Garma Festival of Traditional Cultures facts for kids

The Garma Festival of Traditional Cultures, often called just Garma, is Australia's biggest gathering for Indigenous Australians. It happens over four days every August in a place called northeast Arnhem Land, in the Northern Territory. The Yothu Yindi Foundation hosts Garma. It's a special celebration of the cultural traditions of the Yolngu people. It's also a major get-together for the different Yolngu clans and families from the Arnhem Land area.

The festival shows off traditional miny'tji (art), old stories, manikay (song), and bunggul (dance). It takes place at Gulkula. This is an important Gumatj ceremonial site about 40 km from Nhulunbuy. More than 2500 guests come each year, and tickets often sell out months ahead of time. In recent years, Garma has also become a key event for political leaders. Business, political, academic, and charity leaders come to help shape policies for Indigenous affairs through the Key Forum conference.

History of Garma Festival

The first Garma Festival was held in 1999. It started very small, almost like a backyard barbecue. Dhapanbal Yunupingu, whose father was Dr M Yunupingu, remembers it being a tiny event. She said, "I remember when Galarrwuy and dad brought us here. They stood on the Bunggul ground and said: 'This is the Garma site, this is where the festival is going to be.' We were only little. Dad picked his camp. My uncles picked their camp. There were five white fellas who came. There were no tents, two cars, and a BBQ. Our chef slept next to the back of the ute in a swag".

Important Agreements in 2017

At Garma 2017, the Gumatj Corporation made several important agreements. These were with the federal government and other groups. They included plans for the Gulkula Regional Training Centre. There was also a land lease agreement for Gunyangara. Another agreement was with Rio Tinto Alcan about selling bauxite for the Gulkula Mine project. This mine would be the first owned and run by Indigenous people on their own land. The Corporation also talked about possibly hosting a rocket launch site.

Garma and COVID-19

The Garma festival was cancelled in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2021 event was also cancelled. This was mainly due to new COVID-19 cases in Victoria in May. The Chief Health Officer of the Northern Territory decided that the festival's remote location in northeast Arnhem Land could be risky for public health if an outbreak happened.

What Garma Means and Does

The word garma comes from the Yolngu people. It means "two-way learning process." This means people learn from each other.

The festival has three main goals:

• To create modern spaces and programs for practicing and sharing traditional knowledge. This includes bunggul (traditional dance), Manikay (song), Miny' tji (art), and ceremonies.
• To share knowledge and culture. This helps Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians understand each other better.
• To create jobs and business chances for Yolngu people. This happens through education, training, and community development.

Bunggul: Traditional Dances

One of the main highlights at Garma is the nightly bunggul. These are traditional ceremonial dances. They are performed every day from 4:00 pm until sunset. In these very important ceremonies, men, women, and children from the 13 Yolngu clan groups dance. Each dance is special to northeast Arnhem Land. During these dances, older Yolngu people share their stories of manikay (song). They are joined by the sound of the yidaki (didgeridoo) and the rhythm of the bilma (clapsticks). In 2014, The Monthly magazine called the bunggul "an exhilarating performance." They said it was "an example of one of the world’s oldest musical traditions."

Key Forum: Important Discussions

The Garma Key Forum takes place over three days. It has become an important place for talking about Indigenous issues and policies. Leaders from politics, business, universities, and charities come from Australia and other countries. It's a very important political event. The topics change each year based on Garma's theme. But subjects like Indigenous land rights, Indigenous health, education, and economic development are often discussed.

Gapan Gallery: Art in Nature

The Gapan Gallery is an outdoor art space. It is set among stringy-bark trees next to the bunggul grounds. It shows special artworks from local and regional art centers. Some art centers that have shown their work at Garma include Buku-Larrnggay, Bula'Bula Arts, Elcho Island Arts, and Ngukkur Arts Centre.

