Yarramunua in traditional Aboriginal body paint

Yarramunua's Aboriginal art and culture is based on stories from the dreamtime (the creation period when the world was made and the aboriginal ancestor spirits traveled across the land forming landscape features such as rivers, water-holes, sand hills, mountains, caves, trees, plants etc.)

From the beginning of time Yarramunua's people, the Yorta Yorta from the Murray River region of outback South West New South Wales and Victoria, have told Dreamtime stories to each generation in order to keep the stories in their culture alive and to educate Aboriginal people about their place on earth. Stories are told about the stars, planets, the land, animals, animal law, bush tucker, Aboriginal Ancestors (Totemic Spirits), through paintings, carvings, dance and song, and are re-enacted during corroborees or ceremonies.
 
Many of Yarramunua's paintings and carvings feature swarms of brilliant coloured flecks representing the luminous, magical Milky Way and, at other times, the raw parched vibrant earth. Overlaying this is ancient painted and hot poker burnt iconography and images of goannas, kangaroos, serpents, spirit figures and long-necked turtles, the Totem of his Yorta Yorta ancestors.

Yarramunua dancing with elders in traditional Aboriginal dress

Yarramunua's unique paintings and hot poker burnt handcraft didgeridoos, boomerangs, clapsticks, rain sticks, plates and trinket boxes are highly sought after by both Australians and overseas visitors. His indigenous art and the spiritual power of his dance, didgeridoo playing and story telling captivates many people both within Australia and around the world. Yarramunua believes that the stars in the night sky are his people. They represent his dreaming.

He says, " When I die and my spirit leaves the land, I will go to the Milky Way where all my people are." Stories that were once only told during ritual ceremony through body paint, dance, song, and theatrical story telling are now being told to non-Aboriginals (although they are only told a little of the Dreamtime stories as they are sacred and secret).

Yarramunua believes that this new availability of information on aboriginal art and culture creates an opportunity for people to learn, understand, appreciate and respect Australian Aboriginals and Aboriginal culture. Yarramunua's Aboriginal culture is based on a respect for nature where the environment and all its inhabitants must live in harmony with each other. In short, Yarramunua believes that an ecological balance must sustain the earth and this is the reason Australia was so beautifully preserved as a continent for over 40,000 years before colonial settlement in 1788.

The appreciation of Aboriginal culture on a national and international level reflects the growing awareness of so called "primitive culture" where the land, its people and animistic spirituality are one, in contrast to western philosophy where the earth is a source of exploitation. Yarramunua's Aboriginal art and culture encourages a nurturing of our planet's flora and fauna and he believes that the more we learn of the Dreamtime stories, the more we will be able to understand the delicate balance of nature.

Yarramunua on the set of 'Welcome to Woop Woop' outside Alice Springs

Click to see Yarramunua's homeland


All video excerpts shown here are taken from Yarramunua's Video - 'Spirit of the Didgeridoo', which is an educational movie about Aboriginal culture. It also offers a step by step guide to learning and playing the Didgeridoo. The Video is available for purchase on this website.