iDIDJ Australia Didgeridoo Cultural Hub

Hi there.

Chap 3 of "The Didgeridoo Phenomenon" (Djalu's part) states :
"There are two independent mythologies concerning yidaki, one belonging to the Dhuwa moiety and the other to the Yirritja. The story narrated by Djalu is the Dhuwa version, of which he is custodian."
So Dhuwa Yidaki comes from NEAL and custodians are Yolngus (Gurruwiwi mob).
What about the Yirritja Yidaki ? Could it even be a Mago and held by non-Yolngu tribes ?
Who is its custodian ?

Thanks.

Hello there,

I believe Djalu is custodian for a particular kind of yidaki, not sure if he's custodian for ALL the dhuwa yidaki... but I wouldn't say so... And that particular yidaki for which Galpu are custodians is linked with the west, specially Goulburn and Croker islands, and with a particular style of playing that might resemble much to A styles (mago, etc) of playing, if not coming from the same... Have a listen at Bärra, the west wind song, blowing from the west/northwest and bringing the moonsonal rains... Bärra is a dhuwa wind most significant to dhuwa clans but specially to Galpu...

Having a quick memory refresh, I can't recall of anyone else from other dhuwa clans telling me that they were custodians of other yidaki myths, but I tend to think it's quite possible that there are other myths involving yidaki and other dhuwa clans for which the latter would be custodians... My short experience tells me we westerners have the bad habit of trying to simplify things to the max, hoping to find the "only-one answer" for things that can't be seen or approached from just one side... Aboriginal culture is very much like that... a polyhedron... very often one story can be told in many different ways, depending on who's the storyteller and what's the clan or language group of origin. Remember how complexly their society is weaved, how complex the kinship system is... Not considering this, leads automaticly to loss of meaning, misunderstanding, misinformation, wrong approach, etc...

The moiety system applies to WAL as it does to NEAL, although the moieties themselves might have different names. Didjeridu styles aren't that much a response to moiety but a response to the tree avalaible for making didjeridu and its morphological, natural and therefore sound features. However, it's true that stringybark (eucalyptus tetrodonta) is meant to be dhuwa and wolliebutt (eucalyptus minniata) is meant to be yirritja (please Guan or someone correct me if I'm wrong), as it's true that stringybark is the most common tree suitable for didjeridu making in NEAL and wolliebutt the equivalent for WAL... Apparently, the bark and the inner part of the tree belong to different moieties as well (again, someone correct me or add some more light to that!), not sure which one's each, but one being the mother and the other one being the son, reproducing the Yothu-Yindi relationship...

Anyhow, i suggest you to have a look at what Randin put together in his excellent work!!!

http://www.yirrkala.com/yidaki/dhawu/22 ... oiety.html

Hi Marcuz,

Thanks for your answer.

I am perfectly aware of the great complexity of all individual and collective Aboriginal societies, as well as of each and every "Dreams".
In fact, that's what struck me at first in the quotation in my first post : this seemed so clear and straight > Djalu is custodian of the Dhuwa Yidaki.
No "warning" other than "the origins of the yidaki as understood and accepted by Yolngu is related by Djalu", meaning that indeed other stories/versions may exist in other communities/tribes. Nothing warning that more complex dispatching had to be taken into account.
Apparently, from what I understood of the text, there are no more than 2 custodians and Djalu is one of them (Dhuwa).
Hence my direct question...

So I don't know :

Is there a simple direct answer ?
If YES > then who's the "other" Yolngu custodian (Yirritja) ?
If NO > then how comes Djalu is directly referred to as the Dhuwa Yidaki custodian, and not "only part of it" ?

Has the book simplified the story ?

Is there (or has there ever been) a Yolngu Yirritja yidaki custodian ?

I had already read Randin's excellent website some time ago... but it's good to refresh memories once in a while.
Though his article argues about yidaki moiety-classification through sound+crafting+painting caracteristics based on some Yolngu's sayings.
It doesn't talk about traditionnal custodians.

hello Ahaw,

I'm sorry I can't find other answer than what I wrote before, which to me, along with Randin's work, already contains a possible explanation to your inquiry...

And I'm sorry, once again, coz I haven't read the book you mention, although I have the feeling it's a popular one in the didjeridu scene... I don't know how reliable the source is... But I tend to think that they have oversimplified the story, perhaps even with the best intentions... it's just an impression, based on what I know, and I could be totally wrong... No drama, it's just a book, or no drama, it's just my explanation...

No worries Marcuz, and thanks a lot for your answers and for Randin's site's link which gave me the opportunity to re-read all this !

Maybe Guan would have an idea as he has participated in the elaboration of this chapter (I think that he was Djalu's "interviewer").

