We Know These Things to Be True - The Third Vincent Lingiari Memorial Lecture - Galarrwuy Yunupingu

Sep 15, 2026

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A keynote memorial lecture delivered by Galarrwuy Yunupingu that recounts the long struggle for Aboriginal rights and the enduring tension between Yolgnu law and Balanda (colonial) law. The talk frames two true stories as a “map” for understanding past conflict and seeking a better future, linking historical dispossession and terra nullius with personal experience of harm to sacred country by bauxite mining. It calls for recognition, guidance, and direction rooted in culture.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryReligion & Spirituality

FormatPDF

Pages14

Reading Time35 min

AccessFree to download

The Third Vincent Lingiari Memorial Lecture

Welcome, acknowledgements, and purpose

Yolgnu law versus Balanda law

Two true stories: history and family

The banyan tree, mining, and sacred country

A message: using the map toward a better future

We know these things to be true The Third Vincent Lingiari Memorial Lecture Delivered by Galarrwuy Yunupingu, AM Chairman of the Northern Land Council 20 August 1998 Honoured guests, ladies and gentlemen and countrymen one and all. Where we are now this is Larrakia country. Kulimbirign country. Like my clan the Gumatj, the Larrakia are a Saltwater people. To us the sea and the land are one. I wish to thank the Larrakia people for welcoming me to their country. I acknowledge the great man who gives his name to this lecture. I acknowledge his family and the part they played in the struggle to win rights and recognition for Aboriginal people. Men like Vincent Lingiari are our shining stars that we follow in the night sky. We follow them for direction and we follow them for inspiration. We never forget them and their work sustains our work and our culture. We say thank you to this old man for his continuing guidance. Tonight I want to take you through the last thirty years of the struggle for Aboriginal rights. I want you to understand the long, long history behind the issues which are facing us today, such as the recent debate over Native Title and the upcoming fight over the Land Rights Act. The reason for doing so is to help you understand the conflict between our laws; Yolgnu and Balanda law. I want you to realise how hard we have struggled to have our Yolgnu law recognised; how we have been burnt by your laws; why we are suspicious of your laws; and why there is conflict. But I also want to take you on a journey which I hope will show us propose a better way. There is a solution to the constant conflict in our country, and that is my real message to you. I want you to think of my stories as a map; a map which we can use to find a better way to the future. Some of the stories show the wrong way---dead ends---dangers---cliffs--and crocodiles. Some of the stories show the right way. Let us read the map together. It’s really all about two laws-Yolgnu and Balanda-and the struggle we have had for Yolgnu law to be recognised. My part in these stories this history has been as one of the law-men, one of the Yolgnu lawyers, who has been there at every twist and turn to speak for our law. I want to start by telling you two stories. Both of them are true, and they show you what Iam talking about when I talk about the two laws, and the long struggle of Aboriginal people to have our law recognised. Two hundred and ten years ago my ancestors were living here on this land. We had our own system of Government, law and land tenure. A group of strangers arrived in a small wooden boat. The strangers put a pole with a piece of colored material on it in the ground and spoke ina language we could not understand. These strangers then began to take our land. Many of our ancestors fought with the strangers to keep our land and our culture . Many of our people were killed. Over time the strangers subjugated us and sought to apply their laws and culture to us. We resisted. We learned about the strangers’ law because they, with very few exceptions, refused to learn about our laws. We learne d that their law told them a story called terra nullius, which meant that if you go to a land where the people don’t look like you or live like you, then you can pretend they don’t exist and take their land. For the first 200 years wWe used the strangers’ law to argue our case. After 204 years passed the strangers’ senior law elders finally agreed with us that their first law which said Aboriginal people did not exist was a big mistake and "an unutter able shame". They discovered that our law had been there all along. I think you might have guessed that my first story was about the very long time it took for Balanda law to recognise the continuing existence of Yolgnu law in this country. I’ll return to this story later. My second story started 38 years ago and is even closer to home, because it is about my family, and the gr

FAQs

What is the core message of the lecture?

The lecture argues that there is a solution to constant conflict and presents Yolgnu law and story as a map to find a better future.

Why does the speaker contrast Yolgnu law and Balanda law?

To explain how hard Yolngu law has been fought for and recognized, and why misunderstandings, resistance, and conflict between the two legal systems persist.

What does the first story illustrate?

It illustrates the long process for Balanda law to recognize the continuing existence of Yolgnu law, contrasted with the early premise of terra nullius.

Sep 15, 2026

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