Banula Marika

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Banula Marika
NationalityAustralian
Other namesDavid Marika
Occupation(s)Dancer, musician, actor
Known forWork with Bangarra Dance Theatre and Yothu Yindi
Environmental conservation
ChildrenMilika
Parent

Banula (David) Marika is an Aboriginal Australian dancer, actor, singer and performer from Yirrkala in North East Arnhem Land, in the Northern Territory of Australia. The son of Roy Marika, he is a member of the Rirratjingu clan of the Yolngu people, and is known for his performances with the Bangarra Dance Theatre since the 1990s. [1]

He is credited as David Manula Barika for his role as didgeridu player in Jindalee Lady (1992), [2] [3] and as Banula (David) Marika for his first role as an actor in the film Bedevil (1993), [4]

His stage performances with Bangarra include Up Until Now (1991), Praying Mantis Dreaming (1992-3) and Bloodland (2011-2). [5] He also served as cultural consultant on Bangarra's 2020 television production of Ochres. [6]

He has performed as both vocalist and dancer and toured extensively with the band Yothu Yindi, including on their famous song "Treaty". [1] He performed vocals on their third album, Freedom (1993). [7] He also performed with them in a joint project with East Journey, called Genesis, in 2015, [8] which included a performance at the National Indigenous Music Awards 2015. [9]

He has collaborated with founder of the Australian Dance Theatre, choreographer Elizabeth Cameron Dalman, in a work entitled Morning Star (2012–3). Marika is custodian of the Morning Star (Barnumbirr) story, [10] and served as cultural consultant on the work. The Mirramu Dance Company performed Morning Star in March 2013 at the James O. Fairfax Theatre, National Gallery of Australia in Canberra. [11]

As of 2021, Marika is on the board of the Dhimurru Aboriginal Corporation (since at least 2018 [12] ), along with artist and law man Mawalan 2 Marika, [13] and has also been a Dhimurru Indigenous ranger since 2002. [1] [14] In this role and as a traditional owner, he has contributed to papers on cross-cultural consultancy [15] and environmental conservation measures. [16]

His son, Milika, is also a dancer, primarily in the hip hop style, and has featured in a TV series shown on NITV. [17]

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Yothu Yindi are an Australian musical group with Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal members, formed in 1986 as a merger of two bands formed in 1985 – a white rock group called the Swamp Jockeys, and an unnamed Aboriginal folk group consisting of Mandawuy Yunupingu, Witiyana Marika, and Milkayngu Mununggur. The Aboriginal members came from Yolngu homelands near Yirrkala on the Gove Peninsula in Northern Territory's Arnhem Land. Founding members included Stuart Kellaway on bass guitar, Cal Williams on lead guitar, Andrew Belletty on drums, Witiyana Marika on manikay, bilma and dance, Milkayngu Mununggurr on yidaki, Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu on keyboards, guitar, and percussion, past lead singer Mandawuy Yunupingu and present Yirrnga Yunupingu on vocals and guitar.

<i>Tribal Voice</i> 1991 studio album by Yothu Yindi

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Galarrwuy Yunupingu</span> Aboriginal Australian activist (1948–2023)

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Marika is a both a given name and surname. As a feminine given name, it is of Hungarian and Greek origin; a diminutive of Maria. Apart from Hungary and Greece, the name is also found in Estonia, Finland, Japan, Sweden, and Poland. In Fiji, it is a masculine given name.

Raymattja Marika, also known as Gunutjpitt Gunuwanga, 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. She was also a director of the Yothu Yindi Foundation and a participant in the 2020 Summit, which was held in April 2008. Marika advocated understanding and reconciliation between Indigenous Australian and Western cultures.

<i>Bedevil</i> 1993 film

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"Treaty" is a protest song by Australian musical group Yothu Yindi, which is made up of Aboriginal and balanda (non-Aboriginal) members. Released in June 1991, "Treaty" was the first song by a predominantly Aboriginal band to chart in Australia and was the first song partly in any Aboriginal Australian language to gain extensive international recognition, peaking at No. 6 on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play singles charts. The song contains lyrics in Gumatj, one of the Yolngu Matha dialects and a language of the Yolngu people of Arnhem Land in northern Australia.

