AWAYE! - Separate stories podcast ABC listen

Garrmalang festival is returning to Darwin this year to celebrate some of the country’s best First Nations talents. With artists like Electric Fields playing alongside Darwin Symphony Orchestra, the program has an exciting mix of local talent and big names in Blak arts.

Garrmalang’s creative director Ben Gratez explains how he's given the festival such a distinct Darwin flavour.

Phil Sullivan is our language legend this month.

Phil was an Aboriginal heritage offer with the National Parks and Wildlife service for almost three decades. And he’s still doing repatriation and language revitalisation work in his community of Bourke, on Ngemba land. 

Today, Phil is sharing a Ngemba word he might use to welcome you to his Country.

The word ‘Yirinda’ translates to ‘now’ in Butchulla language. It’s also the name of Fred Leone and Sam Pankhurst’s music project which sets out to capture what Butchulla life looks like right now.

Their self-titled debut album is a crucial piece of documentation; re-imagining recordings and stories from across time and bringing them into the present.

Repatriation, as it applies to cultural heritage, is constantly expanding. You’ve probably heard stories about museums returning human ancestral remains, or secret/sacred objects.

But there’s a lot of other material sitting in knowledge institutions, such as images, documents and voice recordings.

Returning those materials isn’t as simple as handing back a USB - it's a lot more nuanced.

Join Desert Stars frontman Jay Minning in Tjunjunjana on Spinifex Country for the final time.

Today, Jay is sharing a Pitjantjatjara word with a dual meaning.

In their collection of stories ‘Always Will Be', Dr Mykaela Saunders speculates on what Tweed Heads would look like if it honoured Koori ways of doing. Winner of the 2022 David Unaipon Award, this is a book that's challenging expectations of what First Nations futurism and speculative fiction can be.