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In this podcast series, Maratja Dhamarrandji and Richard Trudgen discuss who are considered the traditional owners of the land, but how there is a communication breakdown because most Yolngu do not understand the meaning of the English words ‘traditional’ or ‘landowner’.

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.