Words and Things as Repositories of Hope for Peace and Justice on the Ground

About the Event

Charlie Newili Brinken is the 'Figure of Hope' who will animate our public philosophy event at the Library and Archives NT performance space, Cavenagh St, on April 28, 2026, at 2 pm.

Charlie is 'present' in our event in the form of two heritage items – marluk (didgeridoo) and kuragadha (boomerang) that 'came to life' in his hands in Wadeye in the early 1930s. In 2025 these items fell unexpectedly into the metaphorical arms of CDU's First Nations Sovereignty and Diplomacy Centre (FNSDC).

This seminar will follow a private Wangga Ceremony in the morning associated with the repatriation of the items which have wandered far and wide for eighty years. The purpose of our event is celebration. We will tell a small part of the story of the items' coming to life in the 1930s, and the trajectory which led them to land in the FNSDC in 2025. 

As we interpret things, these items are profoundly entangled with the fate of three Japanese seamen Nagata, Yoshida, and Owashi whose memorial stands in the Gardens Road Cemetery.

Wadeye elder and community-based researcher William Thengalith Parmbuk will present the life story of Charlie Newili Brinken, Prof Helen Verran will propose ‘Hope’ as a cultural force, Dr Leonie Norrington will ask about the roles of the storyteller, and Dr Yasunori Hayashi will suggest that musical heritage items have a special place in the twenty-first century diplomacy.

The stories accounted in our public philosophy event will provide a catalyst for documentation of the Murrinh people’s oral histories, the generation of a variety of historically focused archival records, and we hope eventual re-telling in Japan, of the stories of the Japanese presence in pre-WWII northern Australia. Our hope is that we can multiply possibilities for many reconciliatory events in the future.

Program:

About the Presenters

William Thengalith Parmbuk is a grandson of Charlie Newili Brinken and a senior leader of Kardu Wakal Bengunh, as well as the ceremonial group of Lirrga. He is a Traditional Owner of his country, Kubuyirr, and a respected spokesperson for the Wadeye community. William is also a senior artist at the Wadeye Men’s Shed, where he shares his cultural knowledge and artistic practice to support community and cultural continuity.

Dr. Leonie Norrington is a multi-award-winning North Australian author who grew up in the Barunga community in Arnhem Land and was adopted by Yolngu Elder Clare Bush. Under Clare Bush’s supervision, Leonie wrote fourteen children’s and young adult novels. Many of these novels were shortlisted for or won major Australian literary awards. Leonie writes in a mix of English, Kriol and Indigenous languages for children, teens and adults. Her stories are a beautifully conceived reflection of the life in remote NT, black and white characters merge, lives are entwined, there is no racial issue, merely different ways of looking. A TV series based on The Barrumbi Kids is available on Netflix. 

Helen Verran has been working with Aboriginal Territorians since the late 1980s. Indigenous schools, environmental NGOs, and cultural organisations have provided the context of her work as a philosopher. She is currently a Professorial Research Fellow in CDU's Northern Institute and Research Associate at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory

Yasunori Hayashi has worked for several years as a community worker in remote communities and then as a coordinator of the Yolngu language and culture program at Charles Darwin University in the NT, he slowly began to sense a metaphysical difference being worked in places across the Northern Territory. He is currently a co-director of the First Nations Sovereignty and Diplomacy Centre in CDU.

This event is in collaboration with the Library and Archives NT, Northern Institute and Murin Association Incorporated. We acknowledge the Northern Territory History Grant for its contributions.

Registration for the event

In-person: RSVP here
Please RSVP here to attend in person—limited seating. 

Online registration: Register here
Once you register, you will receive an individual link from Zoom no-reply@zoom.us

Getting there

Level 2, Library and Archives NT
CDU Danala Education and Community Precinct,
54, Cavenagh Street,
Darwin.
Google Maps Location