For thousands of years before Lieutenant James Cook “discovered” Australia, more than 500 Indigenous nations consisting of over 750,000 people had already been living harmoniously on the land. They believed that Human, Animal, Plant and land is part of one vast unchanging network of relationships that was established before they even existed. Unlike the Europeans, they believed that the land owns mankind, not the other way around. Sadly, on 22 August 1770, Lieutenant Cook stumbled across this land, stuck a flag on the ground and claimed it to be a part of the British Empire. Aboriginal people were stripped of their human and land rights and suffered from discrimination, and violence for hundreds of years.
Despite the absolutely harrowing and irreversible pain they have inflicted on Aboriginal people, Australia remains the only commonwealth country to have never signed a treaty with its indigenous people. The lack of a treaty insinuates the lack of recognition of indigenous people’s history and prior occupation of the land, and the lack of a firm, functional relationship between Indigenous people and non-Indigenous Australians. In 1988, former Prime Minister of Australia, Bob Hawke, signed the Barunga statement proposed by the leaders of the Australian Indigenous community and promised that a treaty would be delivered by 1990. The Barunga statement called for the Australian Government to recognise Indigenous sovereignty, their basic human rights and respect for the Aboriginal identity and culture. However, despite Hawke’s promise, there were no signs of change, let alone a treaty. In 1991, the band Yothu Yindi collaborated with musician Paul Kelly to compose ‘Treaty’ to protest against the government’s broken promise and to raise public awareness about it.
Yothu Yindi were an Australian musical group that was a merger of a white rock group and an Aboriginal folk group from Yolngu homelands. The lyrics of ‘Treaty’ consist of both English and Yolngu Matha, the native language of the Yolngu. This is the lyrics to the song:
Well I
heard it on the radio
And I saw it on the television
Back in 1988, all those talking politicians
Words are easy, words
are cheap
Much cheaper than our priceless land
But promises can disappear
Just like writing in the sand
Treaty yeah treaty now treaty yeah treaty now
Nhima djatpangarri nhima
walangwalang (You dance djatpangarri, that’s better)
Nhe djatpayatpa nhima gaya’ nhe marrtjini yakarray (You’re dancing, you
improvise, you keep going, wow)
Nhe djatpa nhe walang gumurrt jararrk gutjuk (You dance djatpangarri, that’s
good my dear paternal grandson)
This land was never
given up
This land was never bought and sold
The planting of the union jack
Never changed our law at all
Now two river run their course
Seperated for so long
I’m dreaming of a brighter day
When the waters will be one
Treaty yeah, treaty now (x2)
Nhima gayakaya nhe gaya’
nhe (You improvise, you improvise)
Nhe gaya’ nhe marrtjini walangwalang nhe ya (You improvise, you keep going,
you’re better)
Nhima djatpa nhe walang (You dance djatpangarri, that’s good)
Gumurr-djararrk yawirriny’ (My dear young men)
Nhe gaya’ nhe marrtjini gaya’ nhe marrtjini (You improvise, you keep
improvising, you keep going)
Gayakaya nhe gaya’ nhe marrtjini walangwalang (Improvise, you improvise, you
keep going, that’s better)
Nhima djatpa nhe walang (You dance djatpangarri, that’s good)
Gumurr-djararrk nhe yå, e i, e i, e i i i, i i i, i i i, i i (You dear things)
Treaty ma’ (Treaty now)
Promises disappear –
priceless land – destiny
Well I heard it on the radio
And I saw it on the television
But promises can be broken
Just like writing in the sand
Treaty yeah treaty now treaty yeah treaty now (x2)
Treaty yeah treaty ma treaty yeah treaty ma (x2)
What makes this song so unique and impactful is the combination of both aboriginal and balanda (non-Aboriginal) musical cultures. The lead singer, Mandawuy Yunupingu commented “Though it borrows from rock ‘n’ roll, the whole structure of ‘Treaty’ is driven by the beat of the djatpangarri that I’ve incorporated in it. It was an old recording of this historic djatpangarri that triggered the song’s composition.” The instrumentation used in this song includes both western instruments such as electric guitars, keyboard and drums, and traditional indigenous instruments such as yidaki (didgeridoo) and bilma (ironwood clapsticks). The song is composed with the western twelve-note chromatic scale, and so harmony is more controlled by electric guitar and keyboard. Traditional aboriginal instruments focus more on timbre rather than harmony, and adds a distinct, irreplaceable tone quality to the song.
The ‘Filthy Lucre’, Melbourne-based dance remixers, let out a remix of ‘Treaty’, and that led the song to gain international recognition. The remix peaked at No.11 on the Australian Recording Industry Association singles charts, and was the 29th best-selling song in Australia in 1991. It was performed by Yothu Yindi at the Closing Ceremony of the Sydney Olympics on 1 October 2000.
‘Treaty’ is an upbeat song with mainly major tonality, despite the heavy issue that it addresses. Perhaps this is to express their hopefulness for a brighter future despite their current gloomy situation. Unfortunately, to this day there is still no treaty. Although on the surface it may seem like Aboriginal Australians are given equal rights as non-indigenous Australians, the social, educational and economic gap is huge but not much is being done to close it. A treaty is long, long overdue and it is absolutely necessary to the future of Australia’s relationship with its indigenous peoples. I hope “treaty yeah treaty now” happens in the very very near future.
link to the song:
Bibliography:
http://www.aboriginalart.com.au/culture/dreamtime2.html
https://aiatsis.gov.au/collections/collections-online/digitised-collections/treaty/barunga-statement
https://australianstogether.org.au/discover/the-wound/the-lack-of-treaty/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barunga,_Northern_Territory#The_Barunga_Statement
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/read-the-lyrics-of-yothu-yindi-song-treaty
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-40024622