Woomera Nation: Soverignty Never Ceded
Membership and Affiliation
We will soon be releasing information regarding registration of membership and affiliation.
Projects and Programs
The projects under development through the Woomera Nation encompass all aspects of sovereign and autonomous management of the cultural, spiritual and political business of the peoples and nations under Woomera Law. The running of these programs is aimed at developing successful structures of co-existence, run according to the beliefs, values and Laws of the Woomera Nation.
■ Woomera Nation Art Project
■ Education Projects
■ Gatherings, meetings and actions
■ Community Support and Development Groups and Organisations
■ Legal Advocacy and Support
■ Familial and community reconnection programs and information management
■ Cultural enegagement, including scheduled Corroboree
Woomera Story- Woomera Law
From Judulu - Yarrabah:
The Woomera Story tells of the birth of the very question of Sovereignty in Australia. This Sovereignty was granted in Law by the Spiritual Ancestor, Kuyulum, who separated the lands between Papua New Guinea and the islands that make up the Australian land mass.
The Sovereignty of this land and country, Australia, without a doubt, was invested in and given to the First Nations people of Australia by the Spiritual Ancestor Kuyulum who separated the lands between Papua New Guinea and the islands that make up the Australian land mass.
After defeating invaders armed with bows and arrows from the North (what is now PNG) Kuyulum struck the land with a yam stick, creating the many islands of the Torres Straits, separating the land from the PNG coastline and creating our country for the First Nations people of Australia.
Kuyulum holding up the bow and arrow said, “This (bow and arrow) does not belong to us or in this county!” He then threw the bow and arrow to the North towards PNG. Kuyulum, holding up the Woomera, then stated, “This (the woomera) represents the LAW (sovereignty) of all the islands and lands to the South of the coastline of PNG!”
As both a physical symbol and a way of Law, the Woomera Nation represents the uniqueness of the Australian First Nations civilization as a whole, and the entire system of cultural and spiritual laws, beliefs and values it contains. No other civilization has used the Woomera as an implement, and rejected the Bow and Arrow law this way. Woomera Law is the oldest continual system of Law on the planet. Its continued survival in the face of oppression, violence greed and suffering testifies to its indestructible spirit.
In the years since colonisation, Woomera Law has been oppressed by other powers. However, as the spirit behind the assertion of First Nations Sovereignty in the face of this oppression grows, it is time for the Nations to come together and show the world the significance of this Law, and the strength they posses through it. To show the world that that Law and identity still exists, along with the system of beliefs and values that goes with it.
We have to reunite, rejuvenate, and renew our relationships. That is what is demonstrated through the values and beliefs of our people. We need to unite, to come together, to show how those beliefs and values operate. To act, to demonstrate our sovereignty. Through co- existence, we can do that. But we need to understand the system of cultural and spiritual laws beliefs and values that unites all the nations, through their shared storylines.
Judulu - Yarrabah
Watch this section for more information on Woomera Law and the structure of the Woomera Nation. Questions, comments and discussion can be entered below.