YMG2018_01

Title: Message stick presented to Prince Charles during visit to Gove (one of four identical)

Description: From framed notice in Yingiya Mark Guyula's office: "DECLARATION ACCOMPANYING YOLNGU NATIONS LETTERSTICK TO THE NORTHERN TERRITORY LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY We declare that we have not been conquered We declare that to this day we are a sovereign people. We declare that we are subject to our Maḏayin system of law constituted by the Unseen Creator of the Universe and revealed to the Givers of Law:-Djaŋ'kawu and Barama, and we continue to steward this system through our lawful authorities and government. Our Maḏayin system of law establishes Mägayamirr—peace, order, and good government; it is dhapirrk consistent in its statutes; and is assented to by all Yolŋu citizens through the Waṉa Lupthun assent ceremony. Our Maḏayin system of law is guarded by the Yothu Yindi separation of powers. Our Maḏayin system of law is a rule of law not a rule of man. Our Maḏayin system of law is the equal of any other system of law" Second framed notice: "YOLNGU NATIONS LETTERSTICK A letterstick is used traditionally to deliver a message, via intermediaries, across long distances. It uses symbolic references to carry the intent of the sender's communicaiton. Lettersticks were often of hand size and made of wood with incisions or burnt markings. This letterstick is earth pigments on incised wood. This letterstick is one of four. It is a message to the Northern Teirrotory parliament from the Yolŋu nations and more broadly the peoples of Northern Arnhem Land. On the right hand side of the letterstick the symbos for ŋärra'-parliament and the two Yolŋu pillars of society, Dhuwa and Yirritja, combine to speak of the Yolŋu parliments. this is then juxtaposed with another symbol of ŋärra'-parliament and etchings of six states and two territories of the Australian nation. These symbols combine to speak of the parliaments of Australian jurisdiction. The subsequent message is one of the Yolŋu nations outlining the equal standing of their Ŋärra' institution compared to Australian parliaments. It is therefore together a declaration of ongoing Yolŋu sovereignty while also being a diplomatic gesture of intent, and also invitation, to work toward a place of mutual acceptance between Yolŋu and Australian jurisdictions. "

Message: Today (9/4/2018) the Member for Nhulunbuy, Yingiya Mark Guyula, and many Yolŋu clan leaders (convened by Dennis Wanambi and Waka Mununggurr) met with His Royal Highness Prince Charles at the Buku – Larrŋgay Mulka Centre in Yirrkala. The Member for Nhulunbuy made the following declaration: “This here is Yolngu Land, we are sovereign people and we live by Yolngu law". "We have many difficulties with the Australian Governments (https://www.creativecowboyfilms.com/blog_posts/art- centre) because they do not recognise our sovereignty. We need to correct this situation, for the sake of our children and their children, for our cultural survival, – for our ancestors. We are the oldest living culture in the world. I request, on behalf of the people standing before you, and the Yolngu nations that you intervene on our behalf and take a strong position to acknowledge our sovereignty and promote a pathway to Treaty. We are the only indigenous people of a Commonwealth country that does not have the respect or dignity of a Treaty with our people. Will you advocate on our behalf for our justice? Please accept this letter stick and create a diplomatic passage for this letter stick from your highly respected position to the Prime Minister of Australia, in order to help our sovereign nations reach Treaty." From: https://www.creativecowboyfilms.com/blog_posts/the-prince-and-the-message-stick

Item type: image of a message stick (artefact missing)

Subtype: political

State/Territory: NT

Linguistic area 1: Chirila: Yolngu Austlang: N230 - YOLNGU MATHA Glottolog: yuul1239

Cultural region: TopEnd_arnhem_east

Coordinates: 12°15'10.000800"S,136°53'30.001200"E  (-12.252778, 136.891667)

Notes on coordinates: Absolute coordinates for Yirrkala

URL source 1: https://newmatilda.com/2018/04/09/yolnu-leader-gives-prince-charles-treaty-letter-stick-diplomatic-middle-finger/

URL source 2: https://www.creativecowboyfilms.com/blog_posts/the-prince-and-the-message-stick

