The Wiyi Yani U Thangani Institute was privileged to attend Garma 2026 through the support of the dedicated Minderoo Foundation team.

The messages of self-determination, celebration, honouring of tens of thousands of years of First Nations knowledges, inclusivity, care and respect continue to resonate, and will for weeks to come.

Coming straight from the Wiyi Yani U Thangani Peacebuilding Camp on Bunuba Country, where more than 60 First Nations women and girls, inclusive of trans women and Sistergirls, had gathered, the Institute found the Garma theme of Bukmak – meaning everyone – reinforced the importance of embracing diversity in a time of global crisis. When the world is confronted by multiple challenges from climate change to inequality and conflict, we cannot rise to the moment in isolation. Only together and being led by the intricate and intimate First Nations knowledges of Country, can we hope to respond and thrive.

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The generosity of the Yolŋu to share in the magnificence of Yolŋu culture and Country is a lesson in leading from a place of deep knowing, while supporting visitors to open their/our minds to other more caring and connected ways of being in the world. As women have said through Wiyi Yani U Thangani: Country, song, dance and ceremony are the teachers, the powerful forces that help us feel and open up to our senses, surrounds and spirits. All of which are vital to engaging more honestly with one another and in genuine dialogue.

Garma unites all these powerful elements creating a sensory experience like no other, helping the 3,000-plus attendees to let go of mainstream conditioning and assumptions. Women have been teaching the Institute that leading from culture and Country first – gathering by rivers, under trees, in the shadow of caves and singing out to ancestors – disarms us in the most beautiful of ways. These are the elements of the peacebuilding methodology they are creating. It sheds defences and brings hearts and minds together so we can truly discuss what we care about and want the world to become.

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The theme of Bukmak reflects how Garma does this. It brings everyone together, opening us to the wisdoms and practices of Yolŋu knowledge, freeing our minds and being far more willing to really listen to the ideas and debates in the key forum. The last session at Garma asked the audience about their experiences of the week. Each response spoke to feeling more connected to others than ever, to experiencing love, joy, happiness and to being transformed.

Transformed in the sense that minds were expanded to see the world differently and believe that diversity brings possibility. And the audience said they would take the messages of the Yolŋu and their transformative experience to every space they occupy.

This is the work of peacebuilding, and the Institute was honoured to be a part of it, witness it and carry the magic of Garma forward.

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