OCEANIA: Music of the Aborigines of Australia

Australian Aboriginal music: examples of how music is integrated with culture.

CD Example 1. Malkari dance - Cape York Peninsula, Queensland

A dance that imitates the work of a stockman (aboriginal cowboy). Sung by Oglolo cattle hand Jack Johnson Nyungu who accompanies himself by tapping two axe handles together. He is joined by two women from the Mungkan tribe who beat the ground in a steady pulse with long rolls of tea tree bark wrapped tightly in pieces of cloth. They are accompanying a group of male dancers miming the roping and branding of cattle. As each dancer takes a turn at the movements, the other dancers are clapping hands, stamping feet and making vocal sounds.

Malkari dance as an example of:

music as community participation

music as an imitation of daily activities (mimetic)

music as integrated with dance (dancers also generating sound)

utilitarian objects becoming musical instruments

musical migration and mixing (ethnic groups mix in modern context)

Aboriginal culture:

Ethnic minority group of Australia (1.3% of population)

Separation of gender roles:

women collect food and run the domestic domain

men hunt and are in charge of religion and the arts

Mythology: The Dreaming

The source for expressive culture (religious ritual and the arts)

Music plays important role in ritual: landscape was “sung” into existence.

CD Example 2. Ceremonial chant - Cape York Peninsula, Queensland

A secret, sacred song of the Pascoe River bora (initiation cult) sung by 60 year old George Morton accompanying himself with his own drum. The singer was born a Kandyu but married a Wutati woman who was the daughter of one of the great Wutati bora singers who handed down the entire repertory of bora songs to him. This song tells of a turtle that used a medicinal vine as a poison to catch fish in a rock pool at low tide.

Ceremonial chant as an example of:

music used to transmit secret knowledge during rite of passage ritual

music that connects humans to the animal spirit world

musical migration and mixing

CD Example 3. Women’s wungka song - Cape York Peninsula, Queensland

Sung by 70 year old Annie Fruit who is accompanied by her friend, 60 year old Margaret Temple, on a tobacco tin. These two women have been singing wungka songs since they were young. The meaning of this song is no longer understood.

Wungka songs used in rituals specifically for women (mourning rituals)

Songs categorized and divided by gender

Utilitarian objects becoming musical instruments

Ancient songs may have unknown meanings

CD Example 4. Didjeridu solo and vocal imitation - Elcho Island, Central North Australia

The oldest indigenous instrument to Australia and one of the oldest instruments in the world is the natural long trumpet called didjeridu. This solo is played by 22 year old Wiriyi, regarded as one of the best players on Elcho Island. His father was also a didjeridu player. Following his solo he does a vocal solo that imitates the sound of the instrument.

CD Example 5. Djadbangari dance song: Shelatan (“Eastwind”) - Central North Australia

Song sung by 26 year old Buwaijigu, regarded as a good songman and dancer, accompanied by Wiriyi on didjeridu.

Drone sound with complex timbre

Instrument is a part of nature, sounds connected to nature.

Traditional use of didjeridu:

Limited to only a few northern ethnic groups

Played only by initiated males

CD Example 6. Aboriginal pop music: Yothu Yindi - “Back to Culture”

Yothu Yindi is Australia’s best-known aboriginal pop music group. The group sings about social injustice and aboriginal land rights as well as the wish for harmony and reconciliation between black and white. The band itself symbolizes this with its mix of Aboriginal and white musicians. Their repertoire includes both new songs written by the group and traditional aboriginal songs. This song combines native language with English and didjeridu with rock instrumentation.

Band addresses issues of aboriginal land rights

Band promotes interracial harmony (integrated band)

Mix of traditional pieces (local language) and modern pieces (English)

Didjeridu crosses ethnic boundaries to become symbol of Aboriginal identity.