In 2023 and 2024, communities in Mimal lost two important cultural leaders and the knowledge they held. Before they experience further losses, community members are eager to engage youth in knowledge transfer, invigorate languages, archive at-risk ceremonies and practices, and support people to return to important places which may not have been accessed for decades.
"What I want is for you to bring back your young boys and kids and I want to see a group of them together at this spot. At the dancing spot. At the sacred place. Ours, which we will sing, and they will sing. We'll all sing and we'll make our own dance. And we all want you to return the kids; we'll look after them by putting them into culture."
- Jack Nawilil, Rembarrnga and Mayali cultural leader, Balngarra clan
For Mimal in Central Arnhem Land, their progress towards healthy people and culture is measured by how many ceremonies are being held, how many people are visiting Country, how many outstations are occupied, how widely languages are spoken and what opportunities are available for children to learn their cultural identity and gain traditional knowledge of places, plants and animals.
What are songlines?
Songlines have been a central feature of First Nations cultures for over 80,000 years. They carry law/lore and stories that First Nations people live by - however, because they are so interwoven with First Nations cultures, it is difficult to translate as a concept.
In essence, songlines trace astronomy and geographical elements from ancient stories, and describe how these have helped shape the landscape as it is now.
While they often do incorporate song and dance, they are composed of many elements which bring together physical and intangible culture. This is where geography, plants and animals, spirituality, identity and language intersect.
Songlines were first used as a form of communication across the continent and a way of mapping Country. Many of the routes shared through songlines are now modern highways and roads across Australia.
All photos by Renae Saxby
11
recordings and films created in 2023
38
cultural custodians/knowledge keepers consulted in 2023
7
languages represented in 2023
Mimal’s Songlines Project is a unique initiative where traditional music is performed and reunited with the sacred sites that feature along the physical Songline tracks. It is led and directed by the key knowledge holders and singers, who are supported to remember, reimagine and recreate these sacred songs and dances for the first time in many years - or, in some cases, the first time since it was taught to them by their ancestors.
Alongside the event of practising and performing the Songline, Mimal develops long-form documentary films featuring interviews and ceremonies, audio recordings of Songlines, a legacy collection of translated archival materials, surveys of sacred sites and extensive cultural mapping of areas which currently have very few cultural records or resources.
This project is an immense and complex logistical feat. It involves travelling across vast distances in order to bring together the right people for consultation and storytelling in the right places at the right times. Performing these Songlines often involves multi-day bush walks and camping in remote areas which can sometimes only be accessed by helicopter - and only during certain seasons and by certain people. Moreover, it requires that Traditional Owners are engaged and their voices heard at each stage of planning, development, recording, editing, translating, archiving and sharing.
There is no government funding available to support this project, so it remains fully funded by Mimal Land Management with support from generous KKT donations.
Donate today or contact mail@kkt.org.au to learn more.
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