AustLit

'Yuupurnju: A Warlpiri song cycle documents a ceremonial song cycle situated within the traditional kurdiji “shield” ceremony, as sung by Warlpiri Elder Henry Cooke Anderson Jakamarra at Lajamanu, Northern Territory, in 2013.

'The song cycle relates to a women’s jukurrpa Dreaming narrative, and tells the story of a group of ancestral women on a journey across the country. Jakamarra performed the songs (recorded by Carmel O’Shannessy) to make them available to the Warlpiri community and the wider public.

'Yuupurnju: A Warlpiri song cycle includes the words of the songs in Warlpiri, interpretation in English as given by the singer, Jakamarra, and Warlpiri Elders Jerry Patrick Jangala OAM, Wanta Stephen Patrick Pawu-Kurlpurlurnu Jampijinpa and Steven Dixon Japanangka, and detailed musical notation by ethnomusicologist Myfany Turpin. It includes a foreword by two senior custodians, Jerry Patrick Jangala OAM, and Wanta Jampijinpa' (Publication summary)

'Gudjal is the language of the people of the Mural (Charters Towers) region, in western inland north Queensland. The beginnings of this dictionary and learner's guide were in the 1970s when Gudjal people began working with linguists to record their language. The first dictionary of Gudjal, by William Santo and Cassy Nancarrow, was published in 2006; and so, a language that had been sleeping started to awaken. In Yaru!, the dictionary has been expanded and the first-ever Gudjal grammar is included, as well as four songs and a Welcome to Country.

'The book has been compiled by Gudjal elder William Santo and linguists Alex Anderson, Cassy Nancarrow and Myfany Turpin. It includes accompanying audio read by Keesha Gordon and Shakira Kelly. The audio is accessed through QR codes in the book and can be downloaded from the associated website. Yaru! will be essential to the Gudjal community and schools in the Charters Towers region to build a new generation of language speakers. It will also be of value to people interested in Australia's first peoples, their languages and language revival.' (Publication summary)

'The Gurindji people of the Northern Territory are perhaps best-known for their walk-off of Wave Hill Station in 1966, protesting against mistreatment by the station managers. The strike would become the first major victory of the Indigenous land rights movement. Many discussions of station life are focused on the harsh treatment of Aboriginal workers.

'Songs from the Stations portrays another side of life on Wave Hill Station. Amongst the harsh conditions and decades of mistreatment, an eclectic ceremonial life flourished during the first half of the 20th century. Constant travel between cattle stations by Indigenous workers across north-western and central Australia meant that Wave Hill Station became a cross-road of desert and Top End musical styles. As a result, the Gurindji people learnt songs from the Mudburra who came further east, the Bilinarra from the north, the Nyininy from the west, and the Warlpiri from the south.

'This book is the first detailed documentation of wajarra, public songs performed by the Gurindji people in response to contemporary events in their community. Featuring five song sets known as Laka, Mintiwarra, Kamul, Juntara, and Freedom Day, it is an exploration of the cultural exchange between Indigenous communities that was fostered by their involvement in the pastoral industry.' (Publication summary)

'In a time before radio or even gramophones, songs were shared between Aboriginal groups at large social gatherings. Some songs were so popular they spread enormous distances.

'One such song known as Wanji-wanji has travelled some thousands of kilometres. Incredibly, the lyrics have remained unchanged over this distance and the past 150 years it has been sung.' (Introduction)

'Long before bush balladeers such as Slim Dusty gave voice to a particular Australian rural experience, Aboriginal people from across Northern and Central Australia were using song to reflect on the rapid changes that came to their worlds in late the 19th and early 20th centuries. They captured major events and details of everyday life in their compositions, incorporating new themes into existing traditional song and dance styles. There were songs about the first and second world wars, about aeroplanes (Graham 1994), trains (Dixon & Koch 1996; Hercus 1994: 91-101) and buffaloes (Marett, Barwick, & Ford 2013). Other songs, many of which were recorded by Luise Hercus, commented on the new work regimes on pastoral properties. One example is the ‘Manager’ song, known widely across northern Queensland (Alpher & Keefe 2002). Even the less spectacular aspects of the newcomers’ lives did not escape the attention of these early bards who sang about station homesteads, ‘olden-time’ lamps and girls washing doors (Hercus & Koch 1999; Hercus 1994). In south-eastern Australia too Hercus recorded similar songs chronicling intercultural histories, like the Wemba Wemba song ‘Shearing on Tulla Station’ (1969: 95). Indigenous music provided ‘a site for creative and sustaining cultural responses’ to contact history (Donaldson 1995: 143) and it continues to be an important part of the intercultural dynamics of Australia (Ottosson 2012: 182).'  (Introduction)

