About

Cultural Warning: This content contains the names and images of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who are now deceased. Please also note that under Yolngu mourning protocols, the name of one of the artists who passed away in February 2018 should not be spoken aloud, and we respectfully acknowledge this protocol.

About the Barunga Festival

The Barunga Festival is an iconic, family-friendly event on the national festival calendar that provides an authentic Aboriginal cultural experience. It boasts a long and proud tradition of celebrating Indigenous music, culture, and sport. Held over a three-day long weekend in June each year, the festival takes place in Barunga, a remote community located 80 kilometers southeast of Katherine in the Northern Territory.

This much-loved Territory festival transforms a small community of about 350 residents into a vibrant gathering of more than 4,000 Indigenous and non-Indigenous attendees. Visitors of all ages are welcomed by the Traditional Owners to camp and immerse themselves in a diverse program. The festival features traditional dance and music performances, art exhibitions, cultural talks, and bush medicine workshops. It also highlights a robust sports program that blends traditional events like spear throwing and tug-of-war with modern sports such as football and basketball. Today, it is recognised as one of Australia’s most significant Indigenous cultural events, promoting reconciliation and a deeper understanding of Indigenous heritage. The festival is self managed by the Bagala Aboriginal Corporation, a community-led organisation representing the Jawoyn Aboriginal communities of Barunga and Wugularr (Beswick).

Festival History and Founders

The Barunga Festival is built on a foundation laid by strong land rights advocates who envisioned a grassroots event that could scale sustainably while celebrating community life and providing a platform for political discussion.

Peter Apaak Jupurrula Miller The founder of the Barunga Festival is Peter Apaak Jupurrula Miller, a proud Aboriginal man who has dedicated his life to teaching and fighting for land rights. Apaak envisioned a central meeting place in the Top End where people could gather, share culture, and discuss important issues during the infancy of the land rights movement. He trained as a teacher alongside his lifelong friend, Dr. Mandawuy Yunupingu AC of Yothu Yindi, and was present for the historic 1975 handover of Wave Hill station to the Gurindji people. Apaak also served as a senior advisor during the establishment of the Northern Territory’s self-governance in 1978. He and his family still live in the area, where he continues to influence the community as the frontman and producer for the Blekbala Mujik Band and as a co-founder of the Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education.

“It was a shared vision of the community to show Australia our culture and welcome people to our unique country we are all accustomed to, and all come to walk together.” – Peter Apaak Jupurrula Miller

Bangardi Robert Lee (1952–2005) The festival was formally initiated in 1985 by Bangardi Robert Lee, a leader of the Bagala clan of the Jawoyn people, whose vision greatly enhanced the event’s national reach. Born on the banks of Beswick Creek and raised by a senior Jawoyn Derkolo clansman, Mr Lee became a reluctant but powerful leader following the tragic passing of his older brother. He spent many years fighting for land rights, notably serving as a lead negotiator in Australia’s first native title settlement over mining at Mount Todd. Throughout his diverse career, he worked as a ringer, town clerk at Barunga, and CEO of the Jawoyn Association, while also overseeing the development of Nitmiluk Tours, the Territory’s largest Aboriginal-owned tourism operation. His leadership ensured the festival remained a vital platform for bringing people together to understand each other’s challenges.

“The main aim of the festival is to bring people together, sharing and understanding each other’s problems. This way we can get to know one another properly.” – Bangardi Robert Lee

The 1988 Barunga Statement

The Barunga Statement is a historic document created during the 1988 Barunga Festival, an event that eventually inspired Yothu Yindi’s worldwide hit song, “Treaty”. Presented to then-Prime Minister Bob Hawke by the Northern and Central Land Councils, the statement was the culmination of decades of engagement between Aboriginal leaders and the Australian Government. The physical document is a striking piece of art painted with natural pigments on a composition board, combining Aboriginal symbolism with English text to signal cross-cultural collaboration.

Barunga
Statement

The Barunga Statement 1988.

Natural pigments on composition board with attached printed text on paper presented by the Central Land Council and Northern Land Council in 1988. Parliament House Art Collection.

The artwork masterfully unites two distinct regional styles. The left side of the statement represents Saltwater Country and was painted by Yolngu men from northern Australia using fine hair brushes to create distinctive (Rarrk) cross-hatching lines. It depicts three specific Dreaming stories from north-east Arnhem Land: the Crocodile Fire Dreaming of the Madarrpa people, the Crocodile Fire Dreaming of the Gumatj people, and the Whale Dreaming of the Trial Bay area. The right side of the statement represents Desert Country and was completed by Arrernte and Warlpiri men from central Australia using traditional dot-style painting. This section depicts the Two Women Dreaming, illustrating women gathering at the sites of Ulpanyali and Ilpilli to exchange gifts and carry the story on through their country.

The text of the Barunga Statement represents a powerful, unified call for Indigenous rights and self-determination. It calls upon the Australian Government to recognise the rights of Indigenous owners to self-management, permanent control of their ancestral lands, and compensation for the historical loss of those lands. The document demands the protection of sacred sites and artifacts, the return of ancestral remains, and profound respect for Aboriginal identity and basic human rights. Furthermore, it urges the Commonwealth to pass laws establishing a national elected Aboriginal and Islander organisation, a national system of land rights, and a justice system that respects customary laws. Crucially, it asks the government to support an international declaration of Indigenous rights and negotiate a treaty that recognises prior ownership and continued sovereignty.

Following its initial presentation in 1988, the statement was officially unveiled at Parliament House on December 20, 1991. A special ceremony featured speeches by co-creators Galarrwuy Yunupingu and Wenten Rubuntja, alongside Prime Minister Bob Hawke and Minister Robert Tickner. Poignantly, this unveiling served as Hawke’s final act as Prime Minister, having been defeated in a leadership challenge by Paul Keating just the day before. The Barunga Statement has remained on permanent exhibition at Parliament House ever since, and the story of its creation is beautifully preserved in the 1988 documentary Make it Right!

The Barunga Statement

We, the Indigenous owners and occupiers of Australia, call on the Australian Government and people to recognise our rights:

to self-determination and self-management, including the freedom to pursue our own economic, social, religious and cultural development;
to permanent control and enjoyment of our ancestral lands;
to compensation for the loss of use of our lands, there having been no extinction of original title;
to protection of and control of access to our sacred sites, sacred objects, artefacts, designs, knowledge and works of art;
to the return of the remains of our ancestors for burial in accordance with our traditions;
to respect for and promotion of our Aboriginal identity, including the cultural, linguistic,
religious and historical aspects, and including the right to be educated in our own languages and in our own culture and history;
in accordance with the universal declaration of human rights, the international covenant on economic, social and cultural rights, the international covenant on civil and political rights, and the international convention on the elimination of all forms of racial discrimination, rights to life, liberty, security of person, food, clothing, housing, medical care, education and employment opportunities, necessary social services and other basic rights.

We call on the Commonwealth to pass laws providing:

A national elected Aboriginal and Islander organisation to oversee Aboriginal and Islander affairs;
A national system of land rights;
A police and justice system which recognises our customary laws and frees us from discrimination and any activity which may threaten our identity or security, interfere with our freedom of expression or association, or otherwise prevent our full enjoyment and exercise of universally recognised human rights and fundamental freedoms.

We call on the Australian Government to support Aborigines in the development of an international declaration of principles for indigenous rights, leading to an international covenant.

And we call on the Commonwealth Parliament to negotiate with us a Treaty recognising our prior ownership, continued occupation and sovereignty and affirming our human rights and freedom.