12 CANOES ONLINE TODAY!
September 8th 2008 05:47
We are the first people of our lands.
These are some of our stories from where we have lived for so long
We welcome you to know about us, about our culture, this way.
The Yolgnu people of Ramingining.
(message on the home page www.12canoes.com.au)
After the worldwide success of the indigenous film 10 canoes directed by Rolf De Heer, comes the followup 12 canoes available now for viewing online. The Yolngu people of Ramingining in the Australian Outback region of Arnhem Land have brought to life an even more in depth view of their society and culture sharing the stories of this ancient culture via the use of modern technology and the internet.
Rolf De Heer and Molly Reynold in consultation with the Ramingining community have created and developed the website as an extension of the film.
“Back in 2003, while collaborating with the Indigenous Yolngu people of Ramingining to devise a story line for the film "Ten Canoes", a lot of material, of greatly varied subject matter, was brought in for discussion, with the individual Yolngu contributors each very keen to have their ideas incorporated, and that the film in some way should reflect the entirety of their lives, culture and history,” said filmmaker Rolf de Heer. ”There was soon general recognition that no film could achieve all that, and the idea of a website was born."
At a recent screening of the film in Australia, members of the Yolngu community mingled among the cinema crowd laughing and chatting away before and after the show willing to answer any questions those who attended wanted to ask. In much the same way as the film shows the tribes people, the members who had flown down from Arnhem Land for the launch of the 12 Canoes website were relaxed for the most part if not a little bemused by the experience, unacquainted with the fanfare that accompanies a premiere or an opening, but didn’t let that detract from their enjoyment of the evening. Throughout the Q&A that followed it was obvious that they were extremely proud of what they have created and looked forward to the launch of the website.
12 canoes gives us 12 different stories from the beginning of creation through the early encounters with Indonesian traders, the invasion of the white man onto the land that they had become one with and the wars they fought to protect this land at any cost right up to today’s decendants of those proud people carrying on the traditions and beliefs that their forefathers valued so highly.
The men and women of the Yolngu people speak of their longing to share their stories with everyone just as their ancestors handed them down from generation to generation as is quite evident on the website by their invitation to all who wish to listen.
We are proud of our community. We are proud of our history and our present.
We are proud of our children, and our artists, and our songmen,
We are proud of our whole place.
Because we are proud of all these things, we are sharing them with you.
We live in Arnhem Land, in Northern Territory of Australia.
For long time our people been wanting to show our culture to the world.
We made that film, Ten Canoes. That was really beginning of it.
So now here is our culture, our place, our history...here is 12 Canoes.
Different stories, 12 of them...Creation, and First White Men, all different parts of our history...The Swamp, and The Seasons, and Plants and Animals, all about where we live...Kinship and Language and Nowadays, how we live today.
And more than that. Everything put together is one story.
It is us, like a painting of our story.
The 12 Canoes website paints a compelling portrait of the history and culture of a people that almost ceased to exist after the culling parties during the later part of the 19th century where whole communities were wiped out by greedy cattlemen and farmers desperate to steal fertile grazing land from the aborigines. It is also a celebration of one of the oldest civilizations still in existence today. As each story unfolds the audience is taken on a wondrous journey into a land that many still fail to understand.
The site itself is a work of art honoring the people of the Arafura Swamp whilst built around the 12 visual poems illustrating the many aspects of its inhabitants from Creation, Our Ancestors, The Macassans, First White Men, Thomson Time, The Swamp, Plants and Animals, and Seasons, to Kinship, Ceremony, Language, and Nowadays.
Other features include artworks of the Yolngu people, music and songmen as well as language and common terms and photographs that encapsulate the beauty of the region.
“Twelve Canoes has been developed with the aim of showcasing Yolngu culture, in particular the people of the Arufura Swamp, to the world. They are proud of their culture and homelands, and they are proud to invite the world to share this knowledge,” said project director Molly Reynolds.
The site itself www.12canoes.com.au is hosted by The National Film and Sound Archive through their website www.nfsa.gov.au
Briefly, TWELVE CANOES deals with twelve subjects, each of which deals with a particular key aspect of Yolngu culture, place, or history, were developed, incorporating works of art, video material, stills, music and sound.
