Landscapes of Indigenous Performance: Music, song and dance of the Torres Strait and Arnhem Land

Fiona Magowan and Karl Neuenfeldt (editors) 2005

Aboriginal Studies Press, Canberra, vii+171 pp, ISBN 987 0 85575 493 8

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.

Nakata and Neuenfeldt delve into the social life of songs. In Aboriginal Australia, as in other parts of the world, songs can be passed on over long distances over time, where they can be 'shorn of their original meanings' (Wild 1987:109). Nakata and Neuenfeldt discuss the history of what has been labelled a 'traditional' Torres Strait Islander song: 'Taba Naba', which can be traced back to a 1903 American song 'Navajo'. The example is all the more interesting as the meanings of the two songs differ greatly. While both songs are highly racialised, the sentiments of the songs could not be more opposed: the former song negatively portrays African-Americans and Native Americans, while the latter is a proud symbol of Torres Strait Islander culture and identity. By tracing the history of songs Nakata and Neuenfeldt show us how people appropriate and modify songs for different purposes.

Loos shows a lesser-known side of the political figure Edward Koiki Mabo: his role as a musician and advocate for the maintenance of Torres Strait Islander identity, especially through song and dance. For Mabo, identity and rights are closely linked, and knowledge of Torres Strait Law and mainstream law is highly valued. Mabo's own account and that of Mullins and Neuenfeldt provide fascinating historical accounts of Torres Strait Islander music and musical life on Thursday Island up until WWII. The insights raised in these four chapters, suggests that a volume solely on the music, song and dance in the Torres Strait would be well justified.

All societies adapt and innovate their cultural practices to suit particular contexts and their changing circumstances. Toner's article draws on the Gapuwiyak school's award-winning rendition of 'Home among the gumtrees', and the community's response by performing a madayin ceremony tailored specifically to the award-receiving occasion. Our understanding of such an interesting event would be enhanced if Toner had provided the text and transcription of the songs discussed, as the reader could then contemplate the 'the use of elements of traditional culture in non-traditional contexts (p.43)', which, Toner argues, is a pivotal feature of Yolngu's interaction with others through public performance. Similarly, in discussing Yolngu's recognition of the bathi design (p.41), a representation of the design, especially in contrast with other designs, would be of value.

Magowan highlights the importance of understanding cosmology, context and engaging in ongoing dialogue with Indigenous communities for reading ethnographic films of ritual performance. Slotte describes the Fellowship Christian Rallies performed at Ramingining, which began in the 1970s and unite people from different Yolngu communities. There is an implication that these have taken the place of Gunapipi ceremonies (p.92) and it would be interesting had Slotte addressed this. Readers may also wonder about the role of the Fellowship and Rallies in Yolngu society: are they seen as a modern forum for beliefs in the occult? It would also be enlightening to read Yolngu accounts of the importance of the fellowship. Mackinlay's collaborative work with Yanyuwa performers to teach song and dance in mainstream classrooms furthers the work of Centre for Aboriginal Studies in Music, pioneered by Cath Ellis in the 1970s. The cross-cultural forums in which Mackinlay and the Yanyuwa women work offer many benefits, including insights into Yanyuwa song and dance (such as the importance of visible thigh movements (p.136)), and opportunities for Yanyuwa people to perform, teach and develop their music, as well as engage with mainstream society on their own terms.

Anderson's article concerns the structure of music. He shows that in Rembarrnga Murlarra songs the vocals, the clapsticks and didjeridu are independent structures, each with their own divisions into sections. He shows that performance of the songs involves matching the sections of the vocals, clapsticks and didjeridu in specific ways to create nine different musical types. Sixteen different song subjects (which we assume are song texts) are associated with one or more of these types. His main argument is that the various sections across different musical types are of a similar length when measured in real time (physical time, i.e. counting seconds and parts thereof), whereas when measured in terms of number of beats and bars (metrical time)--as we tend to do in music--the sections are of different lengths. The Rembarrnga are not alone in basing structural conventions on physical time in their music. Ellis (1984), Treloyn (2006) and Turpin (2005), among others, have made similar observations for music from other parts of Australia. That musical intuition involves perceptions of physical time as well as metrical time may be a pervasive feature of traditional Aboriginal music throughout Australia.

In the absence of a single theme running through this book, and given its title, it is a pity that the music of a larger number of regions across Arnhem Land were not represented. Only Rembarrnga, Yolngu and Yanyuwa people's performances are investigated from Arnhem Land (a map of the region showing the places referred to would have been useful). A separate volume on Arnhem Land covering a more diverse range of music, and bringing further musicological, linguistic and historical understandings to the subject matter could have produced a book of wider interest.

The language of the introduction may inhibit readership by a wider audience, as many common words have been reshaped to suit discipline-specific interpretations. Similarly, lacking in the introduction is an explanation of the intended meaning of 'landscape' in the book's title Landscapes of Indigenous Performance. Those criticisms aside, the book is a must for readers interested in the Torres Strait Islands; it will also be of value to anthropologists researching cultural change, musical performance and Yolngu society, as well as readers in Indigenous studies and Aboriginal cultural education.

REFERENCES

Ellis, Catherine 1984 'Time consciousness of Aboriginal performers' in Jamie C Kassler and Jill Stubington (eds) Problems and Solutions: Occasional essays in musicology presented to Alice M Moyle. Hale & Iremonger, Sydney, pp.149-85.

Treloyn, Sally 2006 'Songs that Pull: Jadmi Junba from the Kimberley region of northwest Australia', unpublished doctoral thesis, University of Sydney.

Turpin, Myfany 2005 'Form and Meaning of Akwelye: A Kaytetye women's song series of central Australia', unpublished doctoral thesis, University of Sydney.

Wild, Stephen 1987 'Recreating the Jukurrpa: Adaptation and innovation of songs and ceremonies in Warlpiri society' in M Clunies Ross, T Donaldson and S Wild (eds) Songs of Aboriginal Australia, Oceania Publications, University of Sydney (Monograph 32), pp.97-120.

Reviewed by Myfany Turpin

Post-doctoral Research Fellow at the University of Queensland, Australia

<m.turpin1@uq.edu.au>