Ngarra-ngúddjeya Ngúrra-mala: Expressions of Identity in the Songs of the Ripple Effect Band

Abstract

Until recently, throughout Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory, Australia, both ceremonial and popular music forms have been almost entirely the domain of men. This article is written by an innovative group of women from this region, who are currently forging new ways to negotiate musical practices, compose, play instruments, sing and perform in public. The Ripple Effect Band are a ground-breaking all-female rock band from the community of Maningrida on the north central coast of Arnhem Land who are using a contemporary music framework to enter a socio-musical space dominated by men. The article will examine the band’s creative processes and how they are negotiating agency as women performing music. The authors will discuss the construction of identity with a particular focus on the role of language and song in the expression of cultural knowledge and the assertion of clan allegiance.

Acknowledgements

We acknowledge that our work is done on Aboriginal land and we would like to pay our respects to elders, past, present and emerging. We particularly want to thank the community of Maningrida for their support. Thank you also to Joseph Díddo and the Lúrra Language and Culture team and staff at Maningrida College, Bawinanga Aboriginal Corporation, West Arnhem Regional Council, the Bábbarra Women’s Centre, the University of Sydney, Linda Barwick, Clint Bracknell, Bronwyn Eather, Isabel O’Keeffe, Carolyn Coleman, Rebecca Green and Murray Garde.

Notes

1 The name Ripple Effect Band is discussed and analysed in further detail in this article. This study uses a range of languages from the Maningrida region, using the specific language relevant to the context. Words in language will be noted in italics, followed by the meaning and language group in parentheses. For example, Ngarra-ngúddjeya ngúrra-mala (‘we speak in different languages’; Ndj). The languages used are Ndjébbana (Ndj), Kune (K), Na-kara (N), Burarra (B) and Yolngu Matha (Y).

2 This article uses inclusive first-person pronouns, such as ‘we’ and ‘our’, because the authors are all members of the Ripple Effect Band. It also considers that three of the four authors are Indigenous women from the Maningrida region writing about their cultural and clan knowledge. The Bininj Kunwok Language Centre explains on its website that ‘strangers from far-away or unknown communities can be quickly allocated a place in the social world by virtue of their subsection’ (Bininj Kunwok Regional Language Centre a 2021). The non-Indigenous author Jodie Kell has been adopted into the Arnhem Land kinship system. We have chosen to use inclusive pronouns throughout as we are all band members and connected through this kinship system.

3 Kun-borrk is a genre of individually owned song sets, performed with dancing across western Arnhem Land. The singers are accompanied by clapsticks and didjeridu (Garde 2007b, 2–3).

4 Manikay are the ‘primary musical tradition of northeast Arnhem Land’ that are not owned or composed by individuals but are inherited through patrifilial groups (Corn 2002, 42–3). They are also performed with dance and body design.

5 Mamurrung or morning star ceremony brings people from different clans together to exchange gifts and celebrate friendship and harmonious relations (Pascoe and Kelly 2011, 288).

6 We use ‘popular music’ in this article to describe music made by contemporary artists that appeals to a wide audience distributed through the music industry. It includes a range of genre including rock, pop, reggae and roots music. It typically has easily singable melodies and repetition of sections and is not reliant on written notation; rather, recording and performance are common ways in which popular music is shared.

7 Contemporary bands and albums referred into this article will be included in the discography as part of the references. Songs with particular reference will be cited separately. The Liverpool River Sunset Band perform regularly in Maningrida but do not have a recording. Their live performance is available on YouTube (Wakadj, 2012).

8 The term ‘contemporary music framework’ refers to particular practices of composition and creation, performance and rehearsal, recording and dissemination used by current creative artists that are shaped by the world in which they live. This moves beyond defining music by particular genres or styles and involves ‘the integration of multidisciplinary art forms, perspectives, and cultural influences’ (Mirisola 2020) that use a varied range of musical practices and technologies.

9 Manginburru, ‘tribal name, ethnonym for Goomadeer River People’ (K); Bininj, ‘person, human, man, Aboriginal person’ (K). Manginburru Bininj is the name of the Wildflower album, meaning people of the Goomadeer River region (Bininj Kunwok Regional Language Centre b 2021). See the Discography for album details.

10 Wárrwarra (‘the sun’; Ndj) is the name of the album recorded in 2017 at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, released independently by Ripple Effect Band in 2018. It comprises four songs in four languages. See the Discography for album details.

11 In this article we use the term ‘traditional’ to refer to ceremonial genres, such as western Arnhem kun-borrk and eastern Arnhem manikay whose origins pre-date contact with Europeans. This is distinct from ‘non-traditional’ music forms, such as popular music, gospel and hip-hop, that use introduced musical instruments (often alongside ‘traditional instruments’) and musical features.

12 In the Maningrida kinship system, your father’s brothers (uncles) are considered your fathers as well. Stephanie is referring to her father and her father’s brother who were founding members of the Letterstick Band.

13 This popular song has been attributed by members of the Ripple Effect Band to the Bininj Band. It is attributed to Namgamo on the APRA/AMCOS website (APRA/AMCOS 2021). There is a YouTube clip of an informal performance at Mindil Beach Market in Darwin that we are using to reference this song. Performers are not named.

14 Na-barla Ki-nindawabba is commonly known as Rocky Point.

15 Existing song archives and conversations with the ethnomusicologist Linda Barwick and linguists Murray Garde, Carolyn Coleman, Bronwyn Eather and Isabel O’Keeffe have not brought to light any Na-kara song recordings. Rona Lawrence remembers recording a song that used some Na-kara when she was at school, but we have not been able to locate any copies.

16 Morrdjdjanjno is a name of a song genre from western Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia (Garde 2007a).

17 This translation was done with reference to the Na-kara dictionary (Eather and Kalamirnda 2005a).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jodie Kell

Jodie Kell is a doctoral student in ethnomusicology at the University of Sydney. Her research addresses the role of women in contemporary music practice. She plays lead guitar in the Ripple Effect Band from the Australian Aboriginal community of Maningrida. Jodie works as Laboratory Coordinator for the PARADISEC digital archive.

Rachel DjÍbbama Thomas

Rachel Djíbbama Thomas is a Ndjébbana woman from Maningrida in the Northern Territory. She is Nja-wamud of the Yirridjdja moiety, Wulna clan and her Country is Malabunuwa. Rachel is a cultural leader and a teacher at Maningrida College. She is a singer and songwriter with the Ripple Effect Band.

Rona Lawrence

Rona Lawrence is a Na-kara woman of the Yurrbuka clan from Nakalamandjara, east of Maningrida. She is Wamutchan of the Dhuwa moity and she speaks Na-kara, Burarra and Ndjébbana. Rona works at the FaFT childcare centre in Maningrida and is a singer/songwriter and bass player in the Ripple Effect Band.

Marita Wilton

Marita Wilton is a Ndjébbana woman of the Kardduna clan from the homeland of Nardilmuk, on the coast near Maningrida. She is Nja-wakadj of the Yirridjdja moiety. Marita works as Greats Youth Service in Maningrida and is a singer and songwriter with the Ripple Effect Band.