Yawulyu
Art and song in Warlpiri women’s ceremony
Warlpiri people commemorate and maintain their relationship with their ancestors and the natural order of the cosmos by re-enacting the events of the Jukurrpa (the Dreaming). They do this, in part, by painting up while singing pertinent songs, as well as performing dances and ritual actions sanctioned by the Jukurrpa.
From May 1981 to June 1982, ethnochoreologist Megan Morais lived in Willowra in the Northern Territory, working with the Warlpiri community. The Warlpiri women and Megan worked as an impromptu team documenting their dances as performed in yawulyu – women’s ceremony – as well as documenting traditional movement patterns.
Warlpiri women in Willowra generously and with trust, shared their music, songs, dances, designs and associated knowledge of yawulyu which is now being returned to them.
A recent collaboration between Megan and musicologist Myfany Turpin and the Willowra community has resulted in this book which provides the means for current and future generations to access the knowledge shared by the Warlpiri women.
Women of land-owning groups who have inherited sovereignty, and other important women in the community, have granted permission to publish the designs, songs and jukurrpa stories in this book. More than that, they urged publication so they would have a resource to teach their children and grandchildren. The co-authors each contributed to the book according to their authority, knowledge and strengths.
Proceeds from sales of the book will support Warlpiri people to attend Women’s Law and Culture Meetings – currently the primary forum for central Australian Aboriginal women to perform, teach and learn women’s ceremonies.
Megan Morais is an ethnochoreologist and teacher of dance and religion. Through various grants, she has documented dances of several Indigenous Australian groups, including Nunggubuyu, Wanindilyaugwa (Anindilyakwa), Antikirinya, Yanyuwa and Warlpiri. She was a visiting researcher at the University of New England and The University of Sydney and has published several articles in academic journals and encyclopedias.
The late Lucy Nampijinpa Martin was an integral part of the women’s business (ritual ceremony and activity) documented in 1981-82. She has been essential in the repatriation of materials to the community. As one of the leading business women in Willowra she was the one who knew the songs, designs and dances. Lucy’s work features throughout this book – it includes the designs she drew from 1981-82 and the songs she sang then, and sang later for recording purposes. Sadly, Lucy passed away in 2024. Her legacy lives on in the ceremonial knowledge she has shared in this book
Myfany Turpin is a musicologist, linguist and associate professor at The University of Sydney where she conducts fieldwork on languages and songs of Central Australia. She has published extensively on Aboriginal song-poetry and publishes in the fields of music, linguistics and ethnobiology. She is the co-author of Yaru! Gudjal learner’s guide and dictionary (Aboriginal Studies Press 2023).
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