iDIDJ Australia Didgeridoo Cultural Hub

I'm ok Mahir but still no access to emails, did you read a previous post of mine? So every1 if you want a response from me, PM me thru this forum, my old computer's logic board has died, I'm just waiting for a replacement computer but the timing is no good as I gave away what money I had left recently and will have to wait until next week or the week after before I can save up again and sort out my computer problems. Yea bit tight here financially, people still calling up every day from Arnhem Land, and there's also been the flood disasters in Queensland and other states including Victoria (I wasn't affected at all except for my rolls of bubble wrap which are drenched in water and need drying out). By the way, speaking of floods, as bad as Australia got it, if you check out the news in other parts of the world, they've had it pretty bad too... Sri Lanka, Phillippines, Brazil. Hope John is ok in Brisbane, touch wood.

Guan

Anthony, that was the response that got lost when I hit the send button when I was in Arnhem Land... I don't think I can re-type what I wrote then but yea it is a complex series of questions. The short answer is that music and ceremony is well integrated in peoples' lives in the Top End of the Northern Territory. So well integrated that it seems seamless, in that it is not possible to speak of music and ceremony in depth without discussing other aspects of culture. There are variations in this "level of integration" in the different communities, however, for instance, in some places in southern Arnhem Land funerals do not have traditional singing anymore, or at least local land-owning groups no longer have their traditional songs but may have a Christian burial instead or have other 'tribal' groups perform the traditional ceremonies in their place.

But where culture is still relatively strong, people know how to go about organising the various events and ceremonies. Obviously I can't explain it all, but get "Journey to the Crocodile's Nest" by Howard Morphy, there is a book as well as a video of that title, the two complement each other. Also, the video "Waiting for Harry" by Kim McKenzie and Les Hiatt based on Anbarra lands between Maningrida and Ramingining.

The short way to answer you question is to distinguish the different roles that people have, broadly categorised as owning people/groups (in Yolngu Matha, watangu mala... madayin-watangu, wayirri-watangu, yapa-watangu etc. ), managing people/groups (djunggaya mala), and participatory groups which could include both of the former groups as well as others, it is less exclusive. This is just my take on it, books might not express it quite like this but for me it is easier to see it from this angle.

Ummm... well I'll keep it short in case I lose it all again yikes! With didgeridoo playing, it is usually someone who is competent (knows the songs, has good technique and provides an uplifting atmosphere for dancers and singers alike... a bad yidaki player is one where dancers don't feel like getting up to dance lolz!) who is asked to play or he might just volunteer himself, the singing groups usually have their own yidaki player of choice which they will bring with them if they are travelling to another community.

Go ahead and ask specific questions if you are still unclear but keep in mind that it would take pages and pages to cover this topic adequately!

Guan

hi Guys,

I am good, my place not affected but i can not say fortunatelly. Thousands of people without homes, couple of days ago one of the inland small city closeby had been flooded by an 8m high stunami-like wave, the city centre of Brisbane devastated, sharks are swiming on the streets. As Guan said troubles down in Victoria, New South Wales and Western Australia. I wish all the best everyone around.

Just a couple of words about my recent Arnhem Land trip, things are coming up inside.
I have managed to get all the permission I needed to go to see Djalu via the Lirrwi Tourism. I would not be able to go there without their help, thanks for everything, also thanks for Dhanggal and the family to let me go!
I got a ticket from Brisbane via Sydney and Darwin. Because my plane delayed at Sydney, the Quantas sold my seat on the Sydney-Darwin flight (I can't understand, anyway); fortunatelly they found a free seat for me - on the business class! I was happy with it I never forget the first sight of The Land, the first smell and breeze. Beautiful, powerfull land with amazing people! My time with the Family unforgottable, really great people. We went to cut yidaki to the bush - I have done before in Queensland, but this experience is totally different - needless to say. Djalu made me a yidaki, a perfect one. I attached a picture, hope it works; i got a special paint on it, the side that can see on the photo is a freshwater-waterlilly, yirritja. The other side (I haven't got a photo yet) a freshwater-long neck turtle, beautiful, unique yidaki, mostly for me! The sound is...thunderous!
On my way back, i had a little time in Cairns, so i went to the city centre to visit a friend and look around. That was a big contrast to see that heaps of tourist, indonasian-made didgeridoos, signed as traditional instruments. Shocking...

Mahoran, I hope you are fine! Yes, I played gudurrku for Djalu - "manymak!". I got some further instructions. I love this song, play it every day, not easy, but hopefully developing by the time. And I have good memories with it!

Take care everyone!
Guan, all the best, I hope the flood keep off!

Cheers,
John

Hi John,

Thank God you are ok, I have been wondering the past few days... the important thing is you are safe, yes, very very sad about the destruction to so many lives and livelihoods but the Australian spirit is a resilient one! All the best buddy and hope the waters stay away for a while.

