Listening to Yolŋu Christians

The first peoples of Australia are neither homogeneous nor imprisoned by the past. They have distinct voices engaged with contemporary issues – but not all groups have been well represented in scholarly research.

This qualitative study will provide the opportunity for Yolŋu Christians to share whatever knowledge they want with the researcher and Yolŋu Collaborators. Yolŋu are the Indigenous people of North East Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia. For many years Yolŋu Christians have either not been given opportunity to say what they think or they have not felt like they have been heard and taken seriously. This research will give Yolŋu Christians the opportunityto say what they want, in a way that they want, in a setting that they want, so that they can be heard. Valuable research has occurred in the Yolŋu sacred space that has centred on their music, their art, and cultural lifestyle, but there is more that Yolŋu want to say. Rather than Balanda (non-Indigenous) people leading a discussion, there will be no agenda to what is shared, other than asking Yolŋu, “What would you like to say to the rest of Australia as a Yolŋu Christian?” The aim is to facilitate understanding and then listeners can choose if they will act on what they hear.

A core team of Research Collaborators, who are Yolŋu Christian leaders, will guide all stages of the project, including how information is gathered, what to share and how to share it. A decolonising approach, guided by the Research Collaborators, will offer the best scope for results that will achieve the aims of this research.