Singing the land to life in honour of Mandawuy Yunupingu

The fire of indigenous band Yothu Yindi’s Treaty, first recorded nearly 30 years ago, is being rekindled, often by a new generation.

Mandawuy Yunupingu in rehearsal in Brisbane in 1997. Picture: Glenn Barnes.

Sitting by the campfire in a tiny tropical dot called Biranybirany, just knocking at 30 years ago, Yothu Yindi singer Mandawuy Yunupingu penned a piece of ­history. It was here, beneath a ­paperbark tree peering out to the East Arnhem Land coast, that he wrote the earliest version of his best known tune, Treaty,with Paul Kelly.

The lyrics were fiery, political: “This land was never given up / This land was never bought and sold / The planting of the Union Jack never changed our law at all.”

Now, five years since the ­singer’s death from kidney disease, comes a call to reignite the flame. At 11am on June 7, Yothu Yindi survivors, friends and family will gather at the isolated community of Biranybirany — population roughly 20 — to sing the land to life once more.

Among them will be Kelly, ­returning to the sacred soil for the ceremony to celebrate the music and accomplishments of his friend, the ARIA Hall of Famer and former Australian of the Year.

Australian of the Year Mandawuy Yunupingu with prime minister Paul Keating in 1992.

A memorial stone also will be unveiled on the day, inscribed with the singer’s full name, meaning it finally can be written again, marking a turning point in the Yolngu grieving process. (His family has given permission for the name and image to be used for this story.)

Mandawuy stayed at the homeland on and off for many years, says his widow, Yalmay ­Yunupingu. It was where he completed his university studies. It was the singer’s place of peace, his ­spirit home. But being stationed 130km from the nearest town of Nhulunbuy had its pitfalls.

“It was very hard living out there,” Yalmay says. “There was no electricity. The family out there lived on fire. They lived on generator. It was hard with the generator too because the generator needs petrol in it, or diesel.

“I still remember at night-time it was very, very hot. The kids were crying inside and the mozzies were around. It was just very hard to cope. But we did it. We tried hard to just live with what was there.”

Yalmay Yunupingu will pay tribute to her late husband, Mandawuy Yunupingu. Picture: Keri Megelus

Yothu Yindi soon exploded like no other band of its ilk ever had. In the wake of prime minister Bob Hawke’s failed promise at the 1988 Barunga Festival to forge a treaty with Aboriginal people, the Biranybirany song was a potent, politically charged detonator.

Treaty’s final cut — and the remix that followed — saw this grenade lobbed into mainstream Australia and quickly climb the charts. Verses of unapologetic rage laid on a backbone of Yolngu chants and yidaki. It was new. It was ancient. It was joyous. It was angry.

Witiyana Marika, a founding member of Yothu Yindi, says there was something in the air after Treaty was recorded. “We knew it was going to be a hit song for Australia, for Arnhem Land,” he says. “We knew. Manda (Mandaway Yunupingu) reckoned it could be a best version of Yolngu-balanda mix, contemporary and traditional.

“When I saw the kids were dancing, it was something. A new revolution had come. An era. It was something really powerful. The lyrics hit people and made them get up and dance right across (the nation), which is something beautiful.”

A song written in the wilds of Arnhem Land soon became the biggest hit in Australia. The ARIAs lapped it up, and in 1992 Yothu Yindi nailed five awards, ­including the coveted song of the year.

Nearly three decades later the tune still slices like a diamond tip. The lyrics haunt successive governments, federal and Northern Territory, as the pledge for a treaty remains unfulfilled:

Promises can disappear just like writing in the sand.

Yothu Yindi bassist Stu Kellaway says the fight for a treaty is flaring up. Territory Chief Minister Michael Gunner is attending the June 7 ceremony at Birany­birany, where it is understood he will outline his vision for how such a partnership could be realised.

“I think government have sat on their hands for so long and have just given lip service to people,” Kellaway says. “(Making a treaty) is not an easy thing to do because we’re talking about all of indigenous Australia. But, yeah, it is definitely bubbling away, and I feel like the governments are going to be making some announcements very soon on their position on the treaty, both federal and NT. It’s a big political play. And it has to happen.”

Five years since Mandawuy’s death and 30 since Hawke’s promise, a new generation of artists has picked up the gauntlet. In the past year, a modern ­incar­na­tion of the Yothu Yindi band has bounded into the musical spotlight, performing a string of shows including a sellout at Sydney’s Enmore Theatre and the Commonwealth Games closing ceremony.

Yothu Yindi and The Treaty Project during the closing ceremony at the Commonwealth Games in April.

Yothu Yindi and the Treaty Project have breathed new fire into old songs, with a cast of young Yolngu talent in support. One of these is singer Yirrmal Marika, the son of Witiyana Mar­ika. Yirrmal also has found his own early windfalls.

The beat-dripping track Marryuna he ­recorded with hip-hopper Baker Boy, a fellow Arnhem Lander, was No 17 in this year’s Triple J Hottest 100. He has the ear of a younger generation.

“I see this bunch of Yothu Yindi dancers, and I see old man Mandawuy coming out, and my heart beats every time when I hear it,” Yirrmal says of Treaty.

“It beats like a yidaki rhythm, like dancing.

“And it makes me stronger as a Yolngu, and its story and message give me a hope. Not hope as a fate but hope as a blessing and a warning.”

He says the time is now to sing Treaty louder than ever.

“I will sing my heart out for this country so everyone can hear and say, ‘Wow. This is the strongest culture in Australia and still not recognised. But they are still singing it proudly and so resiliently.’ ”

Yirrmal will join the many ­musical voices out at Birany­birany next week, singing the ­spirit of the old man as the fires of the past burn bright in a proud corner of the nation.

Yothu Yindi and the Treaty Project will tour Australia later this year.