2026 National NAIDOC Week: 50 Years of Deadly,
2026
National
NAIDOC
Week:
50
Years
of
Deadly
In 2026, NAIDOC Week is celebrating Fifty Years of Deadly: a milestone year marking five decades of First Nations resistance, protest, excellence and celebration.
It’s a chance to recognise the legacy of Elders who have come before, and who have over time built an organised movement of advocacy among First Nations communities across the continent.
‘This moment is about looking back at the stories, the marches, the languages, the art, the leadership. At the strength it took to get here. It’s about recognising how far we’ve come, not by chance, but because generations of people refused to be silenced.’ - National NAIDOC Week
In Arnhem Land, among the most potent examples of this is the Homelands Movement. From the 1920s, Christian missionaries moved into the Arnhem region and established a number of religious settlements. This is one example in a long line of paternalistic notions and colonial decision-making that either persuaded or forced people to move away from their traditional lands, gradually contributing to the widespread interruption to traditional life.
In the 1970s, the tide began to shift when small family groups started to gradually move back to their ancestral homelands. While there was some initial government support for this during the Whitlam era, it was ultimately short-lived. All momentum since has been wrested into reality by First Nations communities determined to return to Country and build place-based solutions and enterprises, designed and led by the same people they seek to serve.
The Homelands Movement really began to gain speed and traction with the reintroduction of traditional land management. In West Arnhem Land, much of this early revitalisation was led by key figures like Bardayal Lofty Nadjamerrek and his wife Mary Kolkiwarra Nadjamerrek. Through work with the Northern Land Council, Bardayal began a process of cultural mapping the Country of his youth, visiting areas of the Arnhem Plateau that had been without Bininj presence since the 1940s.
Kabulwarnamyo outstation. Photo by Adelaide Ford.
On one particular survey, Bardayal spotted a native apple tree beside a spring. It was Kabulwarnamyo, a place he adored and had been hoping to find again. In 2002, Bardayal and his wife established a camp near the spring. Within just four years, it had grown into a (re)settlement of 30 people. Eventually, Kabulwarnamyo became the first official outstation or base for the Manwurrk (fire) rangers, which would later grow into Warddeken Land Management.Â
With its ranger program based within the community and a steady stream of scientists and scholars coming to visit, study, and learn from Bardayal and other Elders, Kabulwarnamyo strengthened as a hub for research, creativity, and cross-cultural exchange. But a major blow came when the Howard Government launched the Northern Territory Intervention, significantly undermining First Nations peoples’ right to self-determination.Â
The Intervention’s many harmful implications prompted a regional group of Elders to make an important decision. In an effort to consolidate their control of ancestral Country, they elected to register the entire Arnhem Land Plateau as an Indigenous Protected Area (IPA). Shortly after, both the Warddeken and Djelk IPAs were declared, and more than 20,000 square kilometres of Indigenous land in West and Central Arnhem Land was afforded an additional layer of protection.
Kuwarddewardde (Stone Country) of West Arnhem Land. Photo by Kane Chenoweth.
‘No matter what, we will continue to work slowly… Make things happen in the way our people dreamed, so we can live in harmony, be strong and go forward.’  - Dr Dean Yibarbuk, Co-Chair of KKT, Traditional Owner of Djinkarr and former Chair of Warddeken
This also marks the beginning of KKT’s part in an otherwise very long story that stretches back eons. Following the declaration of the IPAs, Warddeken and Djelk established their own philanthropic trust, purposefully designed to function as a bi-cultural bridge between their work for Country, and funders who might be interested in supporting. Since then, KKT’s role has remained focused on resourcing the evolving aspirations of Traditional Owners, particularly where government funding is inadequate or entirely absent.
Ultimately, the clear vision and relentless commitment of Traditional Owners determined to live on and care for their lands is both the legacy and the future. The next 50 years of continuing to return to Country, restoring Indigenous knowledge and practice across the landscape, and supporting young people to grow strong in their culture and community.
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