Raymattja Marika

Raymattja Marika , also known as Gunutjpitt Gunuwanga, (1959 – 11 May 2008) was a Yolngu leader, scholar, educator, translator, linguist and cultural advocate for Aboriginal Australians. She was a Director of Reconciliation Australia and a member of the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies. Marika advocated understanding and reconciliation between Indigenous Australian and Western cultures.

Early life and education Marika was born around 1959, the eldest daughter of Eunice and Roy Marika, a prominent leader in the Indigenous Australian land rights movement. She was also the niece of painter and actor Wandjuk Marika (OBE). She was born into the Rirratjingu clan of the Yolngu people, and lived in Yirrkala on the Gove Peninsula in Arnhem Land, Northern Territory. She lost a leg to cancer when she was young.

Marika was considered a leading expert of Yolngu customs and languages in north-east Arnhem Land, including the community of Yirrkala and the Gove Peninsula. She was considered to be an expert in the inner workings and history of the Yolngu clan systems of Arnhem Land. She also worked to preserve the traditional storytelling of the Yolngu, often comparing the morals and insights of Yolngu traditions with ideas from the Western world.

Marika understood the pressures placed on the Yolngu's small language group, called Yolŋu Matha, due to bauxite mining in the area, which commenced during the 20th century. She worked as a linguist to prevent the extinction of her people's indigenous languages. Pertaining to the languages of her own clan, Marika understood all fourteen languages of the Rirratjingu clan, and spoke three of these Rirratjingu languages fluently. She later helped to develop a traditional language curriculum for Yolngu children to preserve local languages. in 2007. She was posthumously appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in the 2009 Australia Day Honours.

Death and legacy Marika died suddenly in Yirrkala, while hunting with members of her family in the afternoon on Sunday, 11 May 2008. She was believed to have died from a sudden heart attack. She was 49 years old when she died and was survived by her three children, whom she had with her late husband, Mununggurritj.

Barbara Livesey, the CEO of Reconciliation Australia at the time, said that Marika had made massive contributions to Aboriginal affairs across the country: "While we know that she did much work in her community, at the national level she was just a tireless worker for reconciliation and for building understanding between non-Indigenous people, Yolngu people and other Indigenous people". Syd Stirling, the MP for Nhulunbuy in Northern Territory, also paid tribute to Marika saying, "She really was a bridge between the two cultures out here. Dr Marika endeared herself to all of us as a mentor, reconciliation advocate, a passionate and gifted educator, academic, interpreter, translator and a wonderful mother". Jenny Macklin, Minister for Indigenous Affairs, called Marika the "embodiment of reconciliation".

According to Yolngu cultural traditions, Marika can only be referred to by her last name after her death. This is why those paying tribute to Marika did not use her full name.

Selected works