Organized by the Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection

Explore Yolŋu Country

We belong to the land; that’s why we have great knowledge of the land and sea and what they can provide for us. – DELA MUNUŊGURR

For Yolŋu, the term Country encompases land, sea, sky and everything therein. It includes plants, animals, soil, seasons, weather, constellations and all relationships in the natural world. Country was shaped during the waŋarr (creation period) by ancestral beings, who left their spiritual essence in the land. This essence is innately perceptible and observable to Yolŋu people today. 

Yolŋu belong to Country and Country belongs to Yolŋu. Each clan acts as custodians for specific places and their designs and narratives.

Explore the map and click on the points of interest to learn more about Yolŋu homelands and ancestral places.

All these places have stories and names. Through using these names (as personal names), we put our children not just onto the places, but onto the foam on the shore, onto the deep waters, onto the clouds, onto the trees and plants and grasses and animals, whatever is connected to our Country, and we tell the stories of all these things and places. That is how our identity is formed, through being put onto Country, not just here but in all Yolŋu places. – YINIMALA GUMANA

 

Explore The Locations