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In this podcast series, Maratja Dhamarrandji and Richard Trudgen discuss why Balanda (mainstream western Australians) do not recognise Yolngu law, its foundational source, array of evidence, and the many checks and balances that underpin it. One of the main problems leading to this marr-dhumbalyun, confusion, is language.

Maratja Dhamarrandji and Richard Trudgen discuss the ongoing confusion about who the real landowners are, and who are the TOs, as the Lands Council calls them, or the ‘Traditional Owners’. One of the big problems is mainstream Australians (Balanda) think Yolŋu law is just some little thing, rather than a very complex legal system full of its own witnesses, evidences and checks and balances. Even anthropologists, and some Yolŋu people themselves, do not understand the complexities of Yolŋu law, so they ask Balanda lawyers from Canberra, Sydney, Melbourne etc., to tell them who the traditional landowners are.

Rev. Dr. Djiniyini Gondarra OAM and Richard Trudgen discuss customary law, democracy and dictatorship and how these apply to both Balanda and Yolngu systems of law.