Notes: PK contacted Clarence House on 1 Sept 2020 and 8 Sept 2020. On 10 Sept 2020 CB replied "I have looked into this and learnt that the stick with its message was given to His Royal Highness to pass on to the Australian Government. To ensure that this was handled appropriately we passed it to the Deputy High Commissioner of the Australian High Commission in London who, in turn, carried it to Australia and handed it to the relevant Government official." On CB's advice PK contacted IR at the Australian High Commission in London. PK spoke to AM on 29/03/2022. AM visited the offices of Mr Guyula in Nhulunbuy where she learned that this object is one of four identical message sticks. One was sent to the United Nations. As of this date, the whereabouts of the message stick sent to Prince Charles cannot be determined. (No response from IR at the Australian High Commission.) BH at Mr Guyula's office emailed on 31/03/2023: "Apology for the delay in replying – we have had a hectic week at Parliament. Mr Guyula has given permission for the images to go on the database. I think the two framed images are best and I will email another picture of the actual letterstick – so that would be 3 images. The letterstick that was given for the United Nations was given to the United Nations Special Rapporteur Ms Victoria Tauli Corpuz on the 22nd of March in Darwin by Mr Guyula and the Rev Dr Djiniyini Gondarra. The letterstick that was given to the NT Parliament was given as part of Mr Guyula’s maiden speech in 2016: https://hdl.handle.net/10070/432660 Thank you from our office for the continued investigation into the missing letterstick. Mr Guyula raised it in Parliament recently as part of his speech for the new King: https://hdl.handle.net/10070/889553 If we can find it, Mr Guyula is interested in intercepting it and taking it the final distance. Email with picture to follow. Please let me know if anything else is required. Thanks, BH" The Hansard Record for 22 October 2022 for the Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory reads: "Mr GUYULA (Mulka): Mr Speaker, I acknowledge the leadership position bestowed on King Charles since the passing of the Queen. I also acknowledge the loss for the King’s families as he becomes a leader for his people. I look to this appointment with hope that there may be more robust advocacy for First Nations people and strong commitment to reconciliation and a pathway for treaties. In 2018 I was honoured to meet with the King on Yolngu country and handed him a letter stick which I have here in this parliament. It said: We declare that we have not been conquered. We declare that to this day we are sovereign people. We declare that we are subject to our Madayin system of law constituted by the unseen creator the universe and revealed to the givers of law, djangawu and barama. We continue to steward this system through our lawful authorities and government. A Madayin system of law establishes magayamirr peace, order and good government is dhapirrk consistent in its statues, and is assented to by all Yolngu citizens through the wana lupthun ceremony. On our Madayin system of law is guided by the Yolngu yothu yindi separation of powers. Our Madayin system of law is rule of law, not a rule of man. Our Madayin system of law is equal to any other system of law, provided with this was an explanation of the letter stick which read, ‘A letter stick is traditionally used to deliver a message by intermediaries across long distances. It uses symbolic references to carry the intent of the leaders and senders communication.’ Letter sticks were often of hand size and made of wood and incisions or burnt marks. This letter stick is earth pigments of incised wood. The letter stick is one of four. It has a message to the parliament of Australia from the Yolngu nations, and more broadly, the people of north east Arnhem Land. On the right hand side of the letter stick the symbols for ngarra parliament and the two Yolngu pillars of society, dhuwa and yirritja combined to speak of the Yolngu parliaments. This is then juxtaposed with another system of ngarra parliament and etchings of six states and two Territories of the Australian nation. These symbols combined to speak of the parliaments of Australia jurisdiction. The subsequent message is one of the Yolngu nations outlining the equal standing of our ngarra institution compared to Australian parliaments. It is a declaration of ongoing Yolngu sovereignty while also being a diplomatic gesture of intent and also invitation to work toward a place of mutual acceptance between Yolngu and Australian jurisdictions. I gave this letter stick to the then Prince and asked if he would deliver it to the Prime Minister of Australia. I asked him, ‘On behalf of the people standing before you and the Yolngu nations that you intervene on our behalf and take the strong position to acknowledge our sovereignty and promote a pathway to treaty’. I do not know what happened to the letter stick, and I am uncertain whether it got to Canberra, but Prince Charles accepted it on that day, and now we must look to the future and work towards righting the wrongs of the past. The grave violations caused by colonisation continue until today. But there is opportunity now to work towards genuine reconciliation. For the first time, there is government intention at all levels of government to create treaties with First Nations people, treaties that respect and do not extinguish our sovereign status. I am hopeful that, with hard work, this can be achieved. From the first day of the British invasion of this country, First Nations people have never been afforded the dignity or the treaty-making process. We are the only nation in the Commonwealth to be treated with such disrespect. Many of our people have died and continue to die fighting for our people, our county and culture." PK: In summary, the four lettersticks are: -United Nations [YMG2017] -King Charles [YMG2018_01] -YMG's office [YMG2018_02] -NT Parliament [YMG2018_03]

Media Files:

Data Entry: Piers Kelly

Related Entries: YMG2017, YMG2018_02, YMG2018_03