As the dust settles after political visitors farewell the Garma Festival in the Northern Territory, country, culture and connection remain.
Art, music and the evening bunggul (dance) are highlights of the four-day celebration - Australia's largest Indigenous cultural event and an important meeting point for the clans and families of the region.
This year, a special bunggul for sea country marked the opening of a new stage at the festival grounds at Gulkula, in Arnhem Land, dedicated to talks about protecting country.
The designer of the flag flying behind the stage explained what each of its elements represented as it was raised behind him.
The white is for the cloud, blue for the sea, yellow for the sun and black for the people of Arnhem Land while the red represents their blood.
"Everybody sitting here today and all over the world, we've got the blood that gives us energy, strength and power - the red is for the power," Nuwandjali Marawili said.
The stage is covered with shade made of plastics including ghost nets, which rangers say are a huge problem across the north of Australia.
Dhimurru Aboriginal Corporation's Stephina Salee said ghost nets and other plastics were a huge problem for rangers protecting country.
The nets have been cleared by rangers from the sand and sea across the country's northernmost regions.
"One ranger picks up 2.5 tonnes of plastic roughly per year - that's how massive a job we have," Ms Salee said.
"The ghost nets are not only visible on the beach, they're under our waters and we have special places under salt water as well, our coral - it's our bush supermarket. It means a lot to us.
"These plastics and stuff are damaging our country but the rangers get out there every day and do our best to protect the country for future generations to enjoy."
For Ms Salee, doing this work and being able to protect country is about preserving cultural traditions - such as song and dance connected to the land - for generations to come.
"This is about the next generation," she said.
"Country means a lot more than something you sit on, something you see and something you take a picture of."