'Luise Hercus has always had a keen interest in Australian Aboriginal songs and collaborated with musicologists both in the field and in her analysis. Her examination of lyrics and the relationship between songs and the people who sing them encompasses a vast area of Australia. Her work on songs from the ‘Corner Country’ reveal performance as a culmination of social exchange, and her examination of the lyrics reveal Aboriginal people’s detailed knowledge of country (Beckett & Hercus 2009). Her work in the Simpson Desert region documents songs with ancestral themes as well as contemporary events (Hercus & Koch 1996, 1999; Hercus 1994: 91–101; 1995). In many parts of Australia where knowledge of Aboriginal languages is scarce, Hercus’s work on songs provides vital clues to the history, language and culture of such regions (Hercus 1992, 1997). Her linguistic documentation of Wemba Wemba in Victoria (Hercus 1969) finds songs that relate to the gender based totems of this area. How songs reflect and reproduce the beliefs, cultural practices and experiences of the people who sing them is a theme of Luise Hercus’ work that is explored in this paper.' (Introduction)

'Indigenous communities across Australia are currently experiencing a high level of renewed interest in their song traditions as the present generation of songmen and songwomen take on the responsibilities of their ancestors. Recirculating songs gives voice to these contemporary performers, and looks at the issues they face in learning and passing on their ancestral musical practices in the 21st century. This book is the first of its kind to be devoted specifically to the strategies Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are adopting to keep their traditional music alive and strong. At the same time, it introduces the wider public to Australia's rich Indigenous musical heritage, through a series of case studies focused on particular communities or regions. In some parts of the country, where the transmission of musical knowledge from generation to generation has been interrupted, the process of revitalising the song traditions relies, to varying degrees, on historic recordings and documents. So the book also covers the techniques being adopted to access these resources and make them available for contemporary use by Indigenous musicians. In this multi-authored volume, Indigenous and non-Indigenous contributors investigate these issues in locations across Australia, from the south-west tip to the Torres Strait, from the Tiwi Islands to Tasmania. The book takes us on a journey through various song styles and performance practices, from dream songs of the Hunter Valley to Torres Strait Island hymns, from 19th century recordings of Tasmanian singing to classroom musical activities in the Kimberley. Some chapters, such as those focused on communities in the Gulf of Carpentaria and Arnhem Land, also devote specific attention to Aboriginal dance, and to the music that accompanies it. In all of these varied situations, Indigenous Australians are striving to ensure that the store of traditional knowledge contained in the ancestral song repertoires continue to be passed on. Recirculating Songs documents their efforts and also provides audio and video examples via QR codes. The book is rich with new information, insights and inspiration for Indigenous people and communities, researchers and educators, and anyone interested in the music of Indigenous Australia.'  (Publication summary)

'Angenty is a sacred waterhole in Anmatyerr and Warlpiri country, to the north of Alice Springs in Central Australia. This book is about a family visit to this place. Men, women and children camped in the riverbed and the elders told stories about the ancestral spirits of this country. ' (Source: Publishers website)

