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Songspirals: Sharing Women's Wisdom of Country Through Songlines
A rare opportunity to connect with the living tradition of women's songlines, as recounted by Yolngu women from far north Australia.
'We want you to come with us on our journey, our journey of songspirals. Songspirals are the essence of people in this land, the essence of every clan. We belong to the land and it belongs to us. We sing to the land, sing about the land. We are that land. It sings to us.'
Aboriginal Australian cultures are the oldest living cultures on earth and at the heart of Aboriginal cultures is song. These ancient narratives of landscape have often been described as a means of navigating across vast distances without a map, but they are much, much more than this. Songspirals are sung by Aboriginal people to awaken Country, to make and remake the life-giving connections between people and place. Songspirals are radically different ways of understanding the relationship people can have with the landscape.
For Yolngu people from North East Arnhem Land, women and men play different roles in bringing songlines to life, yet the vast majority of what has been published is about men's place in songlines. Songspirals is a rare opportunity for outsiders to experience Aboriginal women's role in crying the songlines in a very authentic and direct form.
About the Author
Gay'wu Group of Women is the 'dilly bag women's group', a deep collaboration between five Yolngu women and three non-Aboriginal women over a decade. They are all co-authors of Weaving Lives Together at Bawaka, North East Arnhem Land and a book for young adults, Welcome to My Country.
Industry Reviews
'Songspirals are Life. These are cultural words from wise women. As an Aboriginal woman this is profound to learn. As a human being Songspirals is an absolute privilege to read.'
Ali Cobby Eckermann, Yankunytjatjara poet
'To read Songspirals is to change the way you see, think and feel this country.'
Clare Wright, award-winning historian and author
'A rare and intimate window into traditional women's cultural life and their visceral connection to Country. A generous invitation for the rest of us.'
Kerry O'Brien, Walkley Award-winning journalist
'We want you to come with us on our journey, our journey of songspirals. Songspirals are the essence of people in this land, the essence of every clan. We belong to the land and it belongs to us. We sing to the land, sing about the land. We are that land. It sings to us.'
Aboriginal Australian cultures are the oldest living cultures on earth and at the heart of Aboriginal cultures is song. These ancient narratives of landscape have often been described as a means of navigating across vast distances without a map, but they are much, much more than this. Songspirals are sung by Aboriginal people to awaken Country, to make and remake the life-giving connections between people and place. Songspirals are radically different ways of understanding the relationship people can have with the landscape.
For Yolngu people from North East Arnhem Land, women and men play different roles in bringing songlines to life, yet the vast majority of what has been published is about men's place in songlines. Songspirals is a rare opportunity for outsiders to experience Aboriginal women's role in crying the songlines in a very authentic and direct form.
About the Author
Gay'wu Group of Women is the 'dilly bag women's group', a deep collaboration between five Yolngu women and three non-Aboriginal women over a decade. They are all co-authors of Weaving Lives Together at Bawaka, North East Arnhem Land and a book for young adults, Welcome to My Country.
Industry Reviews
'Songspirals are Life. These are cultural words from wise women. As an Aboriginal woman this is profound to learn. As a human being Songspirals is an absolute privilege to read.'
Ali Cobby Eckermann, Yankunytjatjara poet
'To read Songspirals is to change the way you see, think and feel this country.'
Clare Wright, award-winning historian and author
'A rare and intimate window into traditional women's cultural life and their visceral connection to Country. A generous invitation for the rest of us.'
Kerry O'Brien, Walkley Award-winning journalist
336 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2019
68 people are currently reading
698 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
March 1, 2020
This is a book explaining the cultural beliefs and practices of the Yolnu people - especially women. It's challenging - concepts like time and space are treated very differently - but valuable. My tiny brain struggled to take it all in, but it's bold and important work.
March 29, 2020
In the last 18 months, I have drastically shifted my reading, so I am reading a lot less from Anglo-background writers, and have more reading from diverse voices, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander writers. I am only starting to realise how significantly this is shifting my perspective, and in no single work is this more evident than the extraordinary Songspirals.
