Song · Yothu Yindi
“Treaty” by Yothu Yindi
“Treaty” by Yothu Yindi appears on 2 radio countdowns from 2 stations between 1991 and 1992. Its best result is #65 on the WHFS Top 99.1 Songs of 1992. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #204 alternative song of 1992 and #6,633 alternative song of all time.
Yothu Yindi, a band of Aboriginal and balanda (non-Aboriginal) members, released "Treaty" on Mushroom in February 1991, and it went nowhere until a remix arrived that May. Then it broke through: the first song by a mostly Aboriginal band to chart in Australia, climbing to 11 in September, and the first sung partly in an Aboriginal language to win wide attention overseas, reaching six on Billboard's Dance Club Play chart. Part of it is in Gumatj, a Yolngu Matha dialect from Arnhem Land.
It's a protest song with a clear target. Three years after the Barunga Statement was handed to then-Prime Minister Bob Hawke, brothers Mandawuy and Galarrwuy Yunupingu wanted to show how little progress had been made on a treaty between Indigenous Australians and the government. APRA named it one of the 30 greatest Australian songs in 2001, and the National Film and Sound Archive added it to Sounds of Australia in 2009.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
All Rock Formats
Year-end countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | 65 | WHFS Washington, DC / Baltimore, MD | WHFS Top 99.1 Songs of 1992 | 100 |
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | 83 | Triple J | Triple J Hottest 100 of All-Time (1991) | 100 |
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