Connection to Country

East Arnhem

Yolngu culture in East Arnhem is among the oldest living cultures on Earth, stretching back more than 60,000 years. The earliest history is recorded in the paintings, dances and songs of the Yolngu people, which tell of creation ancestors bringing lands and waters, people, animals and plants into being and laying down the law that governs them.

Aboriginal Art

Contemporary Yolngu art is available in the form of wood carvings, bark paintings, screen prints, woven baskets and mats. Examples of traditional and contemporary art can be found at one of Australia’s best Aboriginal art centres at Yirrkala, 15 minutes from Nhulunbuy, and at community art centres including Gapuwiyak, Milingimbi, Ramingining and Elcho Island.

Cultural Experiences

Visitors can engage with Yolngu culture in a variety of ways. Yolngu Homelands including Bawaka (featuring the picturesque Ngalarrkpuy, or Lonely Beach), Dhalinybuy and Buymarr offer day tours, accommodation and cultural experiences that include bunggul (ceremony and dance), yidaki (didgeridu), bush foods and medicine, pandanus weaving and spear making.

Each year East Arnhem hosts Australia’s biggest Aboriginal cultural gathering, Garma Festival, that brings guests from around the country to Gulkula, about 40km from Nhulunbuy, for a four-day celebration of Yolngu culture.