When the COVID pandemic hit, many remote Northern Territory communities – including Yirrkala/Nhulunbuy, Batchelor and Darwin – felt it deeply. Biosecurity restrictions effectively cut off services and gatherings, severing critical ties of connection for First Nations people and disrupting cultural practices, community routines and mobility.
For older First Nations people, the impacts were even more acute. Isolation, a reduction in physical activity and the inability to gather for important cultural events and ceremonies saw many Elders begin to withdraw. Significant sorry business further exacerbated this, particularly in Yirrkala. The result was growing loneliness, depression and a noticeable disruption to the intergenerational flow of cultural knowledge.
In response to these community concerns, dance company Tracks Inc partnered with Miku Performing Arts in Yirrkala, to co-create ‘Wuyal Sugarbag Man’ – an innovative, community-led project where dance is used to reconnect older community members, support wellbeing and re-energise cultural exchange across generations.
Supported by a $50,000 Strengthening Rural Communities Rebuilding Regional Communities grant, funded by the Australian Government, the project brought to life a 12-month program of dance classes, workshops and cultural immersion across the Nhulunbuy/Yirrkala, Darwin and Batchelor regions.
Through on-Country learning, intergenerational workshops and storytelling through dance, the program created vital spaces for Elders and younger participants to come together, share culture and strengthen identity. The inclusion of an artist-in-schools program in Yirrkala ensured youth were not only engaged, but actively participated in the transmission of cultural knowledge.
Wuyal – Sugarbag Man was about more than just movement – it was about meaning. The story of Wuyal belongs to the Rirratjingu people of the Gove Peninsula and speaks to the preciousness of sugarbag (native honey): a rich treat that requires effort and patience to find. Like the story, the project honoured the idea that deep rewards come from persistence, connection and community effort.
COVID’s continued impact in the community, difficulties working in bilingual spaces and sorry business provided challenges to the project’s progression, but they found meaningful ways to adapt. Zoom sessions, gestural dance styles, smoking ceremonies and participation in bereavement practices all helped maintain momentum, while respecting cultural sensitivities. The project culminated in a final performance at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory.
Importantly, the relationships formed during this time have laid strong foundations for future collaboration. Tracks Inc staff’s commitment to participating in local ceremonies and funerals has built trust and affirmed their role as respectful and invested partners in community-led work.
“Both the Yirrkala artists and Tracks Staff and Grey Panthers feel strongly connected to each other and have an enhanced capacity to further the general aims of reducing isolation and providing platforms for pride to express itself. It was an amazing activity to create a dance from Yolŋu gestures, to dance it on Country and to teach it to the Grey Panthers in Darwin and Coomalie region. It is a lasting and binding thing.” Artistic Director, David McMicken.