Raymattja Marika facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Raymattja Marika
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|---|---|
| Born | c.1959 |
| Died | 11 May 2008 |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Other names | Gunutjpitt Gunuwanga |
| Occupation | Scholar, educator, linguist |
| Known for | Director of Reconciliation Australia |
| Children | 3 |
| Parent(s) | Roy Marika, Eunice Marika |
| Relatives | Wandjuk Marika (uncle) |
Raymattja Marika, also known as Gunutjpitt Gunuwanga, was an important Yolngu leader and teacher. She was born around 1959 and passed away on May 11, 2008. She worked as a scholar, educator, translator, and linguist. Raymattja was a strong voice for Aboriginal Australians and their culture.
She was a director for Reconciliation Australia, an organization that helps bring Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians together. She was also part of the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies. Raymattja Marika believed in understanding and friendship between Indigenous Australian and Western cultures.
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Early Life and Learning
Raymattja Marika was born in 1959. She was the oldest daughter of Eunice and Roy Marika. Her father was a very important leader in the movement for Aboriginal land rights. Her uncle was the famous painter and actor Wandjuk Marika.
She belonged to the Rirratjingu clan of the Yolngu people. Raymattja lived in Yirrkala in Arnhem Land, Northern Territory. When she was young, she lost one of her legs due to cancer.
Raymattja studied hard and earned degrees from the Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education and Melbourne University.
Working for Change
Raymattja Marika became a respected scholar, translator, and linguist. She worked to protect the rights and culture of Indigenous Australians. Many of her writings were published across Australia. She also gave talks all over the country.
Her main goal was to improve education and help bridge the gap between Aboriginal peoples, especially her own Yolngu community, and the wider English-speaking society in Australia. She taught at Charles Darwin University in Darwin.
Raymattja was known as a top expert on Yolngu customs and languages in north-east Arnhem Land. This included the community of Yirrkala and the Gove Peninsula. She deeply understood the history and workings of the Yolngu clan systems.
She also worked to keep the traditional storytelling of the Yolngu alive. She often compared the lessons and ideas from Yolngu traditions with those from the Western world. In 1989, she helped create a book that shared Yolngu songlines in their own language, Yolngu Matha, with English translations. This helped researchers learn more about her culture.
Raymattja understood that the Yolngu language group, Yolŋu Matha, was under pressure. This was partly because of bauxite mining that started in the 1900s. As a linguist, she worked to stop her people's languages from disappearing. She knew all fourteen languages of the Rirratjingu clan and spoke three of them very well. Later, she helped create a language curriculum for Yolngu children. This was to make sure local languages would continue to be spoken.
Raymattja also spent a lot of time helping her home community of Yirrkala. In 1992, she co-founded the Dhimurru Land Management Aboriginal Corporation. This group manages land and she was their cultural adviser for many years.
In 1998, she gave an important speech called the Wentworth lecture. She said: "My other name, my deep name, is Gunutjpitt Gunuwanga. This name links me to my land, to my religious aspect of the land. It defines where I come from, who I am, and with this language, the Rom that the Elders taught over many years and centuries, this is continuing in our community".
Awards and Recognition
Charles Darwin University gave Raymattja an honorary doctorate for her important work.
She also received two awards from the National Australia Day Council. These were the Territorian of the Year award and the Northern Territory's Australian of the Year Award in 2007.
Her Passing and Legacy
Raymattja Marika passed away suddenly on May 11, 2008, in Yirrkala. She was hunting with her family when she had a sudden heart attack. She was 49 years old. She is remembered by her three children, whom she had with her late husband, Mununggurritj.
Barbara Livesey, who was the CEO of Reconciliation Australia, said that Raymattja had made huge contributions to Aboriginal affairs. She said Raymattja was a tireless worker for reconciliation and for building understanding between different groups of people.
Syd Stirling, a local politician, also praised Raymattja. He said she was a "bridge between the two cultures." He called her a mentor, a strong supporter of reconciliation, a talented teacher, and a wonderful mother. Jenny Macklin, the Minister for Indigenous Affairs, said Raymattja was the "embodiment of reconciliation." This means she truly represented what reconciliation was all about.
According to Yolngu cultural traditions, after someone passes away, they are only referred to by their last name. This is why people paying tribute to Raymattja Marika used only her last name.
See also
