Music legends Paul Kelly and Witiyana Marika from Yothu Yindi have shared how the rock anthem Treaty came to life.
Speaking at the Garma festival on Yolngu country in northeast Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory, the two old friends told stories about how they met in the 1980s and began working on Yothu Yindi’s classic album Tribal Voice.
“The fire started for us, Yothu Yindi, and for the generation to come within the music world to combine Yolngu and contemporary so people could understand where we’re coming from,” Marika said.
“Two halves but powerful, to demonstrate in our way, to tell Australia, balanda (non-Indigenous people) and the world who we are.”
Kelly recalled performing in the US in 1988 and meeting Yothu Yindi, when they were on tour with Midnight Oil and avoiding bicentennial "celebrations" in Australia.
The late Yothu Yindi lead singer Dr Yunupingu had suggested they work together on a song about treaty because he wanted it to have two sides: Yolngu and balanda.
“He was always talking about both ways, balance, freshwater and saltwater, Yothu Yindi (child and mother),” Kelly said.
“He was a teacher and a philosopher who had a strong worldview and a message he wanted to send.”
The band had been sharing ideas around the campfire, then recorded all the other songs for the album.
“It was a two-chord song without a chorus then we yelled out ‘Treaty yeah’,” Kelly said.
“And ‘Treaty ma’ (now),” Marika added.
“And we thought ‘this could be a song once we get a chorus’,” Kelly said.
The band and Kelly finished off the song and played it to Midnight Oil frontman Peter Garrett.
“He knew it would be a hit straight away,” Marika said.
Treaty became a rock anthem after clubs across the country - and then the world - began playing the Filthy Lucre remix.
“All the young people were rocking it up,” Marika said.
While the song has its own story, its legacy goes further, with the band forming the Yothu Yindi Foundation, which hosts Garma.
To finish, Kelly and Marika treated the Garma audience to a special acoustic version of Treaty, joined by Djakapurra Munyarryun, Jess Hitchcock and one of Dr Yunupingu’s granddaughters, Dhapanbal.