There is a lot in here. So much, in fact, that that I decided to slow down, and read one small segment a day over a couple of months. The knowledge in this book - the Ga'awu Group of Women have been remarkably generous in explaining an entire knowledge system through specific examples, and the intellectual work to construct this is breathtaking.
Having said that, it probably seems weird to then say that the best thing about this book is that it makes you realise how little you know. But this isn't a portal into understanding Yolŋu cosmology and knowledge systems, but that would ridiculous in a book - it isn't a New Age wisdom piece. It's an explanation of some basics, which points to the cast quantity on non-basics that adults, let alone Elders, have. The authors warn against this being cherry-picked by the ignorant, as happens to their knowledge all the time (and the ignorant here This knowledge includes some professors):
"We share songspirals with you and we ask that you treat them with respect. Respecting the knowledge means not writing about things you don't understand, not putting things into your own words. The words in this book are our knowledge, our property."
Yolŋu knowledge is systematically dismissed in our society because it is contained within a different framework - the book is a strong argument that different doesn't mean inferior and that those outside it are not in a place to understand what it has to offer.
Having said that, the volume steps through five songspirals. Each integrates milkarri, kinship systems, and experiences to draw out meaning and explain perspectives. As the book progresses, the approach seemed to increase in complexity as the authors trust the readers to feel a bit more confident in approaching knowledge and understanding. A single word or concept is a portal into a structured depth of possible meanings, connections and knowledge in a way that is unfamiliar to those of steeped in verbose academic traditions. For me, it rewarded sitting with concepts for a bit and prioritising connection as revealing new things, over new information.
I was surprised, I want to say, that the book didn't make the Stella shortlist. In some ways, it is different enough that I wouldn't have been surprised if it didn't make the longlist, but to have made that and not the shortlist really surprised me, given the complexity of the book's construction - for that alone, this deserves literary awards - and the richness of the content.
In summary: just read this. Read it slowly and respectfully. It conveys sorrow and joy, and for those of us who get joy from knowledge, it's pretty damn rich.
There is a lot in here. So much, in fact, that that I decided to slow down, and read one small segment a day over a couple of months. The knowledge in this book - the Ga'awu Group of Women have been remarkably generous in explaining an entire knowledge system through specific examples, and the intellectual work to construct this is breathtaking.
Having said that, it probably seems weird to then say that the best thing about this book is that it makes you realise how little you know. But this isn't a portal into understanding Yolŋu cosmology and knowledge systems, but that would ridiculous in a book - it isn't a New Age wisdom piece. It's an explanation of some basics, which points to the cast quantity on non-basics that adults, let alone Elders, have. The authors warn against this being cherry-picked by the ignorant, as happens to their knowledge all the time (and the ignorant here This knowledge includes some professors):
"We share songspirals with you and we ask that you treat them with respect. Respecting the knowledge means not writing about things you don't understand, not putting things into your own words. The words in this book are our knowledge, our property."
Yolŋu knowledge is systematically dismissed in our society because it is contained within a different framework - the book is a strong argument that different doesn't mean inferior and that those outside it are not in a place to understand what it has to offer.
Having said that, the volume steps through five songspirals. Each integrates milkarri, kinship systems, and experiences to draw out meaning and explain perspectives. As the book progresses, the approach seemed to increase in complexity as the authors trust the readers to feel a bit more confident in approaching knowledge and understanding. A single word or concept is a portal into a structured depth of possible meanings, connections and knowledge in a way that is unfamiliar to those of steeped in verbose academic traditions. For me, it rewarded sitting with concepts for a bit and prioritising connection as revealing new things, over new information.
I was surprised, I want to say, that the book didn't make the Stella shortlist. In some ways, it is different enough that I wouldn't have been surprised if it didn't make the longlist, but to have made that and not the shortlist really surprised me, given the complexity of the book's construction - for that alone, this deserves literary awards - and the richness of the content.
In summary: just read this. Read it slowly and respectfully. It conveys sorrow and joy, and for those of us who get joy from knowledge, it's pretty damn rich.