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Jindalee Lady is a 1992 Australian film about an Aboriginal Australian woman who is a successful fashion designer. Directed by Brian Syron, it is the first feature film directed by an Aboriginal person in Australia. It is also notable for featuring dancers from the Bangarra Dance Theatre.

Roy Dadaynga Marika was an Aboriginal Australian artist and Indigenous rights activist. He was a member of the Marika family, brother of Mawalan 1 Marika, Mathaman Marika, Milirrpum Marika and Dhunggala Marika.

Witiyana Marika is an Aboriginal Australian musician, filmmaker and elder, known for being a founding member of the band Yothu Yindi and producer of the film High Ground.

Kathy Balngayngu Marika is an Aboriginal Australian dancer known for her performances with Bangarra Dance Theatre, with which she served as artist-in-residence and cultural consultant.

Gavin Campbell is an Australian club DJ and remixer based in Melbourne, Victoria. He created the dance music production outfit known as Filthy Lucre, which is known for its 1991 remix of Yothu Yindi's single, "Treaty", known as "Treaty ".

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Banula Marika". Bangarra Knowledge Ground. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
  2. ↑ "Jindalee Lady". Ozmovies. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  3. ↑ Jindalee Lady at IMDb OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
  4. ↑ "Bedevil: When the unexplained happens [Press kit]" (PDF). Ronin Films. Retrieved 25 July 2021. For the role of Stompie... Moffatt turned to the Bangarra Dance Theatre in Redfern, casting Banula Marika, a member of the famous Marika family of Arnhem Land... Banula had never acted before, but he had a quality of stillness which was exactly right.
  5. ↑ "Banula Marika". AusStage. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
  6. ↑ 2020 Annual Report (PDF) (Report). Bangarra Dance Theatre. 2020. p. 27.
  7. ↑ McFarlane, Ian (1999). "Encyclopedia entry for 'Yothu Yindi'". Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop . Allen & Unwin. ISBN   1-86448-768-2. Archived from the original on 30 September 2004. Retrieved 4 November 2008.
  8. ↑ "The Genesis Project (DD)". Apple Music. February 2015. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
  9. ↑ James, Felicity (24 July 2015). "PJ White from East Journey and Banula Marika from Yothu Yindi" (Photo). ABC News. Retrieved 25 July 2021. PJ White from East Journey and Banula Marika from Yothu Yindi rehearsing before National Indigenous Music Awards 2015.
  10. ↑ Kingma, Jennifer (10 March 2012). "A passion for dance". The Sydney Morning Herald . Retrieved 25 July 2021.
  11. ↑ Potter, Michelle (21 March 2013). "Morning Star. Mirramu Dance Company". Michelle Potter... On Dancing. Retrieved 9 December 2022.
  12. ↑ 2018-19 Annual Report (PDF) (Report). Dhimurru Aboriginal Corporation. 2019. p. 6.
  13. ↑ "Board of Directors". Dhimurru Aboriginal Corporation. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
  14. ↑ "What is the source of all this rubbish?". GhostNets Australia. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
  15. ↑ Hoffmann, Benjamin D.; Roeger, Steve; Wise, Phil; Dermer, Jane; Yunupingu, BaluPalu; Lacey, Daryl; Yunupingu, Djäwa; Marika, Banula; Marika, Mandaka; Panton, Bill (2012). "Achieving highly successful multiple agency collaborations in a cross-cultural environment: experiences and lessons from Dhimurru Aboriginal Corporation and partners". Ecological Management & Restoration. Wiley. 13 (1): 42–50. doi: 10.1111/j.1442-8903.2011.00630.x . ISSN   1442-7001.
  16. ↑ Braby, Michael F. (2007). National Recovery Plan for the Gove Crow Butterfly, Euploea alcathoe enastri (PDF) (Report). Department of Natural Resources, Environment and the Arts, Northern Territory. p. 10.
  17. ↑ "Arnhem Land shoot for dance show". Deadly Vibe. 10 January 2014.
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