And yes, I greatly recommend you this book Marcuz !
I think it's the only one condensing so much info (through a whole lot of participants) on the didjeridu... besides web-forums of course ^_^

Cheers !

Hi Francis,

Good questions there but not easy to answer. One should keep in mind the full title to that chapter, "Yidaki: a perspective from north-east Arnhem Land". It is one view of the instrument, and it is necessarily a personal view as the story comes from Djalu'. The chapter already has quite a number of footnotes (24 in total) and that would have increased exponentially if everything statement were to be qualified further.

I guess the sticking point with your inquiry is what is a "custodian"? In the widest sense, every Yolngu person and anyone traditionally connected to the didgeridoo would be a custodian irrespective of moiety. When talking about land, every Yolngu would be a custodian of his or her Ancestral estate, those tracts of land that by birthright belongs to him or her.

There is a narrower sense to "custodian" too. In one dictionary meaning, it has it as: "One that has charge of something; a caretaker".

With Djalu', this narrower sense of custodianship has been impressed upon me numerous times. Djalu' feels that it is his duty and indeed a role handed down to him by his father that the yidaki and its associated Ancestral story and power are maintained - and shared (even with non-Indigenous people). Other Dhuwa clans and individuals also have a stake in this maintenance and preservation, but the Galpu stand apart from other Dhuwa clans in that they actually sing about yidaki but no other Dhuwa clans do (that's what I've been told but I don't know enough about all Dhuwa clan songs to really test this). Together with the Ancestral story about Galpu being able to cause the West Wind to blow where other Dhuwa clans could not, this is the reason given to me as to why the Galpu are somehow 'closer' to the yidaki and why Djalu' is especially significant as a custodian of the Dhuwa instrument.

With the Yirritja side of the yidaki, I don't know anyone who has the same standing as Djalu' either in reputation or as "custodian" but that does not mean such a person does not exist. Certainly there are many great Yirritja craftsmen and players, but like Marcos I have not heard of anyone being singled out as being more important in the maintenance and preservation of the story and associated sacra.

In the narrower sense of "custodianship", Djalu's story reminds me of the realm of the secret-sacred, where often an individual is singled out as "bunggawa" or boss. So when talking about Birrkuda or Ganiny or Gurtha etc. knowledgeable Yolngu would say so-and-so is the "bunggawa". But if one was to ask who was boss for, say, spear or spearthrower, you'd probably get a blank look unless one was to talk about a specific type of spear or spearthrower with a 'Big Name'.

Hope all this makes sense.

Guan

All right Guan,
Thanks for your answer.
As always with the Aboriginal world, there are no simple answers and as Marcuz pointed it out, everything is weaved in a complex way in their culture(s).
Have a nice day,
Cheers !

thanx Guan!!

not that I want to make it even more difficult but... how would that apply to, say, murrungun (of the Nungubbuyu speaking kind) people down in Numbulwar??? them being dhuwa as well and also playing "yidaki style" (toot present) lhambilbig (to me, the most beautiful name for didjeridu because it tells of its percussive nature!)???
do they share common myths about the instrument???
do they relate to the same "dhuwa clan competition of playing yidaki, etc" story in which the Galpu succeeded to make the west wind blow? i mean, does that story reach beyond the miwatj? or past Walker River, in this case, they have their own and therefore different responsabilities towards the instrument...??

never asked them, dunno why, but i should next time!

Hi Marcos,

I don't know to be honest, they are a different language group over that way but sometimes there are interweaving mythologies between such groups. For example, the Djunggirriny' story which connects eastern and western Arnhem Land. Members of the White Cockatoo group acknowledge the Galpu story, or at least Darryl Digarrnga says he knows the story and gives a nod to Djalu's importance.

Let us know what you find out!

Guan

Something of interest for those who want to know more about mythologies concerning the didgeridoo. This one comes from the book "Country of the Heart: An Indigenous Australian Homeland" by Deborah Bird Rose, and concerns the NW NT region.



A scan from the book showing Goose Dreaming is below.

Also, a pic of a kenbi I have with Karramala design which is going to the Musical Instrument Museum (MIM) in the USA.

It is interesting to note that over in Arnhem Land, magpie goose, known as Gurrumattji, is sometimes Dhuwa and sometimes Yirritja. Dhuwa clans such as the Galpu and Liyagawumirr sing about gurrumattji, whereas over in north-central Arnhem Land, gurrumattji is Yirritja among the Ganalbingu people and some of the Djinang-speaking peoples of the region. Over at Goulburn Island and other parts of Western Arnhem Land, magpie goose goes by the name of Manimunak, but I'm not sure if it is Yirritja or Dhuwa over that way.

Guan