Humor: Aborniginal Awakening

Aborniginal Awakening

Who here can say: "Nhima Djat'pangarri nhima walangwalang"?

Okay, now who can say it three times really fast?

Nice try. But who can say it three times really fast while your head is buried in a pillow at 7 o'clock in the morning at the command of a five-year-old boy who is already wide awake and thinks you should be too.

This was the challenge for me the other week when I took my son Jack to the south coast of New South Wales for a few days.

Jack has become taken with an Australian group called Yothu Yindi, which performed one of its biggest hits, Treaty, at the closing ceremony of the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney.
"Nhima Djat'pangarri nhima walangwalang" is part of the lyrics of that catchy song.

Yothu Yindi comprises mainly Aboriginal musicians who come from the coastal area of North-East Arnhem Land, 600 kilometres east the the Northern Territory capital Darwin.

The Aboriginal band members are drawn from two of the 16 clan groups in the region, the Gumatj and Rirratjingug, who have a rich culture that extends back more than 40,000 years.
They have combined the sounds of western rock 'n'roll with traditional songs and performances, using contemporary instruments as well as traditional instruments as the 'bilma' (ironwood clapsticks)and 'yidaki' (didgeridoo or hollow log).
They have also taken reworked traditional dance performances-describing the behavior of crocodiles, wallabies and other animals of their homelands.

Jack has been learning about Aboriginal culture at his pre-kindergarten.

At Jack's beckoning, my wife Katherine and I have made several trips to the new National Museum of Australia in our home city, Canberra, to look at the First Australians Gallery which provides a very detailed window on Australian Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders.
One of the exhibitions looks at indigenous contributions to Australian music and includes a juke box which will play some examples.

That's where Jack first heard Yothu Yindi's Treaty.

Well I heard it on the radio,
and I saw it on the television.
Back in 1988,
all those talking politicians.
Words are easy,
words are cheap,
much cheaper than our priceless land.
but promises can disappear
just like writing in the sand.

Treaty yeh, treaty now, treaty yeh, treaty now.

Nhima Djat'pangarri nhima walangwalang Nhe Djat'payatpa nhima gaya nhe
Matjini
Yakarray
Nhe Djat'pa nhe walang
Gumurrt Jararrk Gutjuk ...

I have to confess that I do not speak the particular Aboriginal language used in the song, nor any of the 100 or so Aboriginal langages still in existence (there were about 200 when the Europeans came), so I can only guess what the words mean.

I have heard them many times though.

I bought Jack a Yothu Yindi CD which he insists on having play in the car, especially the Treaty track, whenever I drive him somewhere.
I like the music too so I did not mind the first dozen times, but I have to say I became ready for a change.

"Wouldn't you rather listen to Willie Nelson?" I asked Jack before setting off on the two hour drive to the beach holiday shack.

"No, I want to hear the Abornigines," he said. (He doesn't say Aborigines, but Abornigines)

"Er, what about your Playschool CD? Bananas in Pyjamas? Teddy Bears Picnic?" I said, flicking through the available choices.

"No, I want to hear I Heard It On The Radio (that's what he calls Treaty)."

I guess it wasn't so bad.
At least, unlike a radio station, I didn't have to pay royalties every time I played the song on the car stereo.

We were soon at the beach house, leaving the Yothu Yindi CD in the car, and had an early night so we could be up bright and early the next day.

Um, well, Jack was.

He came into my room at 7am and told me it was time to get up.
He was not to know that I had had a disjointed night's sleep because I could not get that damn song out of my head.

"Oh Jack," I moaned. "It's TOO early. We are on holidays. Can't I have 10 more minutes lie in? Please."

"Oh, all right," said Jack, climbing under the blankets next to me. "We could sing I Heard It On the Radio while we wait. You're very lucky because I'm going to let you sing the Aborniginal words."

NB: I called this site Dunno because I kept drawing a blank when I had to put a name to it