Resources

This page provides an annotated list of resources that contribute to our understanding of Yolngu Aboriginal art, music, history, and performance.

Didgeridoo Production and Performance

  • Chatwin, Bruce. 1987. The Songlines. Penguin Books.
  • Lindner, D. 2004. The Didgeridoo Phenomenon: From Ancient Times to the Modern Age. Traumzeit Verlag.
  • Marett, Allan. 2005. Songs, Dreaming, and Ghosts: The Wangga of North Australia. Wesleyan University Press.
  • Neuenfeldt, K. 1998. The didjeridu: From Arnhem Land to the Internet. Indiana University Press.
  • Schellberg, Dirk. 1996. Didgeridoo: Ritual Origins and Playing Techniques. Binkey Kok Publications.

  • iDidjAustralia:  iDIDJ Australia exists to showcase the rich, vibrant and continuing Aboriginal cultures of northern Australia with a key focus on the didgeridoo and the musical arts. We embrace cultural diversity in all its forms. Our website aims to increase public appreciation and understanding of Australian Indigenous cultures by sharing stories, connecting people and organising events.  https://www.ididj.com.au/
  • Didgeman:  Journeys and artistic insights of local Austin artist, Omid Aski Larritjani, who spent many years studying Yolngu art, dance, and music while living for extended periods in Yolngu communities: http://www.didgeman.com 

  • Mununggurr, Milkay. 2015. Hard Tongue Didgeridoo. The Mulka Project.
  • Gurruwiwi, Djalu. 2001. Djalu Teaches and Plays Yidaki, vol. 1 & 2. Yothu Yindi Foundation.

Yolngu Art, Dance, and Music

  • Deger, Jennifer. “Christmas with Wawa: a video experiment with Yolngu aesthetics”. In Beyond Text? Critical practices and sensory anthropology. Edited by Rubert Cox, Andrew Irving, and Christopher Wright. Manchester University Press. 2016.
  • Layton, Robert. “Traditional and Contemporary Art of Aboriginal Australia”. In Anthropology, Art and Aesthetics. Edited by Jeremy Coote and Anthony Shelton. Oxford University Press. 1994
  • Magowan, Fiona. “Transnational Continuity and Creativity in Yolngu Musical and Spiritual Experience”. In The Oxford Handbook of Music and World Christianities. Edited by Suzel Ana Reily and Johnathan M. Dueck. 2016.
  • Morphy, Howard. “From Dull to Brilliant – The Aesthetics of Spiritual Power among the Yolngu”. In Anthropology, Art and Aesthetics. Edited by Jeremy Coote and Anthony Shelton. Oxford University Press. 1994.

  • Corn, Aaron. 2009. Reflections & Voices: exploring the music of Yothu Yindi with Mandawuy Yunupingu. Sydney University Press.
  • Magowan, Fiona. 2005. Landscapes of Indigenous Performance: Music, song and dance of the Torres Strait and Arnhemland. Aboriginal Studies Press.
  • Myers, Fred. 2002. Painting Culture: The Making of an Aboriginal High Art. Duke University Press.

  • Buku-Larrngay Mulka Center – Buku-Larrnggay Mulka Centre is the Indigenous community controlled art center of Northeast Arnhem Land located in Yirrkala, a small Aboriginal community, approximately 700km east of Darwin: https://yirrkala.com/
  • Charles Darwin University – School of Indigenous Knowledges and Public Policy – Yolngu Studies – This is a place for Yolŋu and Balanda to learn about Yolŋu life and language, talk with each other, read stories, and look at pictures: https://learnline.cdu.edu.au/yolngustudies/
  • Dhimurru Aboriginal Corporation – Dhimurru is an incorporated Aboriginal organization established by Yolngu land-owners in Northeast Arnhem Land, Australia.  The office is located in Nhulunbuy (Gove): http://www.dhimurru.com.au/
  • Gapuwiyak Culture and Arts Aboriginal Corporation – is a recent initiative of the remote East Arnhem Land community of Gapuwiyak, also known as Lake Evella. The organisation is not-for-profit. It was created to enhance the wellbeing of Yolngu people living in the region by supporting their cultural practices, values and intellectual property while providing opportunities for leadership, meaningful employment and professional development.: http://www.gapuwiyak.com.au
  • Miyarrka Media- is a media collective based in the community of Gapuwiyak in northeast Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia. It was formed to enable Yolngu to creatively use new media technologies at a community level.  Working under Yolngu direction, Miyarrka’s goal is to use media to respond to contemporary Yolngu concerns and in the process, open up new possibilities and spaces for cultural expression and exhibition. Miyarrka Media was founded in 2009 by Paul Gurrumuruwuy, Fiona Yangathu, Jennifer Deger and David Mackenzie. It operates under the auspices of Gapuwiyak Culture and Arts Aboriginal Corporation.: http://miyarrkamedia.com/

Australian Cultural Studies

  • Forsey, Martin. “Beyond the production of tourism imaginaries: Student-travellers in Australia and their reception of media representations of their host nation”. In Annals of Tourism Research. 44. 156-170. 2014. : https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0160738313001291
  • Myers, Fred. “The Complicity of Cultural Production: The Contingencies of Performance in Globalizing Museum Practices”. In Museum Frictions: Public Cultures/Global Transformations. Edited by Ivan Karp, Corinne Kratz, Lynn Szwaja, Tomas Ybarra-Frausto. Duke University Press. 2006.

