Yuupurnju

Yuupurnju: A Warlpiri song cycle documents a ceremonial song cycle situated within the traditional kurdiji “shield” ceremony, as sung by Warlpiri Elder Henry Cooke Anderson Jakamarra at Lajamanu, Northern Territory, in 2013.

The song cycle relates to a women’s jukurrpa Dreaming narrative, and tells the story of a group of ancestral women on a journey across the country. Jakamarra performed the songs (recorded by Carmel O’Shannessy) to make them available to the Warlpiri community and the wider public.

Yuupurnju: A Warlpiri song cycle includes the words of the songs in Warlpiri, interpretation in English as given by the singer, Jakamarra, and Warlpiri Elders Jerry Patrick Jangala OAM, Wanta Stephen Patrick Pawu-Kurlpurlurnu Jampijinpa and Steven Dixon Japanangka, and detailed musical notation by ethnomusicologist Myfany Turpin. It includes a foreword by two senior custodians, Jerry Patrick Jangala OAM, and Wanta Jampijinpa