Indigenous traditional dance and music
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The following summary was written by an Indigenous student, Bradley Davies, Balga High School, Western Australia, while on placement at the Australian Indigenous HealthInfonet for structured workplace learning. Bradley used information from a number of websites, listed below, to compile the text. |
Introduction
In traditional Aboriginal societies, activities like dancing, singing, body decoration, drawing and making implements were not considered to be separate ‘artistic’ activities – they were a part of the Dreaming and incorporated into normal daily life. However, this is changing as tradition-oriented communities adapt to aspects of western culture. The number of 'artists' in any Aboriginal group would still generally be far greater than in non-Aboriginal communities though.
According to Aboriginal belief, all life as it is today is part of one vast unchanging network of relationships which can be traced to the Great Ancestors of the Dreamtime (Tjukurpa). The space between nature and man, life and death, and the past, present, and future is seamless. All time is related and everything exists for a reason. There are no misfits or accidents – only misunderstandings and mysteries not yet revealed to mortal humans. The Dreamtime legends tell of the time of creation when the world and all the features of the land were formed by Ancestral Beings. These Beings sometimes assumed animal or human form or appeared as forces of nature. They interacted with one another and left their distinctive tracks in the form of hills, rivers, waterholes and other features of the landscape, wherever they travelled. The areas are places of reflection today for anyone wise enough to learn from them. Ancestral Beings also established laws for human relations and proper conduct in Aboriginal society. Stories of the Ancestors have been passed down for countless generations in song and dance.
Everything in the Aboriginal world contains an essence or spirit that had its beginnings in the Dreamtime. Each person descended from one of these spirits and possessed some of its life force. The spirit they are descended from is their totem. Images of totems make up a large part of Indigenous art – they were painted on cave walls (rock art), drawn on the interiors of huts, drawn on people’s bodies, and carved in wood. Totemic spirits are celebrated in ceremonies and rituals, and played a prominent part in Aboriginal myths.
Dancing
Dance is a vital expression of traditional Aboriginal culture
as a whole. It is used, accompanied by song and music, to entertain
as well as being a tool for use in ceremonies. Dance is 'live' and
never static – if lost it can never be found. Sometimes called
joonba (heritage corroboree), wangka (festive corroboree), munga
munga (women’s corroboree), dancing has from time immemorial
been used by Aboriginal communities both for ritual purposes and
to express and represent many facets of their lives and beliefs.
The rich spiritual heritage was passed on from generation to generation,
primarily through oral traditions. It was believed that oral story-telling
strengthened recall, and that written language could erode the power
of memory. Ceremonies that consisted of body and sand paintings,
dances, songs and music still play an important role in modern traditions.
A common saying, 'As it was done in the Dreamtime, so it must be
done today,' dominates all aspects of Aboriginal behaviour.
The dances tell stories about the community, of the land, of relationships,
and of the culture of the people. Dances often imitated animals
or birds. There are different dances for different communities and
they tell different stories. Serious ritual or sacred dancing is
quite distinct from light-hearted camp dancing that men, women and
children could share.
Contemporary Aboriginal people are happy to show the world their
culture by performing these dances as a multi-media event, but many
dances will be kept ‘for their eyes only’ within their
own sacred ceremonies. To ‘own’ a particular corroboree
is an honour for Aboriginal people – joonbas are very often
passed down within the family, normally to the eldest of the next
generation or to the closest or most deserving relative of the original
owner.
Dances are inspired by events, dreams, feelings, and the like that
are actualised and stylistically portrayed accordingly by 'creators'
from distinct areas/clans/tribes. For every area/clan there is a
distinct structure/style of expression that has been adhered to
in the past, and can be utilised now and in the future. Where influenced
by 'new' experiences, the evolution of culture, and therefore dance,
will be influenced: positively or negatively; stylistically the
distinctions of the culture remain if the culture has not been disrupted
considerably or destroyed completely. Dancing styles varied throughout
the hundreds of tribal groups. There were set arm, body and foot
movements with a lot of foot stamping. Today this is called ‘shake
a leg’. People need to get permission if they want to perform
a dance that doesn’t belong to their cultural group. The best
dancers and singers enjoy wide reputations and high respect.
Body-painting is also included in story-telling and dance –
this custom has existed for for thousands of years in many Aboriginal
communities. For these communities, body painting is not necessarily
just about artistic creativity – it relates to conventions,
laws and religion. Designs are also found on many different everyday
and ritual objects.
There are many Aboriginal dance groups in Australia that perform
to keep culture alive, to keep passing on stories to young Aboriginal
people and to teach non-Indigenous people about the diversity of
Aboriginal Australia.
