‘Our voice is the spirit of this country’: connecting Yolngu parliament in Arnhem Land to Canberra

Yolngu parliament in north-east Arnhem Land is not a building and it's not on a map. But the Ngarra is a powerful place where Yolngu clan leaders have met to govern their land, lives and culture for thousands of years.

The authority of Ngarra is embedded in the landscape as sand sculptures and projected to the world through intricate bark paintings.

Baniyala is famous for another reason. In 2008 the high court's landmark determination in the Blue Mud Bay case declared that Yolngu own the land between the low and high water mark along most of the NT coastline, and recognised First Nations' interest in the "sea country" of the intertidal zone for the first time in Australian history.

Djambawa Marawili is the leader of the Yolngu Yithuwa Madarrpa clan, and has authority to stand inside Ngarra to send a message to that other parliament down south, the one in Canberra.

Djambawa's message is about the Indigenous voice to parliament. English is his third or fourth language; he says he speaks about nine. He has decided to craft a message in English so people in the southern states can understand the connection between Yolngu law, culture and worldview, and the importance of having their voice heard in the Australian parliament.

"Our voice is the law of this country. This law, which we call rom, was given to us by our ancestors and has safeguarded our people, country and culture for thousands of years," he says.

"Our voice is the spirit of this country, our ancestral spirits are both powerful and gentle, dangerous and safe and strengthen us to live with honour and dignity."

The land cannot speak for itself, he says, which is why people must.

"Our voice is safe and welcoming, for all those who want to live together with honour and respect for this country.

"Our voice is respected in Australian parliaments and courts, as represented in the bark petitions, Barunga statement and the sea rights decision.

"For our voice to be heard our homelands must be strong. For our homelands to be strong our voice must be heard.

"I support an Indigenous voice to parliament that strengthens our voice from our homelands."

Djambawa has long been an ambassador between Yolngu and non-Indigenous Australia. He is the last surviving of the seven artists who presented the Barunga statement to the then prime minister, Bob Hawke, in 1988.

The Barunga statement called for self-determination, land rights, compensation for dispossession, the protection of sacred sites, the return of remains and human rights afforded by international law. It sought a national, elected Aboriginal body, national land rights, recognition of customary law and the negotiation of a treaty.

Hawke promised but never delivered on national land rights legislation; his final act as prime minister was to hang the Barunga statement on the wall of Old Parliament House, where it remains.

The events inspired Yothu Yindi's global hit Treaty, which included the lyrics "promises can disappear, just like writing in the sand".

Djambawa says that 35 years since the Barunga statement was sent to Canberra, the message has not changed.

"Now's the time for the voice to be to be heard and be created, the solutions created," he says. "The voice must be properly clear and heard for self determination and for self sufficiency.

"It's really not a dangerous message and it is not confusing message. It is a clear message."

He wants to make sure that the clans living on homelands such as Baniyala are empowered to stay there and be self sufficient. He says housing is the key to that.

In a speech to the inaugural Remote Housing and Homelands conference in Darwin in April, he recalled the work it took to build Baniyala in 1974, when families returned to their traditional lands to get away from unsafe and unhealthy lifestyles in towns.

"Our fathers and mothers saw this risk coming many years ago and made their decision in the 1970s to move away from the missions," he told the conference.

He remembered building their first homes with bark on the beach. Later, Djambawa used his skills as a plumber, carpenter and truck driver to build tin houses, schools and hand cutting an airstrip - skills he learnt from working at the Numbulwar mission and the GEMCO mine.

"When we first built these houses, homelands didn't have power or water so the houses don't have kitchens or bathrooms. We did cooking on fires and used drop toilets. These are the houses and conditions many of us still live in today," he told the conference.

Djambawa says he supports a voice to parliament that will advocate for better remote housing, so families who want to grow up in the cultural safety of the homelands can live healthy lives and not be pulled into towns to face homelessness and the "damage of drink and drugs and violence".

"Our homelands are places of strength and opportunity," he said.

"We should have a really good decent housing so we can live longer and we can create that opportunity for the generations to come."