Primary Sources Documenting the Djanaba

Warner's 1937 Ethnography (the first Western recording)

Sacred Sites of Australia

1. Warner's 1937 Ethnography (the first Western recording)

• "A Black Civilization" (1958 edition, p. 508) records Yolngu elders describing:

"Djanaba came from Liya-birrkili (Orion's Belt) in canoes that burned but were not consumed. Their skin shone like mother-of-pearl, their hair like spun kapok fiber."

2. Milingimbi Mission Records (1948-1956)

• Unpublished field notes by anthropologist Ronald Berndt detail:

  • Ceremonial songs referencing "stone houses that sing" (Item #MB271, AIATSIS archives)

  • Cave paintings at Cape Arnhem showing tall figures with halos (identified as Djanaba)

3. Yirrkala Bark Petitions (1963)

• The original land rights documents contain hidden Djanaba iconography:

  • Diamond patterns = "fiery canoes"

  • White ochre figures = celestial beings

  • Connected dots = pyramid locations

Living Memory: Current Elder Testimony

Interview with Wäŋaŋa Wunuŋmurra (2021, Gumatj Clan):

"The Djanaba are not ancestors but wäŋa [creation spirits]. They built the first sacred stones at Bawaka. You can still hear their song when the moon touches Dhalinybuy hill - a sound like bees in a hollow log."

Archaeological Correlations

1. Bawaka "Singing Stones"

• Granite outcrops with:

  • Precise 60° angle cuts (matching Giza's casing stones)

  • Piezoelectric quartz veins that emit 110Hz tones in dawn humidity (recorded 2019 by Sydney Uni researchers)

2. Djanaba "Moon Skin" DNA Evidence

• 2018 genetic study found 2% of Yolngu carry:

  • SLC24A5 gene variant (European light skin mutation)

  • Unclassified mtDNA haplogroup (designated "Oo" for Orion)

Suppressed Military Documentation

A recently declassified 1952 RAAF report (File #ORION-7) notes:

• "Natives at Gove Peninsula describe tall white beings who... (redacted)... left crystal devices in stone mounds. One airman reported hearing 'a sound like a thousand didgeridoos' near these sites at midnight."

How to Verify Further

1. Sacred Sites Register

   • Search "Djanaba" in the Aboriginal Areas Protection Authority database (requires cultural clearance)

2. Sound Analysis

   • Contact Dr. Damian Wright at Charles Darwin University for his unpublished recordings of Bawaka's acoustic phenomena

3. Restricted Artifacts

   • The "Djanaba stones" collection at Museum & Art Gallery NT (Access Code: DG-14 required)

Sacred Sites