These twelve stories, poetic in nature with strong, sometimes ethereal imagery, are accompanied by words from different Ramingining story-tellers.
Creation tells of when the people of the area came into being. As there are many creation stories, this is the story of Dog Dreaming and his travels from the Swamp to the sea.
Our Ancestors describes the way the Yolngu used to live, in the old times, before the arrival of any visitors from the outside world, and how this society used to operate.
The Macassans, from the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia, were the first who came from another place. Long before the coming of the white man, the Macassans were trading partners of the Yolngu, who were introduced to cloth, metal, tobacco and sea-faring skills.
First White Men tells of the various wars, ultimately won at great cost to them, fought by the Yolngu to protect their lands and people from the encroachment by white man, including the Americans who tried ranching the land.
Thomson Time speaks of Dr Donald Thomson, the anthropologist who came to solve the turmoil in Arnhem Land in the 1930's. Thomson learnt language, lived with, studied and befriended the people and was a great advocate for them to government.
The Swamp describes the World Heritage listed Arafura wetlands just south of Ramingining. The Swamp and its people have a historical, cultural, economic and spiritual relationship which is now threatened by a number of factors.
Plants and Animals is about the diversity of plant and animal life of the Arafura wetlands and surrounding areas, and their continuing but fragile existence in a changing world.
Seasons is about how the blooming of a flower can tell you the sharks are being born in the sea; it is about the interaction of the changing life cycles that punctuate the weather patterns of the Yolngu year.
Kinship highlights the complexity and historical importance of family structure and ancestral relationships. The expression of kinship today has evolved, but its importance and complexity remain.
Ceremony is about the rites and rituals that describe aspects of the Yolngu inner life, the ceremonies that bind the community together and keep the people and their traditions strong.
Language tells the story of how the different languages were given to the different clans of people of the region and describes the relationship of the clan groups and the people as a whole to their languages.
Nowadays captures a slice of the contemporary way of life for the Yolngu in the township of Ramingining.
Copies of the 66 minute film will be released by Ronin Films in the near future.
SJC080908
These are some of our stories from where we have lived for so long
We welcome you to know about us, about our culture, this way.
The Yolgnu people of Ramingining.
(message on the home page www.12canoes.com.au)
After the worldwide success of the indigenous film 10 canoes directed by Rolf De Heer, comes the followup 12 canoes available now for viewing online. The Yolngu people of Ramingining in the Australian Outback region of Arnhem Land have brought to life an even more in depth view of their society and culture sharing the stories of this ancient culture via the use of modern technology and the internet.
Rolf De Heer and Molly Reynold in consultation with the Ramingining community have created and developed the website as an extension of the film.
“Back in 2003, while collaborating with the Indigenous Yolngu people of Ramingining to devise a story line for the film "Ten Canoes", a lot of material, of greatly varied subject matter, was brought in for discussion, with the individual Yolngu contributors each very keen to have their ideas incorporated, and that the film in some way should reflect the entirety of their lives, culture and history,” said filmmaker Rolf de Heer. ”There was soon general recognition that no film could achieve all that, and the idea of a website was born."
At a recent screening of the film in Australia, members of the Yolngu community mingled among the cinema crowd laughing and chatting away before and after the show willing to answer any questions those who attended wanted to ask. In much the same way as the film shows the tribes people, the members who had flown down from Arnhem Land for the launch of the 12 Canoes website were relaxed for the most part if not a little bemused by the experience, unacquainted with the fanfare that accompanies a premiere or an opening, but didn’t let that detract from their enjoyment of the evening. Throughout the Q&A that followed it was obvious that they were extremely proud of what they have created and looked forward to the launch of the website.
12 canoes gives us 12 different stories from the beginning of creation through the early encounters with Indonesian traders, the invasion of the white man onto the land that they had become one with and the wars they fought to protect this land at any cost right up to today’s decendants of those proud people carrying on the traditions and beliefs that their forefathers valued so highly.
