Tributes to the late land rights champion Yunupingu have been flowing at the Garma festival, as the fire of his leadership passes to his brother Djawa Yunupingu.
Garma, staged annually by the Yothu Yindi Foundation in northeast Arnhem Land, is a celebration of Yolngu life and culture.
Speaking at the festival on Saturday, Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney said Garma was a place where Australians came together to forge new pathways to the future.
“Yunupingu is gone, but the gurtha - the great tongue of flame and truth which spoke to us - still exists and it lights the path ahead for us,” she said.
“It lights the path ahead to the referendum.
"It lights the path to a better future for our peoples.”
Later this year, Australians will vote in a referendum on whether to include a First Nations voice in the constitution, to give advice to policymakers on issues that affect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
During his speech at Garma, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Yunupingu had devoted his life to seeking change.
“The referendum is about whether we retreat into ourselves or have the courage to advance forward, like the kangaroo and the emu on our national crest,” he said.
“Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have been so clear - the form of constitutional recognition they are asking for is a voice, a vehicle for progress.
“Not just something that makes people feel good - something that will do good, make a positive difference.”
Aboriginal activist and community leader Noel Pearson called on Australians to unite.
"'Yes’ will recognise Indigenous people in the constitution but the bigger project is one of understanding who Australian people are,” he said.
“What’s our history, where do we come from, who we are in the present and what do we want to leave to our children?”
Mr Pearson said a successful referendum would entwine three histories - Indigenous, British and multicultural.
“Australia is going to put behind it the idea of settler versus natives when it recognises Indigenous people as Australian,” he said.
Mr Pearson also laid down the challenge to Garma attendees to share a message of strength and hope about the referendum when they return home.
“We’re going to love them on the beaches, love them at every front door, on football pitches, every railway station,” he said.
"We’re going to leave no stone unturned.
“We’re going to add a little bit of soul to our founding document."
This year’s Garma has inspired a powerful alliance of land councils to gather as a united voice on issues that affect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in northern Australia.
The alliance, which includes the four Aboriginal land councils of the Northern Territory, plus Cape York and the Kimberley, said the voice referendum was the best opportunity for Australians to create the greatest turning point in the lives of Indigenous people and the nation’s identity.
“This is the opportunity to give Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples a voice and with it the ability to influence governments on the policies and programs which affect them,” they said in a statement.
“If successful, the referendum will provide a path to a truly united nation, one with a shared history and culture, one where Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples receive necessary recognition in the nation’s founding documents.”
Ms Burney implored people to seize the moment for future generations, for elders and for giants such as Yunupingu.
“Throughout his life, Yunupingu was the rock that stands against time,” she said.
"He saw the struggle and the progress.
“Nobody thinks the voice will fix every problem overnight but it will bring about structural change that will mean we finally have the right structures in place.”
