In north-east Arnhem land sacred ceremonies, dating back thousands of years, involving everyone from the oldest to the youngest community member, are performed over days and weeks. This is the nature of bäpurru and other yolŋu sacred ceremonies such as dhapi(') and ŋärra'.
The b^purru ceremonies captured in this film are for the funeral ceremony of Mrs. B. Burrarwaŋa and her sister in law Mrs. Gurruwiwi.
Mrs Burrarwaŋa was a highly esteemed djuŋgayi for Matamata. It is unusual for a woman leader to be accorded full ŋärra' ceremonies. Such was the prestige accorded to Mrs. B. Burarrwaŋa who, amongst many other things, was one of the first fully trained yol\u teachers in North East Arnhem land . She was renowned for holding fast to her home even during the most adverse and cyclonic wet seasons, she rarely left Matamata and Gi’kal for any length of time.
This is an excerpt from a larger documentary film was recorded at Matamata from 12 July – 8 August 2019.
Why make a film about a magic that can’t possibly be captured by a camera? Anthropologists say in their academic way these ‘rituals transform the mundane into a heightened way of experiencing the world’. Artists and curators say yol\u are ‘the tongue of the land’. Midst the rawness of 21st century mining, the perversity and ordinariness of Australian suburban consumerism and capitalism the great learning is, and more are understanding, there is magic, discipline, hard work and the greatest performances of all anchored in the sacred lands of North East Arnhem land. But as with many things the powerful mainstream culture is often a one-way street, experiences, knowledge and feeling is greedily taken and nothing is given back to help sustain and nurture the yol\u way of life, particularly in the homelands. The Matamata Heritage films are a way for people to put back something specifically into the homelands of Matamata and Gi’kal but also to understand the philosophy expressed in Dhukarr Mathun that the
It takes many years, perhaps a lifetime, of direct participation to be wise and learned (liya-ŋärra'mirri) about yol\u song, rhythms, music, dance and story cycles. The complexity, hard work and management that goes into ceremony for yolŋu families and communities is the marrow of yolŋu life. Nothing else is as important.
Elders are concerned that, in the great modern information age/deluge of media, television, radio, film and other “distractions”, the intricacies, discipline, esteem and long training involved in ceremonial culture may be diminished. It was the wish of Mrs. Burarrwaŋa that Maṯamaṯa homeland and the adjoining Gi’kal homeland should be places for the serious study and practice of culture, not cultural tourism. She would be happy that her own b^purru has been captured for her children and grand children to study and think about, but also the wider yol\u community and the world.
Film itself is limitiing. Nothing can capture or contain the spirituality of performance on sacred land. “Staged in theatres or even Opera Houses Aboriginal ritual performances are not convincing; enclosed space inhibits.. the vastness of the universe is needed. to perform in; in a state of oneness with their landscape, a deeply rooted spirituality, inherited knowledge is released”. (Hodgkinson, p. 281)
It is impossible to film the universe in which ceremonial performance takes place. Even in time this lengthy documentary film, Bäpurru, is a meagre slice of the real performance. Approximately one tenth of the ceremony is captured by just one camera, on a ‘live homelands stage’ activities are occurring all around the camera. 40 hours of film were captured over four weeks; which in turn has been edited to approximately 6 hours but this is a mere slice of the great bu\uls that took place.
However, inadequate, this film gives some appreciation of the elaborate ceremonies that are performed by yol\u malas on homelands. To understand, appreciate and witness these ‘greatest operas of all’ it is necessary to go to the respective homelands with reverance, again and again. Only after a lifetime of performance do yol\u masters find wisdom. So for us foreign onlookers the real understanding may take several lifetimes!
Each buŋul involves constant movement, direction, coordination, the dancers will come form east, west, north, south as the manikay dictates. Fires will be lit. Lines will be formed. Sand sculptures symbolising boats and ri\gitj. A creative urge will cause a dancer or a song man to appear from the sides or the periphery. A song man will carry on after the others have finished creating enthusiasm and shouts of joy from onlookers, dancers and others. Senior men and women instruct and encourage the djamakurrli. The audience like the most radical Brechtian conception ask for changes in dances, songs and performances or they themselves will demonstrate. When the effort and performance is not good enough senior men will remonstrate with the whole community and urge greater and more whole-hearted commitment. Different clan members will emerge to show respect. A circle will emerge around the shelter. The shelter will be invaded by snakes, birds, crocodiles, spiritual heroes all paying homage to the deceased family member. Wails of grief and the thuds of women throwing themselves down on to the earth with great force can be heard. At a particular moment when a dancer excels the whole community will murmur with approval. Parents will smile and sometimes fall over with laughter at the exubrance of a novice. From the sidelines a senior man or woman will emerge to demonstrate the proper feelings and respect and poise required of particular performances.
Yolŋu women are often described as the galŋaparrambarr (backbone) of ceremonial life. Without their presence and guidance nothing can happen, they provide guidance and advice and most particularly they give witness and validate the ceremonial practices.
In the centre between the women and the song men are the dancers who enact events on the defined areas of land and the maḏayin(') (sacred law) associated with it. There are many words and phrases for dance: ŋama'ŋamathirri, miḻwambi, burr'yun, bilŋbilŋdhun, burrkunuŋ, dhurryun, ḏuḏuḏu, garrarra'yun, gitjpa'yun
The music and lyrics of the ceremony are the serious business of the song men. After learning hundreds of song cycles, master song men put their own inflections and interpretations onto the stories and recreations of events in time. Each has their own unique voice and blended together they become a raputurous harmony that is readily appreciated and encouraged by the watching community. The rhythms of the performances are incredibly complex with different times, pauses uniting song men and dancers. Some say that the words of the learned song men are a kind of yolŋu latin that is archaic and whose meanings come only after a lifetime of conferring with the universe.
When all of the dimensions of ceremonial performance: women, dancers, song are perfect, then the community is satisfied and the performance moves on to the next cycle of dance, music and song. The ceremony goes for hours, days, weeks and at Matamata begins and ends with the sacred dogs.