One Mind, One Heart: The legacy of the Yirrkala barks, Australia's first successful petitions

"They were united, as Yolngu people, with one mind, one heart, and one voice." This is how Yananymul Mununggurr describes the creation process of the Yirrkala bark petitions. Yananymul is the daughter of Dhunggala Mununggurr, whose father was among the 11 Yolngu men chosen by elders to sign the petition in 1963.

The petition was a solemn response to the desecration of their sacred land: the federal government had allocated 36,000 hectares of land to mining companies without consultation or consent. There were four Yirrkala bark petitions, decorated with clan designs painted by senior Yolngu artists. The text of the petitions, written in Gumatj and English, implored the Australian government to listen to the Yolngu people and their concerns.

The petition stated: "The land in question has been the hunting and food gathering area of the Yirrkala people since time immemorial: we were all born here." Yananymul Mununggurr (right) pictured with historian Claire Wright. (Image: Bernard Wright) "Sacred places for the Yirrkala people, and important places for their livelihood, are located on the allocated land... The people of this area fear that their needs and interests will be completely ignored, as has happened in the past... They humbly implore that no agreement be made with any company that will destroy the livelihood and independence of the Yirrkala people."

A new documentary, "One Mind, One Heart," written and directed by Euahleyai/Gamilaroi woman Professor Larissa Behrendt AO, tells the story behind the bark petitions, documenting their return to Yirrkala and reflecting on the bark as a catalyst for the land rights movement and the legacy of the ongoing struggle for Indigenous rights in the country. The documentary also explores the process of how the Yirrkala bark petitions were rediscovered.

Today, the Yirrkala bark petitions hold extraordinary legacy significance. They are recognized as the first time an Indigenous community expressed and asserted their rights to land in their own language to the highest governing body in Australia. They were also the first petition in Australian history to prompt an immediate parliamentary response. The government established a special committee that recommended mining could proceed under specific conditions: sacred sites should be protected; compensation should be paid; and a committee should be established to oversee the project. However, the destruction of sacred sites still occurred.

In 2022, two of the barks were displayed in Parliament House, and another at the National Museum of Australia, but the fourth was missing. That was until historian Claire Wright called a family in Derby, Western Australia, and nervously asked a question that many had been seeking the answer to for years. "Do you have a bark petition?" she asked. "Oh, yes," Joan McKee from the Kimberley said in her home, "I'm sitting here looking at it – it's right here on the wall in front of me." And so, the bark began its long journey home, back to Yirrkala.

For Yananymul, the documentary also holds a deeply personal significance. "When I was involved in this project with Professor Claire Wright, I said to her, 'We have to do this for Dad, because he's the only one left, and we have to bring it home before he passes away.'" This was also the ultimate motivation for Behrendt to take on the project. "For me, you always have to ask yourself: 'Why is this the story I should be telling?'" Behrendt said.

"When I delved deeper into the story and realised that at its heart was Yananymul and her desire to retrieve the painting for her father, the last living signatory, I felt that this was an intimate story worth telling. It wasn't just about the bark, but a story about a father and daughter, and it had a very human element, and I have to say that once that part of the story came to the fore, I was deeply drawn to it," Behrendt said, who also empathized with Yananymul's desire to honor her father.

"In the last few years, I've started to learn more of my language, to return more to country," she said. "My father was a great recorder of our history and culture, and therefore contributed to the resurgence we have now. As I've gone deeper into this culture, I've started to appreciate more deeply his role in the renaissance, and that's something I want to honor as well."

Interweaving archival footage, interviews with family members of the signatories, historians, and legal experts, with a story at its heart about family, the film also comes at a pivotal time in Australia, post-referendum and at the start of an election year. "One Mind, One Heart" serves as a reminder that from the land rights movement to the Barunga Statement and the unfulfilled promises of treaties, to the consequences and devastating impacts of the Howard government's Northern Territory Intervention and the failed 2023 Voice to Parliament referendum, while governments and politicians come and go, Indigenous advocacy, activism and determination will not waver.

"One of the core demands of the petition was the call for consultation on matters that affect Aboriginal people and their land," Behrendt said. "The Yolngu people wrote this petition to protest mining happening without any negotiation, without any consent, and that gentle, generous request to sit down and talk together about issues that are going to fundamentally affect Aboriginal people and their land seems just as pertinent in the post-referendum environment."

Behrendt hopes that through "One Heart, One Mind," Indigenous audiences can recognize their own strength and resilience through the strength and resilience of the Yolngu people. "I think their ongoing, steadfast advocacy, and their commitment to the continuation of culture is incredibly inspiring," she said. "While the disregard of the Yirrkala bark petitions is disheartening, I hope the film also shows how steadfast and strong the Yolngu people are," Behrendt told SBS.

Behrendt said it's also a reminder to non-Indigenous people to recognize the importance of the Yirrkala barks. "It's important to remind people of the importance [of the barks], and to celebrate their political maturity; [the Yolngu people] were incredibly strong in 1963 and earlier, and they are still incredibly strong today even with all the impacts of colonization," she said. "So I hope the film can be a window for people to understand Indigenous history, culture, and lived experience more deeply through the Yolngu, and perhaps to think more about their role in continuing our stories." "One Heart, One Mind" is available to watch on SBS On Demand.