The Australiandidjeridu: A late musical intrusion

Rripaŋu Yidaki†: Aboriginal social frameworks in a Musical Ecotourism Business

“…The didjeridu is a musical instrument, commonly fashioned out of a hollow length of wood, that has origins in Arnhem Land and has become emblematic in recent years, of both the Australian nation and its Aboriginal peoples (Moyle, 1981;Neuenfeldt, 1997;Yunupingu, 1997). At present, the instrument is enjoyed by people from diverse locations around the world, many of whom convene regularly on online forums (see e.g.…”

“…The use of the didjeridu by non-Aboriginal people outside Australia, and indeed even by many Aboriginal groups in Australia today, is however, a fairly recent phenomenon. Ethnomusicologist Moyle (1981) traces the instrument's origins to groups living in the far northernmost region of Australia's Northern Territory, as well as small adjoining regions in Western Australia and Queensland. Moyle (1981) infers from rock art evidence that groups within this region have used the didjeridu for at least 1000 years.…”

“…Ethnomusicologist Moyle (1981) traces the instrument's origins to groups living in the far northernmost region of Australia's Northern Territory, as well as small adjoining regions in Western Australia and Queensland. Moyle (1981) infers from rock art evidence that groups within this region have used the didjeridu for at least 1000 years. Didjeridu playing spread to other parts of Australia largely in the 1960s and 1970s, during a period of great social upheaval for Aboriginal groups in the far north.…”

People and fish: Late Holocene rock art at Wulk Lagoon, Arnhem Land

“…Chaloupka 1993;Jelinek 1986;Mountford 1956;Moyle 1981), especially those depicting the playing of didjeridus, prominent in at least eight scenes. The didjeridu is considered by Moyle (1981) to be a late Holocene musical development in Arnhem Land, because of the rock art styles it is associated with.…”

The Didjeridu: From Arnhem Land to the Internet, Edited by Karl Neuenfeldt, Sydney: John Libbey & Company, 1997, 184 pp.

“…Until recently, much previous work on the instrument has focused more specifically on the process of sound production and construction of the didjeridu (see for example Jones, 1967Jones, , 1974Moyle, 1974Moyle, , 1981Stubington, 1978). This anthology examines the didjeridu from a number of different perspectives and encourages readers to understand the instrument on several levels: as icon and sound, as part of a complex set of social relationships, as a way of engagingwider theoretical issues, and as both a local and global product which will continue to develop.…”