July 7, 2021
Welcome to a very different journey.
The Gay’wu Group of Women (or the ‘dilly bag women’s group) are a group of Yolŋu women from north-east Arnhem Land in Australia’s far north. In this book, they invite us to join them on a journey:
'We want you to come with us on our journey, our journey of songspirals. Songspirals are the essence of people in this land, the essence of every clan. We belong to the land and it belongs to us. We sing to the land, sing about the land. We are that land. It sings to us.'
This is an incredibly generous book, full of cultural concepts that I find challenging, but which begin to make sense when I step back from the words to appreciate the context. A vibrant oral culture, with some similarities to the storytelling tradition which once prevailed in parts of my heritage. But the Yolŋu songspirals are more vibrant, more connected to place, to Aboriginal concepts of Country which many of us struggle to appreciate or try to understand.
The women share particular songspirals in the book as a way of welcoming us, of giving us a glimpse into their culture and enabling us to explore and to try to understand their importance.
Songspirals are profoundly different ways of explaining the relationship the Yolŋu women have with Country. In order to understand more, I will need to reread this book. But right now, while I may not understand fully, I begin to understand and appreciate the complexity and vibrance of this oral culture. Thank you to the Gay’wu Group of Women for their generous gift.
I recommend this book to anyone who seeks a better understanding of Aboriginal concepts of
Country.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
The Gay’wu Group of Women (or the ‘dilly bag women’s group) are a group of Yolŋu women from north-east Arnhem Land in Australia’s far north. In this book, they invite us to join them on a journey:
'We want you to come with us on our journey, our journey of songspirals. Songspirals are the essence of people in this land, the essence of every clan. We belong to the land and it belongs to us. We sing to the land, sing about the land. We are that land. It sings to us.'
This is an incredibly generous book, full of cultural concepts that I find challenging, but which begin to make sense when I step back from the words to appreciate the context. A vibrant oral culture, with some similarities to the storytelling tradition which once prevailed in parts of my heritage. But the Yolŋu songspirals are more vibrant, more connected to place, to Aboriginal concepts of Country which many of us struggle to appreciate or try to understand.
The women share particular songspirals in the book as a way of welcoming us, of giving us a glimpse into their culture and enabling us to explore and to try to understand their importance.
Songspirals are profoundly different ways of explaining the relationship the Yolŋu women have with Country. In order to understand more, I will need to reread this book. But right now, while I may not understand fully, I begin to understand and appreciate the complexity and vibrance of this oral culture. Thank you to the Gay’wu Group of Women for their generous gift.
I recommend this book to anyone who seeks a better understanding of Aboriginal concepts of
Country.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
March 30, 2020
A telling of "women's wisdom of Country through songlines" from sisters and daughters of Yolnu country, from North East Arnhem Land. This is the sharing of women's song, spirituality and connection to land, spirit and being.
An explanation of Songlines from women, by women. They say much of Aboriginal knowledge is collected and written down by white man academics, but this is these women sharing their knowledge and connections.
"This is the songspiral. It is walking, head turning, looking, noticing, thinking as we watch the land, paying attention, with love. Walking in kinship."
Through sharing stories of family - deep stories of connection, loss, death, achievement - these women are sharing their ways, their language, their lives. There is such deep meaning and learning here - it is enriching.
So many aspects of Aboriginal culture I have not had the privilege to hear or learn before. The sharing of language here is also so special.
"We hate the word dreaming. We are not asleep. We are here and have all this knowledge, this life force, collective thought, a soul that is created by the water."
An explanation of Songlines from women, by women. They say much of Aboriginal knowledge is collected and written down by white man academics, but this is these women sharing their knowledge and connections.
"This is the songspiral. It is walking, head turning, looking, noticing, thinking as we watch the land, paying attention, with love. Walking in kinship."
Through sharing stories of family - deep stories of connection, loss, death, achievement - these women are sharing their ways, their language, their lives. There is such deep meaning and learning here - it is enriching.