  • Beckett, Jeremy. 2014. Encounters with Indigeneity. Aboriginal Studies Press.
  • Berndt, R.M. and R. Tonkinson. 2012. Social Anthropology and Australian Aboriginal Studies: A Contemporary Overview. Aboriginal Studies Press.
  • Camfoo, Tex and Nelly Camfoo and Gillian Cowlishaw. Love Against the Law: The Autobiographies of Tex and Nelly Camfoo. Aboriginal Studies Press.
  • Carey, Jane and Claire McLisky. 2009. Creating White Australia. Sydney University Press.
  • Christen, Kimberly. 2009. Aboriginal Business: Alliances in a Remote Aboriginal Town. Aboriginal Studies Press.
  • Grey, Geoffrey. 2007. A Cautious Silence: The Politics of Australian Anthropology. Aboriginal Studies Press.
  • Hinkson, Melinda. 2014. Remembering the Future: Walpiri through the prism of drawing. Aboriginal Studies Press.
  • Lydon, Jane. 2014. Calling the Shots: Aboriginal Photographers. Aboriginal Studies Press.
  • Morgan, Marlo. 2004. Mutant Message Down Under. Harper Collins Publishers.
  • Morris, Barry. 2013. Protest, Land Rights and Riots: Postcolonial Stuggles in Australia in the 1980s. Aboriginal Studies Press.
  • Musharbash, Yasmine. 2009. Yuendumu Everyday: Contemporary Life in Remote Aboriginal Australia. Aboriginal Studies Press.
  • Taz, Colin. 2001. Aboriginal Suicide is Different: A Portrait of Life and Self-Destruction. Aboriginal Studies Press.
  • Vincent, Eve. 2017. Against Native Title: Conflict and Creativity in Outback Australia. Aboriginal Studies Press.

  •  Australian Humanities Review – Australian Humanities Review provides a forum for open intellectual debate across humanities disciplines, about all aspects of social, cultural and political life, primarily (but not exclusively) with reference to Australia. It aims to present new and challenging debates in the humanities to both an academic and a non-academic readership, both within and outside of Australia: http://australianhumanitiesreview.org

General Anthropology and Ethnomusicology

  • Fox, Aaron A. 2008. “Music”. In International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences. 2d ed. Vol. 5. Edited by William A. Darity Jr. Detroit: Macmillan.
  • Pegg, Carole, Helen Myers, Philip V. Bohlman, and Martin Stokes. “Ethnomusicology.” In Grove Music Online. Edited by Deane Root. 2007–2012.

  • Anderson, Benedict. 1991. Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism. New York: Verso.
  • Clayton, Martin, Trever Herbert, and Richard Middleton, eds. 2003. The cultural study of music: A critical introduction. New York: Routledge.
  • Feld, Steven. 1982. Sound and Sentiment: Birds, Weeping, Poetics, and Song in Kaluli Expression. Duke University Press.
  • Meintjes, L., 2003.Sound of Africa!: Making Music Zulu in a South African Studio. Duke University Press.
  • Myers, Helen, ed. 1992. Ethnomusicology: An Introduction. Norton/Grove Handbooks in Music. New York: W. W. Norton.
  • Nettl, Bruno. 2005. The Study of Ethnomusicology: Thirty-One Issues and Concepts. Urbana: Univ. of Illinois Press.
  • Stobart, Henry, ed. 2008. The New (Ethno)Musicologies. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow.
  • Ziff, Bruce and Pratima Rao. 1997. Borrowed Power: Essays on Cultural Appropriation. Rutgers University Press.

  • The Society for Ethnomusicology – Ethnomusicology is an international, peer-reviewed journal published three times a year by the University of Illinois Press on behalf of the Society for Ethnomusicology. It features scholarly articles representing theoretical perspectives and research in ethnomusicology and related fields, as well as book, sound recording, film, video, and multimedia reviews:  http://www.ethnomusicology.org/
  • American Anthropological Association – The American Anthropological Association is the world’s largest association for professional anthropologists, with more than 10,000 members. Based in Washington D.C., the association was founded in 1902, and covers all four main fields of anthropology (cultural anthropology, biological/physical anthropology, archaeology, and linguistic anthropology): http://www.americananthro.org/
  • Australian Anthropological Society – The Australian Anthropological Society (AAS) Inc was incorporated under New South Wales legislation in 1988 and represents the profession of anthropology in Australia. The Society recognises that anthropological work is broad in scope and includes academic research, teaching, consultancies, and public commentary: http://www.aas.asn.au/

  • O’Rourke, Dennis. 1988. Cannibal Tours. Institute of Papua New Guinea Studios.