<P> Wali Wunungmurra, one of the 12 signatories to the petitions, describes the background to the petitions as follows: </P> <P> "In the late 1950s Yolngu became aware of people prospecting for minerals in the area of the Gove Peninsula, and shortly after, discovered that mining leases had been taken out over a considerable area of our traditional land . Our response, in 1963, was to send a petition framed by painted bark to the Commonwealth Government demanding that our rights be recognised ." </P> <P> The Yolngu people of Yirrkala sent the bark petitions to the Australian House of Representatives where they were tabled on 14 and 28 August 1963 . The petitions were written in the Yolngu language, together with an English translation . They are on permanent display at Parliament House, Canberra . </P> <P> The bark petitions asserted that the Yolngu people owned the land and protested the Commonwealth's granting of mining rights to Nabalco of land excised from the Arnhem Aboriginal Land reserve . The son of one of the Yirrkala plaintiffs, a Gumatj clan leader, Munggurrawuy, was Galarrwuy Yunupingu who assisted in drafting the petitions . </P>

Who was involved in the yirrkala bark petition