So many aspects of Aboriginal culture I have not had the privilege to hear or learn before. The sharing of language here is also so special.
"We hate the word dreaming. We are not asleep. We are here and have all this knowledge, this life force, collective thought, a soul that is created by the water."
July 12, 2020
This book was an intense read for me. It contains concepts which I wanted to understand but my suburban upbringing found difficult to absorb. I did a lot of re-reading. In fact at the end of the introduction it reads “What we share is the sacred heart of Country. Reading this book is not just about reading and relaxing, it is harder and deeper, but it will give you a chance to understand our culture. It is our life.”
I was overawed by the clarification that “Every songspiral is a song, a ceremony, a picture, a story, a person, a place...” which goes on to say it maps things done and things to do and so much more. Songspirals are sung to awaken Country, to make and remake the life-giving connections between people and place” and this living tradition also contains three important elements “knowledge and language and Law.”
The only proper way for me to understand songlines would be to sit and listen intensely for a long period of time. This explanation did help to shed light on one aspect “And we haven’t lost our milkarri, our crying for the land, our grief or the deep connection. That is the beauty of it. Our milkarri, our keening, is the women’s part of the spirals that make the rain, the clouds, the land. A women’s cry is another way of celebrating. When we keen or cry, it’s a story we are telling. It’s telling a story in keening.” And has done for thousands of years.
I was overawed by the clarification that “Every songspiral is a song, a ceremony, a picture, a story, a person, a place...” which goes on to say it maps things done and things to do and so much more. Songspirals are sung to awaken Country, to make and remake the life-giving connections between people and place” and this living tradition also contains three important elements “knowledge and language and Law.”
The only proper way for me to understand songlines would be to sit and listen intensely for a long period of time. This explanation did help to shed light on one aspect “And we haven’t lost our milkarri, our crying for the land, our grief or the deep connection. That is the beauty of it. Our milkarri, our keening, is the women’s part of the spirals that make the rain, the clouds, the land. A women’s cry is another way of celebrating. When we keen or cry, it’s a story we are telling. It’s telling a story in keening.” And has done for thousands of years.
April 23, 2020
Thank you to the women of the Gay’wu group for sharing this knowledge and trying to promote a respectful understanding of their culture. It is very difficult to grasp the scale of knowledge that is contained within these pages as in themselves they are structured in a way that means the more you read the less you feel you really know.
The Songspirals are a timeless connection and knowledge shared between people and place. They underpin the importance of language and identity and the need to maintain them and this book is therefore a priceless record.
The Songspirals are a timeless connection and knowledge shared between people and place. They underpin the importance of language and identity and the need to maintain them and this book is therefore a priceless record.
Read
June 4, 2020A book to definitely read more than once.
I've really only paused this, I'll come back to it but want to return it to the library, now that it has reopened, for others to have the opportunity to read, while I'm preoccupied with other books.
This is fascinating and takes some concentration to spin your mindset around to this Indigenous view. I've never read anything like it and think it's fabulous that the women authors are sharing something so intensely personal and intrinsic to their way of looking at things. I really need to devote more attention to it but at the moment my brain is overloaded with other things.
I'm also not a natural linguist and if you are this would be even more brilliant than it already is.
I'll be looking out for a copy for my collection. I really think it deserves a lot of attention.
I've really only paused this, I'll come back to it but want to return it to the library, now that it has reopened, for others to have the opportunity to read, while I'm preoccupied with other books.
This is fascinating and takes some concentration to spin your mindset around to this Indigenous view. I've never read anything like it and think it's fabulous that the women authors are sharing something so intensely personal and intrinsic to their way of looking at things. I really need to devote more attention to it but at the moment my brain is overloaded with other things.
I'm also not a natural linguist and if you are this would be even more brilliant than it already is.
I'll be looking out for a copy for my collection. I really think it deserves a lot of attention.
March 13, 2020
I added Songspirals to my TBR when I first saw it in August, but it became one of those inevitable ‘I’ll pick you up after I finish this book/readathon TBR’ books and it just kept getting pushed back. That’s one of my favourite things about the Stella—it pushes me to read those books that I don’t always get time for.
