Warumungu Law

Wilya Ajjul Janta is guided by working two ways Wumpurrarni (Indigenous) and Papulinyi (non-Indigenous). The fundamental principal of Warumungu Law, is to honour the law of the Country of neighbouring nations and follow Cultural Protocol. This protocol is laid out in the Jurnkkurakurr (Tennant Creek) Dreamtime story, which is still honoured and keeps community harmony.

There are many nuances to this Law story. It is interesting to note that there is no ecological record of Taipains living in Central Australia, but they did once, a very long time ago. Just like the songlines that marry with neighbouring Nations and describe how thylacines which disappeared from the mainland 5,oo years ago, were solo hunters and how dangerous they were to children. Cultural Protocol goes a very long way back and is steeped in a deep ecological and cultural wisdom.

The Wilya Janta logo of two snakes around the Jurnkkurakurr waterhole carries a lot of power to Aboriginal people in Central Australia. Although the image is modified to keep sacred knowledge protected, any First Nations person in central or northern Australia will respect this image as sacred Warumungu Protocol.

The concept in the Dreamtime story should be practised today in the black and white people’s world. We live in a society today where these two need to be working together, following that cultural protocol that needs to be implemented in any agreement, to reinforce our culture. Gilyigi, didn’t follow protocol, he didn’t respect Warumungu ways. We need to implement black man's and white man's protocols together. We will always follow our cultural protocol. It keeps order in our families, in our community and in our culture still today. Still this story keeps order in our community today.

Wilya Janta Constitution

Wilya Janta has a unique constitution. Written by Warumungu Elders, we acknowledge that a constitution written in Papulinyi Law needs to firstly recognise that there is Wumpurrarni Law that has been sitting on this Manu, this Country, since the Winkarra (dreaming). Our constitution starts with the sacred image of the snake and the python which is the law of Cultural Protocol for Jurnkkurakurr. The english words defining Papulinyi Law come second. Wilya Janta acknowledges that both Wumpurrarni and Papuinyi Law can exist together, and that neither can be ignored. Wilya Ajjul Janta, We All Stand Strong Together, walking together with a foot in both worlds.

Objectives
1. Principal objectives
The objectives of the corporation are to work towards the relief of poverty, distress and disadvantage of Aboriginal people by facilitating the development and construction of affordable housing for Aboriginal communities.

2. Other objectives
In furtherance of the objectives in rule 2.1, the purposes of the corporation include the following in relation to Aboriginal people and communities:

1. the development and implementation of broad housing and landscape design guidelines to be shared among Aboriginal people and communities with a particular focus on climate and culture;
2. partnering with Aboriginal communities, Homeland communities, Community Living Areas, local Aboriginal Councils, Shires and other Aboriginal people and families to promote agency in the location, design, construction and tenure of Aboriginal peoples’ homes;
3. developing more cost-conscious ways of building houses, striking a balance between contributing to local economies and using cost-effective prefabrication techniques and components in a nationally competitive construction industry;
4. building design and display houses to promote the possibility of well designed housing for Aboriginal people;
5. developing corporate engagement with national architectural, construction and associated industries, organisations, and corporate entities to facilitate competitive, sustainable and high-quality housing solutions;
6. engaging with Federal, Territory and State and Local Government to improve cultural and environmental design of Aboriginal housing projects;
7. creating a repository of corporate capacity knowledge (including tenure, design construction and evaluation) that can be shared across Aboriginal communities; The Rule book of Wilya Ajjul Janta Aboriginal Corporation (ICN:10108) Registered by a Delegate of the Registrar of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Corporations on 13 October 2023
8. partnering with communities in the community-driven evaluation of existing and future housing projects to ensure iterative progress in the design and construction of houses, as determined by community; and
9. all other things as may be incidental or ancillary to the attainment of these objectives