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| Time in the Northern Territory |
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Deserted
beach at Nhulinbuy,
where the Gulf of Carpentaria
meets the Arafura Sea |
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From
Cairns, Barry flew to Gove,
which is located in N.E. Arnhemland.
This region of Australia's
Northern Territory is the
traditional homeland of the
didgeridoo, better know around
these parts as yidaki (pronounced
Yeerdahkee, with a slight
retroflex on the r.) The indigenous
people who live here are called Yolngu, a term representing
many Aboriginal clans in the
Northern Territory.
This
area is also home to the Stringybark
tree, a hearty species of
eucalyptus which is the traditional
wood for yidaki. |
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A well known yidaki crafter,
Milkay Munnungurr, scores one for his
mob in a football game against
a team from the bauxite mine
at Nhulinbuy. |
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| . . . and over to Yirrkala |
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Barry
and legendary yidaki crafter,
Djalu Gurruwiwi. Djalu came
to visit Barry his first day
in Yirrkala, even though the
stalwart Galpu Aboriginal
man wasn't feeling well.
The
next day, Barry and Henning
spent the afternoon with Djalu
and his lovely wife, Dhopia,
at their home in Skee Beach. |
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| A
drive down to the Central Desert |
| On
the lonely but stunningly beautiful
1,500km drive from Darwin to
Alice Springs, you turn off
the dusty highway just south
of Tennant Creek to see the
"Devil's Marbles".
These large boulders appear
strewn about and often stacked
one atop the other rather precariously. |
 And
so it was on to Alice Springs
and a 2 day trip to Uluru (Ayer's Rock). This enormous
monolith is located near the
geographical center of Australia,
rising straight up out of
thousands of miles of flat
desert scrub. You see and
feel its sacredness. And while
you are allowed to climb it,
the local Aboriginal people
try to dissuade you with posted
signs at the entrance. They
tell you that it should only
be climbed by initiated clanspeople
for sacred ceremonies. Naturally,
Barry chose not to climb.
If
you're even thinking about
visiting Australia, Barry
strongly encourages it, especially
if you play didgeridoo and
want to learn about the instrument's
indigenous heritage. To give
you some inspiration, here's
the last photo he took before
coming home to California...
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Uluru
climbing face
(yes, the white dot
on the rock is a person) |
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HOME PAGE
Every
day after school, these
boys would scutter to
the Buku Larrngay art
center to practice yidaki.
After a bit of mucking
about, they would play
yidaki one at a time
while singing traditional
songs. Even at this
age, they are awesome
yidaki players.