This is an incredible little book. There were so many little things that I wish I could go through in this review, but I’ll keep that all for the Stella Project discussion. I think one of the things that really stood out to me was the reminder of how often books about Indigenous Australians are written about and by (predominantly white) men. I really hope that this book (especially it’s inclusion on the longlist) will start to change that and we’ll see more and more written by Indigenous women and they’ll get more of the recognition they deserve.
Anyway, I really expected to learn a lot from this book and to be in complete awe of this collective of women, but I didn’t expect it to make me feel as emotional as it did. The women talk about their family quite extensively, and those parts really got to me, especially the parts about illness and grief.
I really hope we’ll see more from these wonderful authors in the near future!
This is an incredible little book. There were so many little things that I wish I could go through in this review, but I’ll keep that all for the Stella Project discussion. I think one of the things that really stood out to me was the reminder of how often books about Indigenous Australians are written about and by (predominantly white) men. I really hope that this book (especially it’s inclusion on the longlist) will start to change that and we’ll see more and more written by Indigenous women and they’ll get more of the recognition they deserve.
Anyway, I really expected to learn a lot from this book and to be in complete awe of this collective of women, but I didn’t expect it to make me feel as emotional as it did. The women talk about their family quite extensively, and those parts really got to me, especially the parts about illness and grief.
I really hope we’ll see more from these wonderful authors in the near future!
March 18, 2022
I adored my journey through this incredible book. Such depth and feeling, what an absolute treasure of glimpses into the heart and soul of the Yolngu people from North East Arnhem Land. Not a book to be rushed through, but savour the reading of it, allow it to sink into your marrow, allow your heart and mind to open to these wise women and accept the gift they have imparted. Enjoy!
August 10, 2021
Brilliant!
June 21, 2022
This story is somewhat unique, in that it is told by an indigenous group of women giving their perspective on songlines and stories. It is a book to be read slowly, as it needs time to stop and think about the concepts which are so vastly different to the foundational concepts of ‘western’ thinking. Everything is very layered and rich with meaning, even the limited amounts of information presented in the book, and it is clear there are so many more layers of meaning that are not shared with us in the story. The circular nature of storytelling (and singing and painting and dancing) is a foundational cultural concept. It deals with a single story/theme/thought-process and works through it fully before it moves on to the next one. It is not a ��straight-line’ process but one that weaves it’s way around a ‘path’ until it reaches the end of the journey (like walking through the landscape). Initially I found the repetitiveness a bit irritating, until I realised it was a way of teaching, to reinforce concepts and learning. These elements have been a feature of other books I have read by indigenous authors, but I didn’t really make the connection until I read this story. I enjoyed the read, the learnings and the insights, but it is definitely not the kind of book that you can read through quickly.
June 14, 2020
Do you ever struggle with how to rate things? Like... you know the content is important but your actual enjoyment was so-so?
Look it's probably not this books fault. A lot has been going in the world and that has really taken my attention. So the thing you need to take from this is that the content is important. I might revisit it at some point and be in a different headspace that allows me to enjoy it more.
Look it's probably not this books fault. A lot has been going in the world and that has really taken my attention. So the thing you need to take from this is that the content is important. I might revisit it at some point and be in a different headspace that allows me to enjoy it more.
September 29, 2021
This is a truly fascinating read. It is demanding for a Western reader because it asks them to enter a different realm of thought and understanding of time, language and law. The need to read and seek to understand Yolngu language and thought patterns is challenging but deeply satisfying. Essential reading for those seeking the perspective of Aboriginal women and a better way to care for Country.
December 12, 2020
Summary:
It was a privilege to be able to read this book and have such amazing information shared with me. The book introduces the concept of Songspirals and their significance in Yolnu culture, but it does so much more in the way of providing rich insights into a very layered and different way of thinking. The writing style is engaging in the sense that it's almost conversational and the content is just so unique and interesting that it kept me well engaged while reading. Due to my unfamiliarity with the content and just how rich it all was, I found myself needing to put the book down and pause to reflect for a time to process what I'd just read. I hope to revisit these concepts and maybe read the book again at a later date because I'm sure I've only just scratched the surface of familiarity and have yet to reach understanding.
