Australia's land rights story has entered a new chapter.
Yolŋu leaders in northeast Arnhem Land have announced a powerful new Dilak Land Council, declaring land rights are "coming home" to Traditional Owners.
On a national stage at the Garma Festival, revered Elder Djawa Yunupingu told leaders, politicians and visitors from across the country on Saturday real power must sit "fully into the hands of landowners".
"I announce today that land rights is coming home to northeast Arnhem Land," he said to rapturous applause.
"There will be a new land council in Arnhem Land and it will be called the Dilak Land Council, and it will be the power for our future."
The announcement was delivered before a powerful audience that included senior cabinet ministers Penny Wong, Malarndirri McCarthy and Jason Clare, and Pacific leaders including Timor-Leste Prime Minister Kay Rala Xanana Gusmão.
The move cements a new Aboriginal authority in one of the most symbolically important parts of the country and signals a fresh push for self-determination on Yolŋu terms.
Mr Yunupingu, one of Australia's most important Aboriginal cultural Elders and leader of the Yothu Yindi Foundation, cast Garma as a place for resetting, renewal and identifying the next generation of Indigenous leaders.
He tied the new council directly to Yolŋu law, ancestral obligation and an unbroken connection to Country.
"We own the sea, the islands, the waters, the trees, the wind, the plants and the animals - they are all part of us and we are part of them," he said.
"The land and everything in it cannot be separated from us. The land is a part of us and we are of the land. Always was, always will be."
As the ripples of the announcement spread across Garma, Senator Wong used her address to draw a contrast with those she suggested were trying to divide Australians.
"At a time when there are those who seek to set us apart, First Nations peoples, with your generosity, remind us our many different stories brought together make us stronger," she told the forum.
"We are not a monoculture and we have never been."
Mr Yunupingu framed the creation of the Dilak Land Council as another expression of ancestral duty to protect land, people and culture.
He said Yolŋu wanted development and opportunity in a way that kept control on Country and in the hands of Traditional Owners.
"We build houses. We build roads," he said.
"We have tourism at Bawaka and Banubanu and it is my dream that there will be a five-star resort on this beautiful Country.
"We have schools that are teaching our young people. We have a Garma Institute that will be our own university and it will hold our knowledge right here."
He said the Yolŋu people knew every inch of their Country and the council would stand ready to work alongside the army, the navy and the air force to defend it.
"It will work with the government and with mining companies, any company who wants to do business with us," he said.
"It will work in partnership with the Northern Land Council for the people. We will be a part of the economic life of this nation whilst never losing who we are and what we stand for."
Mr Yunupingu thanked the Northern Land Council and its chair, Matthew Ryan, for protecting Yolngu interests and standing with them as they prepared for the transition.
Australian Associated Press