All the best,

Guan

Hi John
The floods you are suffering made prime time news Big Time over here in the UK for about 3 days. We have been shown some terryfying aerial pictures(Brisbane, Toowoomba, Grantham to name just a few areas) and heard interviews with individuals who have and are suffering loss of one kind or another. Its incredible how nature can suddenly turn and cause so much devastation in Australia and other parts of the World who have had similar or even worse flooding. Even here in the UK (nothing on the scale of whats happened to you) we have had the coldest December on record (-21deg celcius in Scotland) so it appears that the weather is screwed up all over at the moment. Glad to hear that you are OK (even though I don't know you personally I feel I do a bit through the pages of this forum) but we, myself and my partner who have a large family between us, also spare a thought for those who have lost more than property and possessions and whose lives will never quiet be the same anymore. We were thinking of coming over again to Queensland during December/January as we have a few previous times before but put if off due to funds and other reasons until later this year!!! we now realise how fortunate we were to make that decision. Anyway, best wishes to all those affected by this disaster who may be reading these forum pages, we really do hope that things come together quickly for you, that you can get solutions to your situations so that you can get your lives back to some semblence of normality and put this awful disaster behind you.

Finally, that is a lovely yidaki Djalu made for you!!!! would love to hear what it sounds like!!! how about posting a short clip?

All the very best Paul, Tricia and Family.

Hey, so it appears like a field of study...
Thank you for your answer. I didn't want absolutely the responses yet via this forum of course; it was something that can be deeper developped (if the integration of music in Yolngu lives is not too sacred to be shared with Balanda)...

Hi Paul,

Thanks for your words, I am sure your wishes are going to reach their destinations! So precious!
I am amazed the way how aussie people handle this situation, a really strong community, good to feel that the end of the day we are humans! All credit to these guys! We rung up the emergency number after the big troubles to ask where we could go to give a hand to clean up or doing something, they sad everything under control, heaps of volunteers out there, so all we can do send belongings or money, that is the best way to help. I put my hat off!!
There is some personal problems as well, a bit running down, big storms inside, so I went to be alone a bit today. A group of rural Aboriginal people found me in a park, invited to stay with them. After half an hour everything turned into so simple, natural and easy - really good guys, gave me lots of things. I am very fortunate!

Take care, all the best,
John

Yes, about Djalu-yidaki, I am going to make some recordings and share!

Got these two links to help :
Give housing to those who don't have homes anymore : https://www.ozfloodhelp.org/home/index (that's only for Aussies living in Queensland & NSW)
Give some money to help : http://www.gofundraise.com.au/DonationP ... 85&cid=280 (that's for everybody)

Got my email working again today so gotta catch up on 2 weeks worth of emails...

Bear with me...

Guan

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that the iDIDJ Australia YouTube channel recently reached a milestone, over 10,000 friends now to the channel!! Another reason to give away some sticks and other things so keep an eye on the Forum and YouTube.

Guan

Oh wow, great to have you here Shari and welcome to the forum... and Australia... mate! Now that you're in Australia you'll likely be hearing a lot more of "mate" and "buddy" and "gday" etc. etc.

About language(s)... Yolngu Matha is the language Yolngu people use, and Yolngu people are specifically from eastern Arnhem Land numbering several thousand members. There's lot of different dialects within Yolngu Matha, Gumatj being one of them. If you go to Gove, Gumatj is understood by virtually all Yolngu there, however, Dhuwal' and Dhuwala' have wider currency in other parts of eastern Arnhem Land, specifically Djambarrpuyngu and Gupapuyngu respectively. Gumatj is just a form of Dhuwala' and shares a lot of words with Gupapuyngu and has similar grammatical rules, if you enrol at CDU in their Yolngu Studies course you'll get a good grounding in Yolngu Matha and it is a course I can recommend.

Welcome to Australia again and looking forward to more chats on here!

Guan

Guan... I hope you have a good support system yourself. I have done psychiatric work (that I wasn't really qualified to do, but was hired to do), and the delicate balance between caring and taking care of yourself is... well, it's not for sissies.
:/

I'm sorted now, some things take time, effort and mental processing, doesn't happen overnight but with perseverance anything is possible

G

Been a while since I did my "journal" for therapy

The process I'm going through is an interesting one, its a long process and full of surprises, I guess its all about knowing oneself better and also understanding one's limitations and capabilities.

Yea the process is continuing which for me also involves "spiritual" evolution, asking those hard questions some/many/most of us would ask at some stage in life. And those questions and the subsequent outcomes will be different for each person. For me, part of the process is about freeing oneself, being free from obsessions, impulses, hopefully contradictions, but importantly, physical objects. As they say when it comes to relationships, if you love somebody, set them free. So if you think of the things or persons you love most and set your mind to freeing yourself from those attachments, I think life becomes less full of drama I'm happy to say that I've been partly successful, letting myself go of physical objects, surviving on the bare minimum, its kinda like back-to-nature but in an urban and modern context and environment. To let go of my compulsion to collect, to have nothing no didges, no books, no artworks or artifacts left except 1 instrument which I play every few weeks, to get back to the simple things in life. Its liberating!!!

Hey has anyone heard of Asperger Syndrome or does anyone on here have it? Just asking. Send me a personal message if you do.

Well hope everyone is in good health and spirit, I won't come on here that often but will make a point to drop in every now and then. Business is closed for the time being and as I might have said to some, things change, priorities change, people change. Change is a normal universal process rather than stasis.

Peace and light,

Guan