I would recommend this book to every Australian.
The main message I took from this book is the richness of Yolnu culture. It is complex, specific and just so incredibly rich.
Some notable points:
- "Songspirals are often called songlines or song cycles. They spiral out and spiral in, they go up and down, round and round, forever. They are a line within a cycle. They are infinite. They spiral, connecting and remaking. They twist and turn, they move and loop. This is like all our songs. Our songs are not a straight line. They do not move in one direction through time and space. They are a map we follow through Country as they connect to other clans. Everything is connected, layered with beauty. Each time we sing our songspirals we learn more, go deeper, spiral in and spiral out."
- Yolnu women from North East Arnhem an in northern Australia cry the songspirals, which is called milkarri. Only women keen milkarri, it is an ancient song, an ancient poem, a map, a ceremony and a guide, but it is more than all this too.
- "Country is the keeper of the knowledge we share with you. Country gives the knowledge for this book. It guides us an teaches us. Country has awareness, it not just a backdrop. It knows and is part of us. Country is our homeland. It is home and land, but it is more than that. It is the seas and the waters, the rocks and the soils, the animals and winds and people too. It is the connections between those beings, and their dreams and emotions, their languages and their Law. Country is the way humans and non-humans co-become, they way we emerge together, have always emerged together and will always emerge together. It is all the feelings, the songs and ceremonies, the things we cannot understand and cannot touch, the things that go beyond us, that anchor us in eternity, in the infinite cycles of kinship, sharing and responsibility. It is the messages, languages and communication from all beings to all beings. And Country is in the songspirals. It is milkarri."
- "Most of the books written about songlines have been written by white people, and mainly white men. That is why we decided to write this book. That is why we decided to write this book. Often when we read about Yolnu, it is not from Yolnu people. The words are not chosen and controlled by us. They often leave things out of get things wrong. Sometimes we are offended by what other people write about us. We also find that most of what's written talks about men's knowledge and doesn't pay attention to or value women's knowledge and milkarri. So, we decided we would write this book ourselves as Yolnu women. We share songspirals and we ask that you treat them with respect. Respecting the knowledge means not writing about things you don't understand, not putting things into your own words. The words in this book are our knowledge, our property. You can talk about it, but don't think you can become the authority on it You can use our words for reflection. You can talk about your own experiences and think about how to take lessons from our book into your life. You need to honour the context of our songspirals, acknowledge the layers of our knowledge. You can talk about the very top layer but you need to be respectful and aware of the limits of what we are sharing and what you in turn can share."
- "Fishing and sitting and feeling the breeze are everyday things, but they are also sacred things, deep things, knowledgeable things, meaningful things. Sacred, yes, but not like a religion, not in a way that means they are more special or more linked to our creation and our being that anything else. Everything is sacred. We do not believe in this or that. We are those things. Songspirals are those things. Songspirals are life."
- "Without the songspirals we couldn't know Country. That's why ancestors gave us everything for our survival."
- "Everything communicates and comes through the songspirals. The sounds that human beings make in the songspirals are the sounds that animals make. The names of the animals are the sounds they make."
- "In the 1970s, the first legal case for land rights in Australia was heard when Roy and his brothers led the land rights case against the mining company Nabalco. This laid the ground work for future land rights cases and became part of the broader land rights struggle. It also led to the birth of the homelands movement, in which Aboriginal people moved away from missions and towns back to their Country."
- "All of us are always learning, learning together. Every day, anything can let you down. But if you have a mind that wants to learn, then you can overcome those obstacles. If you look after your mind you can solve problems and work things out to make your life the way you want it to be. There are always people who don't look at things our way. There are people who need to understand more, to be educated, to have a broad mind, to accept things as they are and to work their way around if they don't like it. A healthy person has a mind full of wonder. A mind full of wonder is wondrous and a wondrous mind learns so much more than a mind that is sick. A narrow-minded person is a sick person."
