LAMI LAMI, Ronald

It is with great sadness that the Chairman, members and staff of the Northern Land Council commemorate the passing of Mr Lami Lami, who passed away on 7 January 2021.
Mr Lami Lami was a member of the NLC Executive Council from 2016 to 2019 and served as an NLC member.
Schooled at Kormilda College, he did an apprenticeship as a diesel mechanic and worked for Perkins Shipping. In the 1980s, he worked on the Pancontinental Jabiluka project before undertaking a one-year community development course and used those skills at ERA’s Community Development Unit at Jabiru. Later he was manager of the Red Lily Health Board.
Mr Lami Lami had also been a member of ATSIC, chaired its Jabiru Regional Council and served as Chairperson of the West Arnhem Shire. He was a member of the board of the Garig Gunak Barlu National Park and of the Coburg Peninsula Sanctuary and Marine Park.
Beyond work on behalf of his community, his greatest influence and enduring legacy will perhaps be his contributions to the research and understanding of the Namunidjbuk Rock Art (Wariadt Eunminwung) found in the Namunidjbuk estate of north-west Arnhem Land.
Sine 2008 Mr Lami Lami worked closely with a group of archaeologists, historians, linguists, film-makers and other Balanda (non-Aboriginal) experts to document the hundreds of sites and many thousands of images scattered across the Namunidjbuk estate.
Mr Lami Lami become a key player in two major Australian Research Council funded projects that commenced in 2008: Picturing Change that focused on rock art made after the arrival of Macassans and Europeans; and Baijini, Macassans, Balanda and Bininj, that looked at the history of encounters between his ancestors and outsiders from across seas and oceans.
Mr Lami Lami was particularly passionate about Djulirri, a rock art complex with over 3,000 paintings, stencils and figures made of native beeswax. In 2020 Mr Lami Lami, in collaboration with Professor Paul Tacon of Griffith University, produced a book of photographs, Namunidjbuk Rock Art (Wariadt Eunminwung), which recorded many of these sites and was distributed to schools throughout the West Arnhem Region.
Our heartfelt sympathies and condolences from members and staff of the Northern Land Council go out to family and kin across Mr Lami Lami’s beloved Namunidjbuk country and beyond.
A Memorial Service for Mr Lami Lami will be held at the Darwin Uniting Memorial Church on Smith Street today at 11am.