Gäṉgaṉ

Barama stayed there, and there he created the Law and made the foundation of the sacred shelter. And now we imitate that same Law today. The sound and stories we tell through the songlines that connect to the land, we must follow this Law that is told through his story. At Gäṉgaṉ, he met with his disciples, and the initial ceremony for the Yirritja moiety was performed and given to the Dhaḻwaŋu clan. From here, the creator beings traveled to all the Yirritja lands, giving Law, language, song, dance and maḏayin.

– YINIMALA GUMANA

Gäṉgaṉ is the Dhaḻwaŋu homeland, a freshwater estate that includes rivers, waterholes, and stringybark tree (eucalpytus tetradonta) forests. It is historically significant as the site of the 1911 massacre of a group of Yolŋu people, which marked the beginning of Yolŋu engagement with the outside world. It is associated with the songline of Barama, the Yirritja creator ancestor, who came from the area of Gäṉgaṉ.

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