'Central Australian songs are renowned for their association with tracts of land and for texts that are difficult to decipher. The Alyawarr women's songs of the Antarrengeny land-holding group are remarkable in that most verses can be parsed into speech equivalents with considerable consensus among the singers. The songs are thus revealing of how traditional Aboriginal verse is constructed. Drawing upon recordings from 1977-2011, this paper identifies 78 different verses, comprising 107 different lines of poetic-musical text. All 107 lines are set to one of 14 rhythmic patterns, which are arrangements of smaller 2-note and 3-note rhythmic patterns. Despite the transparency of the text, one question that arises concerns the role of the ubiquitous bar-initial consonant 'l', which appears to be the Alyawarr relativiser ='arl' ('where, which'), also common in placenames. Is this its meaning in the songs, or is it just a syllable inserted to achieve the preferred 10-syllable line structure? This paper suggests that ='arl' is both: it enables the preferred line structure to be met and alludes to a place through its structural resemblance to a proper name. In an area where songs, like places, are owned by family groups, this structural similarity expands the 'song-land relationship' (Moyle 1983). ' (Abstract)

'The Antarrengeny song series from the Utopia region of central Australia is one of the most well- known women’s ceremonies. In this book, senior Antarrengeny custodians explain the meanings and significance of 57 of their songs and we see how art, dance and song are intertwined in Aboriginal performance. The songs tell the stories of both everyday and important events: the travels of ancestral women across Antarrengeny country; the plants and animals of the area; and the impact of a land claim hearing.' (Source: Publishers website)

Kaytetye is an Aboriginal language from Central Australia. As well as a means of communication, the language is a storehouse of cultural and kinship knowledge, of ancestor stories and history. This landmark publication is the first comprehensive dictionary of the Kaytetye language; it is the result of many years' work by linguists working closely with native speakers.

The dictionary contains:

● the most extensive list of Kaytetye words and their meanings yet published

● more than 8,000 Kaytetye example sentences illustrating their use

● an extensive English finder list to enable Kaytetye words to be found quickly

● an introduction to the Kaytetye kinship system

● information about Kaytetye culture and beliefs

● extensive information about the flora and fauna found in Kaytetye country

● a map of Kaytetye country

● a guide to spelling and pronunciation

Source: www.iadpress.com (sighted 21/05/2012).

'Kaytetye is spoken at Barrow Creek, Artarre (Neutral Junction), Ilewarr (Stirling), Alekarenge (Ali Curung) and other communities in Central Australia. For Kaytetye people, their language is much more than a means of communication; it links them with their family, their country and their Dreamings. This learner's guide comes with two audio CDs which give clear, practical instruction in the basics of the Kaytetye language.' (Publication summary)

'There are different ways of understanding a per-formance. One reviewer might wax lyrical about the tightness of the band, or the singer’s vocal abilities, while a different reviewer might discuss the extent to which people queued up to attend the performance and debate the social impact of the band. These two understandings greatly enhance our appreciation of music, song and dance in different ways. Analysis of the art form itself reveals the musical intuitions of those well-versed in its genre, such as what makes a ballad a ballad, or a trio a trio, and what constitutes creativity and incorrectness. The second understanding relies on analysis of the role of music in society, seeking answers for questions such as why certain music, song or dance is performed, and what else are performers doing in such activities. This is the understanding that eight of the nine contributors bring to this book, while Anderson contributes to the former type of understanding, which is also where my area of expertise lies as a linguist and musicologist.' (Introduction)

'An often cited feature of traditional songs from Central Australia (CA songs) is the obfuscation of meaning. This arises partly from the difficulties of translation and partly from the difficulties in identifying words in song. The latter is the subject of this paper, where I argue it is a by-product of adhering to the requirements of a highly structured art form. Drawing upon a set of songs from the Arandic language group, I describe the CA song as having three independent obligatory components (text, rhythm and melody) and specify how text is set to rhythm within a rhythmic and a phonological constraint. I show how syllable counting, for the purposes of text setting, reflects a feature of the Arandic sound system. The resultant rhythmic text is then set to melody while adhering to a pattern of text alliteration.' (Publication abstract)

'Renowned storyteller and Aboriginal elder Tommy Kngwarraye Thompson invites us into the world of the Kaytetye people of Central Australia. Presented in the Kaytetye language with English translations, his stories portray the Kaytetye way of life as it was laid out in the Altyerre, or Dreamtime, and as it is today. He describes how the Kaytetye language was born, life before the arrival of the Europeans, and the way children were brought up and continue to be brought up today.' (Source: Publisher's website)