Skip to main content

bunggul man

Last week, I danced bunggul for the first time. (Bunggul is a form of traditional dancing from Arnhem Land.) It was so fun. I loved it, but it was bloody difficult and I was feeling very self-conscious.

Bunggul is performed here for funerals and other ceremonial occasions, like when there is an opening and other things like that. Well, last week, this bloke from England was hanging around and talking to the bunggul mob about touring overseas. (They are very good dancers and musicians). And so they had a bit of a bunggul session at the school so this guy could videotape them. So it wasn’t for any big occasion, that’s why I could pluck up the courage to give it a go. And I’m glad I did.

I’ve been to watch bunggul a few times now and people keep saying to me, half-joking, half-serious, “Come on Wamut, you now!”. I’ve always wanted to have a go, but been too embarrassed. But I thought to myself, I better just do it, or else people will stop asking me and I’ll miss the opportunity. And so I got up and danced, and it was great fun. I was terrible, but was starting to get the hang of it a little bit. But all the guys there that know me were very supportive and happy that I had a go. And next time, I’ll be a little bit better. Yay. I like dancing. It’s good for the soul. And because it’s traditional dancing, that feeling was multiplied by about 1000.

Comments

Sophie said…
Go Wamut!!!! Nice one... you can add it to that night at the Ngukurr Disco, where you blew every one's hats off :)
11:24 am
bulanjdjan said…
So proud, main san!

(and more than a little envious!)
12:12 pm
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A conference, language policy and Aboriginal languages in Federal Parliament

The other day, I was priveleged in attending a TESOL symposium about 'Keeping Language Diversity Alive'. One of the speakers, Joseph Lo Bianco was excellent and discussed Language Policy. He gave a handout at one of his sessions that I'm going to type out in full here, because it was a real eye-opener. It's from the Official Hansard of the Federal Parliament from a debate that happened on 10/12/98. Here's how it went: Mr SNOWDON: My question is to the Prime Minister. Is the Prime Minister aware of the decision by the Northern Territory government to phase out bilingual education in Aboriginal schools? Is the Prime Minister also aware that his government funds bilingual education programs in Papua New Guinea and Vietnam? Prime Minister, given that article 26(3) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children, will you take a direct approach to the Norther
6 comments
Luk mowa >>

The pitiful state of Recommendation 11.6 of the NT Fracking (Pepper) Inquiry

Today the NT Government announced that it's ok to start fracking the Beetaloo Basin, claiming that all 135 recommendations from the 2018 Pepper Inquiry report have been met and, therefore, fracking can proceed.  Most of the recommendations - and you can go through them all here:  Action items | Hydraulic Fracturing in the Northern Territory  - are outside my field of expertise as a linguist. There's a lot of regulatory stuff, things about the mining industry, stuff about land and water management that others know much more about than me.  However, as a linguist working in the Katherine Region for 20 years, there is one recommendation that sits in my wheelhouse so, after today's announcement, I wanted to take a look at it. It's Recommendation 11.6, which says: That in collaboration with the Government, Land Councils and AAPA, an independent, third-party designs and implements an information program to ensure that reliable, accessible, trusted and accurate information ab
Post a Comment
Luk mowa >>

Subtle features of Aboriginal English that I love: agreeing or confirming by copying

Linguists aren't supposed to play favourites, but I love Aboriginal English. Maybe because it's what the love of my life speaks and separating language from people and society isn't a realistic prospect. I'm lucky to regularly be around Aboriginal people speaking English in all sorts of ways and privileged to have insights into some of the more subtle ways in which Aboriginal ways of using English differ from the suburban white English I grew up speaking.  I want to share some of these more subtle features. Not just because I am fond of them but also because they seem to be features that escape the attention of most academic discussions of Aboriginal English / Aboriginal ways of using English. I'm going to skip over the complexities of what Aboriginal English is (and isn't) and also if/why that label is worth using at all (a chapter I wrote on Aboriginal English(es) dips into some of that discussion - email me if you want a copy). For brevity's sake, let
1 comment
Luk mowa >>