Posted: January 16th, 2015
This Malgana Mother Tongue video, The Buyungurra who didn’t listen, was released today on ABC Open. It was created jointly by Malgana woman Bianca McNeair, ABC Open’s Chris Lewis and the Bundiyarra – Irra Wangga Language Centre.
You can also watch more videos from ABC Open and Bundiyarra, both in Wajarri language, by clicking here and here.
Posted: December 22nd, 2014
All YMAC offices will be closed over the Christmas period. The South Hedland Office is now closed until the 5 January. Offices in Geraldton and Perth will be closed from 24 December and will reopen on 5 January.
We hope you enjoy your Christmas break and look forward to seeing you in the new year.
Posted: December 17th, 2014
December marks 20 years since YMAC became a representative body under the Native Title Act. In celebration of this milestone the Board of Directors is proud to announce a new publication Looking After Country: Our Mother, Our Provider and Keeper.
The book, which is rich with photos and interviews, provides an important record of the achievements of the organisation and the Traditional Owners of the the Midwest, Gascoyne and Pilbara regions of Western Australia.
YMAC Co-Chairperson Mrs Doris Eaton said the book is a retrospective on the organisation, how it has grown, and what it has achieved.
“It took us 20 years to get where we are but we’ve got more things to do. We want to see more determinations, we’ve got more to come.”
Click here to view the book on the web or email editor@ymac.org.au to request a hard copy.
Posted: December 8th, 2014
YMAC’s Annual Regional Meetings were held in November in South Hedland and Shark Bay. Annual Regional Meetings provide an opportunity for YMAC members to meet with their Regional Committee and members of the Executive Management Team and discuss YMAC’s operations and achievements of the past year. It is also the forum for elections to the Yamatji regional Committee.
Newly elected members of the Yamatji Regional Committee are Darren Capewell, Dion Harris, Rachel Mongoo and Rhodda Capewell, while Victor Mourambine, Rodney Ryan and Susan Oakley were re-elected to Committee positions. They join existing members Ben Roberts as Chair, Peter Windie as Deputy Chair, Paul Baron, Cecily Dowden, Davina Mourambine, Deborah Oakley and Karla Tittums, whose terms continue until the 2015 ARM.
Directly following the Yamatji Annual Regional Meeting the Yamatji Regional Committee met to elect representatives to the Board of Directors. Ben Roberts, Cecily Dowden, Deborah Oakley and Richard Oakley were elected to join the Board along with existing members Peter Windie and Paul Baron.
For more information on our Board and Committees see our Who We Are page.
Posted: December 3rd, 2014
The Wajarri Yamatji people of Western Australia have announced an agreement with iron ore miner Sinosteel Midwest Corporation Ltd. The Agreement is over Sinosteel’s Weld Range project 70 kms northwest of the town of Cue in WA’s Midwest.
The National Heritage Listed Weld Range is a not only a very significant area to the Wajarri Yamatji people, but also to the history of Western Australia. Sinosteel and the Wajarri Yamatji people agreed on exclusion zones around areas of particular importance, where Sinosteel has agreed never to mine.
Posted: September 24th, 2014
The State Government’s proposed changes to the Aboriginal Heritage Act will lead to even weaker protection for Aboriginal heritage sites than we have now. Join us this Friday 26 September to show the State that Aboriginal people care about their heritage and need to have a say in what happens to it.
All Aboriginal people from WA are invited to attend an on-Country meeting at the traditional Yule River meeting place (55kms south of Port Hedland) at 11 am this Friday to discuss the proposed changes. You will have a chance to ask questions, and listen to speakers ranging from respected elders to academics and politicians.
Click here for more information about the meeting and about the issues.
Posted: September 12th, 2014
As you probably know, YMAC is organising a meeting on Country on 26 September 2014 to discuss the proposed changes to the Aboriginal Heritage Act, at the request of the Pilbara Regional Committee.
We are now circulating a petition urging the State Government to develop a meaningful framework for reform of the Act that empowers Aboriginal people and builds on previous reviews of Aboriginal heritage legislation.
Click here to download your copy of the petition.
This petition is not limited to the Aboriginal community. Please circulate it as widely as possible, through your professional and personal networks, to make an impact on the WA State Government.
Original signatures (not scans) need to be returned to YMAC at PO Box 3072, 249 Hay Street, East Perth WA 6892 by 31 October 2014 so it can be presented to the State Parliament.
For more information on the changes or the reviews referred to in the petition, go to www.aboriginalheritage.net.au.
Thank you for your support, and we hope to see you on 26 September at Yule River.
Posted: June 16th, 2014
The latest issue of YMAC News is now available for you to download. Our cover story is about the Banjima people’s on-country native title determination at Karijini National Park, and includes lots of photos from the day.
There is also a story about a significant win in the High Court by the Ngarla people that will have ramifications for native title claims nation-wide.
The Kurama and Marthudunera people and the Gnulli people have both entered into agreements with resource companies that are featured in this issue.
Click here to read these stories and more.
You can send your feedback to editor@ymac.org.au. Thank you for reading this issue of YMAC News!
Posted: May 5th, 2014
YMAC would like to congratulate staff members Tamara Murdock and Jessyca Hutchens on receiving the Charlie Perkins Scholarship.
The Scholarship was launched in 2009 in memory of Aboriginal leader and activist Dr Charlie Perkins who was the first Indigenous Australian man to graduate from university.
Both Tamara and Jessyca will be undertaking their studies at Oxford University. Jessyca will be studying a DPhil in Fine Arts and Tamara will be studying a Master’s of Science in Biodiversity, Conservation and Management.
Everyone at YMAC is very proud of Tamara and Jessica, and we wish them the very best with their studies in the UK.
Country is our mother, the provider and keeper of cultural belongings. Country and Culture go together. You can’t have one without the other.
Yamatji Marlpa Aboriginal Corporation respectfully acknowledges the Traditional Owners and custodians throughout Western Australia, and on whose Country we work. We acknowledge and respect their deep connection to their lands and waterways.
We honour and pay respect to Elders, and to their ancestors who survived and cared for Country.
Our offices are located on Whadjuk Country, Southern Yamatji Country, Kariyarra Country, and Yawuru Country. We recognise the continuing culture, traditions, stories and living cultures on these lands and commit to building a brighter future together.
Disclaimer: Caution: Please be advised that this website may contain images, voices and names of deceased people.
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