NAIDOC Person of the Year Award winner pays tribute to her mother’s wise words

Before 1970, no Yolŋu women painted sacred themes on bark or larrakitj (hollow poles) in their own right. 

However, in recent decades, a number of women artists have taken to these media, becoming renowned for daring and inventive works that challenge tradition. 

This month the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) will show Bark Ladies: 11 artists from Yirrkala, a collection of bark paintings and larrakitj by women artists working out of the Yolŋu-run art centre Buku Larrngay Mulka Centre (Buku), in north-east Arnhem Land. 

Buku is located in the small Aboriginal community of Yirrkala, 700km east of Darwin. 

Under Yolŋu Law, land and sea are connected in a single cycle of life which Yolŋu people celebrate through their songs, sacred designs and art…

With UN climate talks over and Australia’s climate plans relying on the rapid growth of large-scale clean- energy projects, the First Nations Clean Energy Network will ensure the transition occurs in partnership with First Nations communities, sharing its jobs and economic benefits, protecting sacred sites and respecting native title. 

The Network, which was launched last month, will support First Nations communities and business enterprises to manage clean energy projects, from small community projects to large-scale, export-focused initiatives. 

A key initiator of the Network, executive director of Original Power, Karrina Nolan, said that the Network will ensure First Nations people are key players in Australia’s clean energy revolution. 

“We’re ready to partner with governments and industry to develop clean energy projects that will deliver benefits for all Australians,” she said.

“Indigenous land title is now recognised over more than half the Australian continent, with rich renewable energy resources including sun and wind power…

An Aboriginal man was shot dead by police outside a suburban Sydney home last week, making him the second Indigenous person in NSW to die in custody in three days. 

Officers visited a home in Seven Hills to arrest Gomeroi man Stanley Russell at about 11.20am on Tuesday, November 9, when police claim he approached them armed with a knife and an axe before “a physical confrontation ensued” and he was shot.

Stanley Russell was staying with his aunt Pam in the Sydney suburb of Seven Hills when police arrived to serve a warrant on Tuesday morning. 

Mr Russell was out on bail, but missed his court attendance, which led to a warrant for his arrest. 

He is the second person in his family to die in custody. His brother Eddie Russell was found dead in Long Bay Jail in 1999.

Both were sexually abused as children, according to their mother, Helen Russell. 

Ms Russell and her husband Ted issued a statement saying they were shocked and appalled by the shooting…

Naomi Hobson’s series of evocative photographic portraits of young Aboriginal people from her community of Coen, Adolescent Wonderland is set to tour regional South Australia. 

“Today photography needs to push the boundary,” she said. 

“I’m using the medium to tell real stories that I feel don’t get told or haven’t been told. I want people to see who our youth really are: fun, playful, smart, savvy, proud, adventurous and witty.” 

Naomi Hobson is a southern Kaantju/Umpila woman who lives in Coen, a small town of 360 people in the centre of Cape York Peninsula in far north Queensland. 

A multidisciplinary artist, she regularly works across the mediums of painting, ceramics and photography. 

Through her work, first seen by Adelaide audiences in Tarnanthi 2020, Hobson references her family’s political and social engagements as well as her own personal engagement with her Country and community…

Last weekend Kev Carmody was inducted into the National Indigenous Music Awards (NIMAs) Hall of Fame, as part of the 2021 awards ceremony in Darwin. 

“I’m absolutely so proud, humbled and honoured to accept the award on behalf of all of us,” Kev said. “Past, present and of course future, because it’s a collective way of thinking in my opinion, that we all go together and no one gets left behind. 

“I’m so proud of the young ones! It might be rap, it might be hip hop, it might be reggae. We’re still expressing ourselves through the oral cultural traditions, which is songs and storytelling; it’s just in a musical sense. 

“I’m so proud of our young mob with the music, and with dance – that’s an interpretation too – and art. That’s our way of passing on our oral tradition and I think it’s fantastic. I can sit back now. I’ve played my four chords and that’s it.” 

Proud Kamilaroi artist the Kid Laroi took home the coveted Artist of the Year Award. Laroi has garnered international acclaim with hits like Stay (featuring Justin Bieber), which recently logged 10 weeks at US No 1 on Billboard’s Pop Airplay chart and Without You, with Miley Cyrus.

Shantelle Thompson is a mother of five, a wife and a mixed-martial arts combatant who isn’t ready to retire from the mat just yet.

The 38-year-old Barkindji woman and three-time jiu-jitsu champion wants more and within the next 18 months she will push to add a black belt to her list of achievements. 

“I’m so excited about this next chapter and there are many questions,” she said. 

“Can I get my black belt? Can I build in my skill-set. Can I do that from a regional town (Mildura)? Can I be a champion again in my 40s? 

“I’m not ready to retire. I don’t want to retire just yet and share that side of my story. I want to add to that story, that chapter. 

“The girls that I work with, I want them to come along that journey with me and see their leader following her ambitions…