Dhalnayu, Wangurri, Warramirri, Maymil, Rirritjinu, tribes, respectfully sheweth –
That nearly 500 people of the above tribes are residents of the land excised from the Aboriginal Reserve in Arnhem Land.
That the procedures of the excision of this land and the fate of the people on it were never explained to them beforehand, and were kept secret from them.
That when Welfare Officers and Government officials came to inform them of decisions taken without them and against them, they did not undertake to convey to the Government in Canberra the views and feelings of the Yirrkala aboriginal people.
That the land in question has been hunting and food gathering land for the Yirrkala tribes from time immemorial; we were all born here.
That places sacred to the Yirrkala people, as well as vital to their livelihood are in the excised land, especially Melville Bay.
That the people of this area fear that their needs and interests will be completely ignored as they have been ignored in the past, and they fear that the fate which has overtaken the Larrakeah tribe will overtake them.
And they humbly pray that the Honourable the House of Representatives will appoint a Committee, accompanied by competent interpreters, to hear the views of the Yirrkala people before permitting the excision of this land.
They humbly pray that no arrangements be entered into with any company which will destroy the livelihood and independence of the Yirrkala people.
And your petitioners as in duty bound will ever pray God to help you and us.
Transcript and English translation via aiatsis.gov.au
You can learn more about the Yirrkala Bark Petitions and their role in shaping Australian democracy here, or here.