Cultural Workshops: Hands-On Learning

Senior Yolngu men and women lead cultural workshops. These workshops give guests a chance to experience life in an authentic bush setting. Workshops include learning the local Yolngu Matha language. Guests can also learn about kinship, go on 'Learning on Country' walks, make spears, and weave baskets.

Youth Forum: For Young Leaders

The Garma Youth Forum has a four-day program for children and young people aged 8–18. It includes an Education Fair on the first day. Schools from all over Australia join with students from local schools. They take part in many activities and workshops. These aim to build friendships between cultures and share knowledge. There is also a strong focus on helping young people develop leadership skills. In recent years, young people from the Youth Forum have led the final Key Forum session. They share what they learned and their hopes for the future.

Music at Garma

Music is always a big part of the Garma program. It shows off the unique sound of Arnhem Land. It also gives new and rising bands a chance to perform. Popular bands like Bärra West Wind, Sunrize Band (Maningrida), Eylandt Band (Groote Eylandt), Mambali Band (Numbulwar), Garrangali Band (Baniyala), Wirrinyga Band (Milingimbi) and Wildwater (Maningrida) often play at the festival.

Yiḏaki Masterclass: Learning the Didgeridoo

Djalu Gurruwiwi taught the first Yiḏaki Masterclass at the very first Garma Festival in 1999. He has taught all the Yiḏaki Masterclasses since then.

The Gulkula Site

Garma is held at Gulkula. This is an important Gumatj ceremonial site. It is in northeast Arnhem Land. It sits in a stringy-bark forest on top of a hill, looking over the Gulf of Carpentaria. The trees on this hill at Gulkula are mostly a type of stringybark called Eucalyptus tetradonta. In Yolngu culture, these grey stringy-barks have many names. One special name is "Gadayka."

In August, the Gadayka trees are in flower. Small native bees turn the flower nectar into honey. Gulkula is connected to the stories of a Yolngu ancestor named Ganbulapula. He was looking for honey. He used his walking stick to hit the trees and disturb the bees. He shielded his eyes from the sun and looked up. Ganbulapula could see the tiny black bees flying around their hive in a hollow tree. He watched their flight. Through honey, a link is made between the actions of both Yirritja and Dhuwa ancestors, people, and the land and sea across northeast Arnhem Land. The importance of bees and honey is shown in sacred designs. These designs represent the cultural knowledge linked to honey.

Old Rocket Tracking Site

In 1964, many trees on the Gulkula hill were bulldozed and burned. This was done by the Department of Works. They wanted to build the Gove Down Range Guidance and Telemetry Station. At that time, the Yolngu owners had no legal rights in Australian law. They could not stop the European Launcher Development Organisation from putting a rocket tracking station on their ceremonial site. The station's job was to track rockets launched from Woomera in South Australia. Its advanced technology was mostly operated by Belgian scientists.

In September 2020, the original twenty-tonne satellite tracker was returned to the Gove Peninsula. It had been stored at Woomera for many years. It will be fixed up and displayed at the Arnhemland Historical Society's headquarters at Gove Airport.

New Rocket Launch Site

In 2017, the Yolngu landowners were asked about building a new space facility. This was done under the Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1976. In 2017, the Gumatj clan, through the Northern Land Council, approved a lease for the Gumatj Corporation. This was for running a sub-orbital rocket launch pad. This was a first not just for Yolngu people, but for Australia.

The planned site covers 65 ha. By 2019, the Gumatj people had leased it to Equatorial Launch Australia (ELA). ELA will rent out the Gulkula Launch Site to space organizations like NASA. In May 2019, NASA said it planned to sign a contract with ELA. They wanted to launch four rockets in 2020. NASA sees this site as a new option. They had not used their previous preferred site in Woomera since 1995. Having a deep-water port nearby is a big advantage. It lowers the cost of moving rockets and their parts, compared to transporting them across the desert. In July 2019, scientists from NASA visited the site. The Northern Territory Government and ELA paid for their visit. This facility is seen as a huge chance to boost the region's economy. It will create jobs and paths for young people studying STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math).