Music
In Aboriginal societies, music plays a central role in both social
and sacred life. During social gatherings, singing and dancing provide
the major form of entertainment. Songs are created for every occasion
– there are hunting songs, funeral songs, gossip songs and
songs of ancestors, landscapes, animals, seasons, myths and Dreamtime
legends. In sacred ceremonies, songs serve as the vital link to
the realm of the Dreamtime. Aboriginal people believe that, long
ago, the Dreamtime spirits sang songs that created all living things
on earth. Today, these songs are sung in sacred ceremonies to ensure
the survival and propagation of all plant and animal life.
Music is a strong part of Aboriginal culture and is a part of everyday
life as well as being a vital part of sacred ceremonies. Traditional
music is still practised and performed widely throughout Australia.
Types of traditional music
There are three types of traditional music. The first type – of songs for sacred and secret ceremonies – is only performed in a certain place or area or for a particular purpose. The songs and ceremonies of this type usually honour events and can only be known and witnessed by initiated men. There are also women's secret ceremonies, which are mainly connected with reproduction and specific songs for children. The second type of songs are the semi-sacred, which are sung by men, while women dance. The sacred and semi-sacred songs are performed in full only at the agreed ceremonial ground, and are never sung by men who are not initiates of that totem at that particular place. The third type is non-sacred or entertainment music. These songs are the only form of Aboriginal music that can be performed by any person – man, woman or child – at any time or any place.
Inspiration for music often came from the environment. Traditionally, an Aboriginal man would go into nature and listen to animal sounds, not just voices but also the flapping of wings or the thump of feet on the ground. He would also listen to the sounds of wind, thunder, trees creaking, and water running. The essence of all these sounds were played with as much accuracy as possible within the same sound of the didgeridoo.
Musical instruments
Many Aboriginal instruments are percussive, and the most important non-percussive instrument is the didgeridoo. The most common instruments used mainly in ceremonies and other ancestral legends are didgeridoos, clap-sticks, boomerangs, bull-roarers, skin-drums and gum-leaves. There were no traditional stringed instruments. The use of percussive instruments often involved hand clapping, thigh slapping, beating and body slapping.
Didgeridoo is the musical instrument most associated with Australia's Aboriginal peoples for dances, songs and stories. The legend is that when the Great Ancestors gave the people fire, a burning, hollow branch was picked up and the termites blown out of it. The termites flew into the heavens, and became stars. Out of the strong, deep sound of the breath through the branch the didgeridoo was born. The didgeridoo originated in Arnhem Land on the northern coastline of Australia. The name 'didgeridoo' is in fact a European or American name. The traditional name for the instrument is yidaki, yirdaki, gurrmurr, or gindjunggang, depending on the tribe or Aboriginal language. The didgeridoo is made from a log hollowed out by termites or fire and then cleaned out. Then a mouthpiece of wax is moulded to one end of the didgeridoo. The didgeridoo is played by blowing through vibrating the lips directly into the mouthpiece, air reserves being held in the cheeks and refilled by rapid sniffs through the nose which doesn’t disrupt the continuous blowing.
Bull-roarers are traditionally a sacred object made from a flat oval shaped piece of wood with a string attached to one end. The bull-roarer is made from pine wood that has been struck by lightning, covered with yucca pitch, and attached to a cord made from bighorn or buckskin. To sound a bull-roarer, it is swung lasso style causing it to spin and make a humming sound. When whirled around, the bull-roarer releases a rare noise to warn women, children and the inexperienced away from a particular sacred area. They were also used to send animals into ambush, and to alert one tribe of another’s company, and in rainmaking ceremonies. The bull-roarer was known as the 'voice of God' to the Aboriginal people and given to the males of the clan at naming ceremonies or other promising occasions. It is called by several different names including burliwarni, ngurrarngay, and muypak. This type of instrument has been used all over the world.
Clap-sticks are used by Aboriginal people as a percussion instrument in dancing and singing. In traditional corroborees, clap-sticks are used to provide the rhythm for the dance as the didgeridoo player provides the tune with his haunting sounds. The clap-sticks are usually made from iron wood – a very dense and heavy timber that provides for excellent sound quality. Today, clap-sticks are used all over the world as an ancient percussion instrument.
Gum-leaf is a leaf from a Eucalypt tree, held against the lips and blown so as to act as a vibrating valve. The gum-leaf can also be used to play tunes, but was originally intended to copy bird-calls.
Brad’s personal summary
From my point of view, I think that traditional dancing and music is vital to Aboriginal society because it represents the historical stories and ceremonies of Aboriginal people. Today, it is an honour to have a dance group, because it will help our culture and encourage generation after generation to keep traditional dancing and music alive forever. I also think that it is very important that our younger generation are taught traditional dancing and music at school so they can teach their children.
Reference websites
Aboriginal Art Shop.com
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website
Aboriginal Art.com
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website
Emu Tracks
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website
Global volunteers
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website
ABC Message Club
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website
Australian museum online - Paint up Aboriginal dance
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website
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