Hi Mahir,
It can be heavy going as it goes quite deep into Yolngu identity and ritual, there's also a sprinkling of key words in Yolngu Matha (the meaning of which are explained) and use of anthropological terms. But at the same time, the reading is easy and sometimes feels like a story book narrative. For example:
Quote:
"Once the preparations were complete, the ceremony lasted for thirty-three days. I arrived at Nangalala outstation community, where we had been based for several months, on the fourth day of dancing. One three separate days through the course of the ceremony no dancing took place.
The first phase consisted on daily dances at the inside group and at the Riyawarra Tree, with a similar form each day.
Days 1-18 During the afternoon of each day, the young male dancers of the Dhuwa moiety gathered under the shady trees near the inside dance-ground, painted their bodies with vertical stripes in red and yellow ochre and white clay (the 'inside' meaning of which should be known only to men), then began to dance in the late afternoon, unaccompanied by singing..." - page 200
Guan
