Australian indigenous public spheres: from the ground up

Abstract

This article analyses the 1998/99 ‘Don’t cut off our tongues’ campaign by the Yolngu people from North-East Arnhem Land in Australia’s Northern Territory. This public sphere activity involved a sophisticated media strategy to defend the right to educate their children in Yolngu languages, as well as English. It shows that through a range of media-related practices based in their land, the Yolngu were integral in preventing the Northern Territory government from axing the bilingual education programmes that operated in their schools. This article argues that engaging with a specific indigenous knowledge system offers fresh insights into Australian indigenous public spheres and how they operate.