| |
|
The return of the Djan'kawu sisters
|
|
 |
|
As the storm clouds build over the
remote east Arnhem Land coastline, the keepers of this
land prepare for the climax of a ceremony almost as
old as the land itself - and one that is vital to its
health.
|
|
| |
| |
 |
It is mid-October on Elcho Island and
the land is brown and dry, exhausted from the long Dry,
crying out for the new life the approaching Wet Season
will bring.
|
For months now, a series of ceremonies has been
slowly building momentum through the eastern Yolngu heartlands,
preparing for the arrival of the Djan'kawu Sisters and the
cleansing they will bring.
The final weekend of the ceremony is always
timed to coincide with the first thunder of the Wet Season,
and this year it will take place at Richard Gandhuwuy's picturesque
Elcho Island outstation of Dhambala Community, washed by the
warm waters of the Arafura Sea.
|
|
|
|
But this is no ordinary time. Richard, Garrawurra
clan elder and leader of the ngarra ceremony for the Dhuwa
moiety as his father was, explains the ceremony has not taken
place for 15 years.
|
|
|
 This
is the first time after my father slept. It's very important
for our dignity and the dignity of other clan people that
we hold this ceremony.
It is too important, this ngarra, to leave
for so long. We need to wash physically and spiritually.
This is very important, people wanted to live
with their own dignity, (because) you are honouring the other
clans in the ceremony.
When I was young that was the way it was, every
year at the end of the Dry season but timed to when the Wet
season came in.
All the elders come together for the final
ngarra. I ask for the specialists to come and help me do these
things, to make sure everything is running properly. That's
because this is cleansing all the Dhuwa land, it is very important
we get it right, not just for Elcho but for everyone.
|
|
|
Garrawurra Clan Elder Richard Gandhuwuy
|
|
|
|
The ngarra ceremony on Elcho Island is a Dhuwa
moiety ceremony, and was preceded by a Yirritja moiety ceremony
at Milingimbi. Richard says both moieties are welcome to attend
each other's ceremony - Richard went to the Milingimbi ngarra
- but that only members of the moeity holding the ceremony
can participate.
In total some 23 clans, or about half of the
clans living in East Arnhem Land, have participated in this
ceremony.
|
|
 |
|
Richard explains that the Djan'kawu Sisters
are two of the main creator beings across east Arnhem Land,
responsible for much of the traditional law and order.
|
|
|
As
they travel they name the land, they give the clans their
name, and they give the ownership to the land. They make the
waterholes and everything we need. They went right through
this country from east to west and connect it together, past
Darwin, past Daly River, right up to Perth.
|
|
|
Richard Gandhuwuy
|
|
| |
|
Each evening of the final weekend there are
dances and songs as the Sisters draw closer, with participants
painted in the Sisters' Dreaming colours.
One of the key dances in the ngarra is the Bush
Turkey dance, which the elders traditionally perform and which
gives the elders authority over their land.
It is accompanied by the unmistakeable ululating
call of the turkey coming from the dancers' throats.
On the final day of the ngarra, when the Djan'kawu
Sisters arrive, the women hide under blankets and emerge as
witchetty grubs, welcoming in the new Wet Season.
Then the entire community goes to the beach
for ritual saltwater purification, an activity accompanied
by much laughter and water play.
This is, without doubt, a joyful ngarra.
|
|
|
We're
hoping the new thunders come, new year, new life, new creation,
people will be back at the beginning of their clean life and
hoping for good things. Now we must continue. My sons must
continue this ngarra, build it up, make it strong again.
|
|
|
Richard Gandhuwuy
|
| |
SUPPORT
Land Rights News
|
Introduction
