iDIDJ Australia Didgeridoo Cultural Hub

Hi Guan and others,
Had an interesting exchange with Randin on facebook today, but didn't want to bore the pants off subscribers there so thought I'd throw the bone in here! We've had excellent threads on ownership, IPR, commodification etc here before, but I just wanted to nail the lid on traditional custodianship. As I understand Djalu, being the elder of the Galpu clan, and owner of the Yirdaki 'dreaming' is the traditional custodian of the instrument for his people. But, there are other NEAL clan groups, and I guess if they also uphold a Yirdaki 'dreaming', then someone there will also be the traditional custodian. So, there must be several custodians for each clan claiming to share the appropriate dreaming/song. Am I anywhere close with this? One thing in the back of my mind (and I can't find my notes anywhere - so I could be rambling in total error!) is that Yirdaki came ashore on Galpu lands and was connected with something like rain or wind, so that's why Galpu believe they are the origin of the dreaming/song cycle. Enlightenment needed please!!!

Hi Dave,

On a broad scale, a traditional custodian is any Indigenous person from the Top End of Australia who has the instrument as part of his/her traditional culture as passed down by ancestral stories with their associated beliefs and practices.

On a fine-grain scale, Djalu is important for a couple of reasons, firstly, that he is Galpu and the Galpu is the only clan - so I've been told by Yolngu - that SINGS about the didgeridoo in its manikay song cycles. There are other clan groups that feature in stories about the original yidaki but none of these sing about it in their clan songs. In the Dhuwa version of the origins of the didgeridoo, the Galpu caused the West Wind to blow whereas other Dhuwa clans were ineffective - this is significant to Yolngu and from what I can gather, gives Galpu controlling rights over the instrument. There is also the Yirritja story of the origins of the Yirritja yidaki that is independent of the Dhuwa story. This is an interesting and perhaps crucial point, because if there are 2 independent stories, how come there seems to be 1 controlling group? My take on this is that yidaki when talked about generally is classified as Dhuwa by Yolngu, just like clapsticks. But when we get into the nitty-gritty details of clan-specific sacra where things have specific names with totemic power, then that's a different thing altogether.

Second reason why Djalu is important is that Djalu was 'passed the custodial baton' so to speak by his father to carry the yidaki into the future.

Guan

Hi Guan,
Beautiful stuff and a relief - many thanks! I knew there was something in the back of my mind and I had lost the significance of the West Wind story over the intervening years. I had not appreciated that Galpu were the only clan to sing the story. I am indebted to your fine knowledge, which to me is what seems to really count, since generalisations seem to be a plague of Western thinking since Plato/Aristotle!

Didn't know about Galpu being the only ones to sing about Yidaki
Glad to learn that ! Thanks Guan.

By the way, when you say "There are other clan groups that feature in stories about the original yidaki but none of these sing about it in their clan songs"
... Do you include Mago, Bamboo, Molo, and all the other names (and regions/tribes/clans associated) in the word "Yidaki" ?
Or are these other names what you call "the nitty-gritty details of clan-specific sacra where things have specific names with totemic power" ???

Hi Francis,

What I said is pertinent only for eastern Arnhem Land, for the Yolngu cultural bloc.

For other areas, there ought to be other stories about the origin of the didgeridoo that might or might not be connected to the stories from eastern Arnhem Land. Often, Aboriginal people find ways of establishing connections or extending "Dreaming" tracks or making them come together for disparate groups. The one thing that struck me as very interesting is the acknowledgement by Darryl Dikarrnga, from the other side of Arnhem Land and speaking an entirely different language to Djalu, of the veracity of the Galpu story and Djunggirriny. Mahir pointed out elsewhere in this forum (the search facility in this forum sucks, I can't figure out how it works so can't find the thread) one of the tracks in Darryl's Mago Masterclass CD about this stone didgeridoo that is at Croker Island that the Galpu people sing about. What is interesting to me about this is that the Galpu story has relevance outside of the Yolngu cultural bloc, when more often than not, ancestral stories are very localised in terms of place and in the socio-political sphere as well.

I know from the Ramingining experience that there are other yidaki stories and origins other than those relating to Djunggirriny and Dhambilpil, take a look at the following YouTube clip I put up a couple of days ago, the didgeridoo overtones in that ceremony is said to represent the honking of a totemic Magpie Goose in the Arafura Swamp. The Ganalbingu have a Yirritja didgeridoo story independent of the Yirritja Ganbulapula story:



And I think I've read somewhere a story about didgeridoo that is different again by Bill Harney from his area.

Guan

Haven't heard this one before...


The accompanying description for this video:

THE LEGEND OF THE YIDAKI ORIGIN

SAE Institute 3d animation course project.

This story of the Didgeridoo comes from the dreaming of the people of the Northern Territory and they say that Bur Buk Boon, the warrior , was coming home from a hunt with a kangaroo over his shoulder when he saw a dead branch lying on the ground...

Guan

Hey it reminds me of this French animation : http://nimnim-ma.blogspot.com/
Roo hunting, dot-painting, body-painting, Uluru and Didj all at the same time.
The "happy mix" to depict the Aborigines on post cards !
... strange thing, there isn't even any didj music on the video you posted Guan !