IDNO

T.68161.MFL

Description

Two older Arnhem Land men, Barrurnur Wunungmurra playing a didgeridoo with a dust bin lid used as a resonator, and the singer on the left (with clap sticks) is Nyipayna Wunungmurra, playing during a village meeting at Galiwin’ku. The man in the blue shirt behind the researcher is Djingulu Gandanu. The man in the red shirt is Munynhu Gurrwiwi.
Normally this type of music would be played for ceremonies, for example at the start of an initiation ceremony, but this event may be taking place for the benefit of an anthropologist. Researchers were known to request reconstructions such as these. Warren Shapiro, the ?anthropologist in sunglasses in the centre is a researcher who visited the area. He could be recording the ceremony as there were recordings made around this time. [Knowledge shared by Joe Neparrnga Gumbula, Arnhem Land, with notes taken by Rachael Murphy and JD 10/7/2012]

Place

Oceania Australasia; Australia; Northern Territory; Arnhem Land; Galiwin’ku [Elcho Island]

Cultural Affliation

Named Person

Nyipayna Wunungmurra; Barrurnur Wunungmurra; Djingulu Gandanu; Munynhu Gurrwiwi; Warren Shapiro

Photographer

None

Collector / Expedition

Date

8 July 1967

Collection Name

Macfarlane Collection

Source

Macfarlane, Alan

Format

Transparency

Primary Documentation

Other Information

T.67481 to T.68999 and T.74937 to T.74998 were found in the box now numbered C494/.
T.68157 to T.68177 were found in the plastic slide sheet now numbered C494/37/.

Place: Galiwin’ku (also known as Elcho Island) is one of the Crocodile Islands located off the coast of north east Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory. Many of these photographs were taken around the site of the Methodist Church at Galiwin’ku. The former mission site is now Galiwin’ku town. At the time these photographs were taken the area around the church was used as meeting place and for activities such as dances and film screenings. David Burrumarra (author of The Whale and the Cross), was working with an anthropologist in the area at the time. The minister was Reverend Harold Shepperdson who appears in some of the photographs. [Knowledge shared by Joe Neparrnga Gumbula, Arnhem Land, with notes taken by Rachael Murphy and JD 10/7/2012]

Context: The singer on the left (with clap sticks) is Nyipayna Wunungmurra. The didgeridoo player is Barrurnur Wunungmurra. The man in the blue shirt behind the researcher is Djingulu Gandanu. The man in the red shirt is Munynhu Gurrwiwi.
Normally this type of music would be played for ceremonies, for example at the start of an initiation ceremony, but this event may be taking place for the benefit of an anthropologist. Researchers were known to request reconstructions such as these. The ?anthropologist in sunglasses in the centre is a researcher who visited the area. He could be recording the ceremony as there were recordings made around this time.
The researcher is probably linked to an anthropologist who was in north east Arnhem Land at the time these photographs were taken and was assisted in his research by David Burrumarra. His name is possibly ?Koto or ?Kodo and his archives are the University of Western Australia in Perth.
Dr Joe Gumbula is very keen to trace the man in sunglasses as he may have recordings of reconstructed ceremonies. [Knowledge shared by Joe Neparrnga Gumbula, Arnhem Land, with notes taken by Rachael Murphy and JD 10/7/2012]