Celebrating and preserving Indigenous ceremonies

Associate Professor Linda Payi Ford identifies as Rak Mak Mak Marranunggu, from Kurrindju and is Principal Research Fellow in the Northern Institute, College of Indigenous Futures, Arts and Society at Charles Darwin University. Associate Professor Ford receives funding for two projects through the ARC’s Discovery Indigenous scheme: ‘Aboriginal Cosmology—what this means for women and policy’ and ‘New ways for old ceremonies—an archival research project’. The projects are helping to preserve, interpret and disseminate the recordings of ceremonial performances in the Wagait-Daly region of the Northern Territory.

The new research digitises recordings of the Mitharr ceremony songs and Kapuk ceremonial songs, which are now stored for future cultural use in the Pacific and Regional Archive for Digital Sources in Endangered Cultures (PARADISEC), a curated online repository. It builds on previously published work, documenting the Wangga songs, performances and rituals from the Daly River region of the Northern Territory.

The research has also had a significant impact for local communities, in expanding an outdoor education program where Indigenous children, families and friends can learn about their Wangga ceremonies and their relationships to other clan groups in the region and elsewhere.

	“CEREMONIAL PERFORMANCE IS A KEY PROCESS FOR INTEGRATING INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE FROM MANY DIFFERENT DOMAINS, AND A SOCIALLY POWERFUL SITE OF EXCHANGE, TRANSMISSION AND TRANSFORMATION OF RELATIONSHIP TO COUNTRY AND KIN,” SAYS ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR FORD.

 

Image: Associate Professor Linda Ford presenting the 2019 Charles Perkins Oration. Credit: Charles Darwin University.