The men and women of the Yolngu people speak of their longing to share their stories with everyone just as their ancestors handed them down from generation to generation as is quite evident on the website by their invitation to all who wish to listen.
We are proud of our children, and our artists, and our songmen,
We are proud of our whole place.
Because we are proud of all these things, we are sharing them with you.
We live in Arnhem Land, in Northern Territory of Australia.
For long time our people been wanting to show our culture to the world.
We made that film, Ten Canoes. That was really beginning of it.
So now here is our culture, our place, our history...here is 12 Canoes.
Different stories, 12 of them...Creation, and First White Men, all different parts of our history...The Swamp, and The Seasons, and Plants and Animals, all about where we live...Kinship and Language and Nowadays, how we live today.
And more than that. Everything put together is one story.
It is us, like a painting of our story.
The 12 Canoes website paints a compelling portrait of the history and culture of a people that almost ceased to exist after the culling parties during the later part of the 19th century where whole communities were wiped out by greedy cattlemen and farmers desperate to steal fertile grazing land from the aborigines. It is also a celebration of one of the oldest civilizations still in existence today. As each story unfolds the audience is taken on a wondrous journey into a land that many still fail to understand.
The site itself is a work of art honoring the people of the Arafura Swamp whilst built around the 12 visual poems illustrating the many aspects of its inhabitants from Creation, Our Ancestors, The Macassans, First White Men, Thomson Time, The Swamp, Plants and Animals, and Seasons, to Kinship, Ceremony, Language, and Nowadays.
Other features include artworks of the Yolngu people, music and songmen as well as language and common terms and photographs that encapsulate the beauty of the region.
“Twelve Canoes has been developed with the aim of showcasing Yolngu culture, in particular the people of the Arufura Swamp, to the world. They are proud of their culture and homelands, and they are proud to invite the world to share this knowledge,” said project director Molly Reynolds.
The site itself www.12canoes.com.au is hosted by The National Film and Sound Archive through their website www.nfsa.gov.au
Briefly, TWELVE CANOES deals with twelve subjects, each of which deals with a particular key aspect of Yolngu culture, place, or history, were developed, incorporating works of art, video material, stills, music and sound.
These twelve stories, poetic in nature with strong, sometimes ethereal imagery, are accompanied by words from different Ramingining story-tellers.
Our Ancestors describes the way the Yolngu used to live, in the old times, before the arrival of any visitors from the outside world, and how this society used to operate.
The Macassans, from the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia, were the first who came from another place. Long before the coming of the white man, the Macassans were trading partners of the Yolngu, who were introduced to cloth, metal, tobacco and sea-faring skills.
First White Men tells of the various wars, ultimately won at great cost to them, fought by the Yolngu to protect their lands and people from the encroachment by white man, including the Americans who tried ranching the land.
Thomson Time speaks of Dr Donald Thomson, the anthropologist who came to solve the turmoil in Arnhem Land in the 1930's. Thomson learnt language, lived with, studied and befriended the people and was a great advocate for them to government.
The Swamp describes the World Heritage listed Arafura wetlands just south of Ramingining. The Swamp and its people have a historical, cultural, economic and spiritual relationship which is now threatened by a number of factors.
Plants and Animals is about the diversity of plant and animal life of the Arafura wetlands and surrounding areas, and their continuing but fragile existence in a changing world.
Seasons is about how the blooming of a flower can tell you the sharks are being born in the sea; it is about the interaction of the changing life cycles that punctuate the weather patterns of the Yolngu year.
Kinship highlights the complexity and historical importance of family structure and ancestral relationships. The expression of kinship today has evolved, but its importance and complexity remain.
Ceremony is about the rites and rituals that describe aspects of the Yolngu inner life, the ceremonies that bind the community together and keep the people and their traditions strong.
Language tells the story of how the different languages were given to the different clans of people of the region and describes the relationship of the clan groups and the people as a whole to their languages.
Nowadays captures a slice of the contemporary way of life for the Yolngu in the township of Ramingining.
Copies of the 66 minute film will be released by Ronin Films in the near future.
SJC080908
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