- "They try to make us feel poor. But we must remember and teach our children that we are not poor, we are rich. Every time we sing, we sing about the person's treasure and belonging with Country. Every individual is rich, they have their own wealth, through song, sacred objects, their land, in the sea and in the river. That is why every Yolnu is a rich Yolnu because he or she carries the land. And we are sacred."
- "Wititj, the Rainbow Serpent, claims the territory through singing. The land is sacred. There are many different territories, with many different tribes and clan lands. Wititj didn't claim it for the crown with a flag like the English. She san that Country, made it with her body. The snake casts out by singing, claims the territory as sacred, makes that area. She sing Country."
- "Down south, sometimes trees die as they have no one, no one to talk to them, to touch them."
- "With our songspirals the land renews itself, our songspirals are our land rights."
It was a privilege to be able to read this book and have such amazing information shared with me. The book introduces the concept of Songspirals and their significance in Yolnu culture, but it does so much more in the way of providing rich insights into a very layered and different way of thinking. The writing style is engaging in the sense that it's almost conversational and the content is just so unique and interesting that it kept me well engaged while reading. Due to my unfamiliarity with the content and just how rich it all was, I found myself needing to put the book down and pause to reflect for a time to process what I'd just read. I hope to revisit these concepts and maybe read the book again at a later date because I'm sure I've only just scratched the surface of familiarity and have yet to reach understanding.
I would recommend this book to every Australian.
The main message I took from this book is the richness of Yolnu culture. It is complex, specific and just so incredibly rich.
Some notable points:
- "Songspirals are often called songlines or song cycles. They spiral out and spiral in, they go up and down, round and round, forever. They are a line within a cycle. They are infinite. They spiral, connecting and remaking. They twist and turn, they move and loop. This is like all our songs. Our songs are not a straight line. They do not move in one direction through time and space. They are a map we follow through Country as they connect to other clans. Everything is connected, layered with beauty. Each time we sing our songspirals we learn more, go deeper, spiral in and spiral out."
- Yolnu women from North East Arnhem an in northern Australia cry the songspirals, which is called milkarri. Only women keen milkarri, it is an ancient song, an ancient poem, a map, a ceremony and a guide, but it is more than all this too.
- "Country is the keeper of the knowledge we share with you. Country gives the knowledge for this book. It guides us an teaches us. Country has awareness, it not just a backdrop. It knows and is part of us. Country is our homeland. It is home and land, but it is more than that. It is the seas and the waters, the rocks and the soils, the animals and winds and people too. It is the connections between those beings, and their dreams and emotions, their languages and their Law. Country is the way humans and non-humans co-become, they way we emerge together, have always emerged together and will always emerge together. It is all the feelings, the songs and ceremonies, the things we cannot understand and cannot touch, the things that go beyond us, that anchor us in eternity, in the infinite cycles of kinship, sharing and responsibility. It is the messages, languages and communication from all beings to all beings. And Country is in the songspirals. It is milkarri."
- "Most of the books written about songlines have been written by white people, and mainly white men. That is why we decided to write this book. That is why we decided to write this book. Often when we read about Yolnu, it is not from Yolnu people. The words are not chosen and controlled by us. They often leave things out of get things wrong. Sometimes we are offended by what other people write about us. We also find that most of what's written talks about men's knowledge and doesn't pay attention to or value women's knowledge and milkarri. So, we decided we would write this book ourselves as Yolnu women. We share songspirals and we ask that you treat them with respect. Respecting the knowledge means not writing about things you don't understand, not putting things into your own words. The words in this book are our knowledge, our property. You can talk about it, but don't think you can become the authority on it You can use our words for reflection. You can talk about your own experiences and think about how to take lessons from our book into your life. You need to honour the context of our songspirals, acknowledge the layers of our knowledge. You can talk about the very top layer but you need to be respectful and aware of the limits of what we are sharing and what you in turn can share."
- "Fishing and sitting and feeling the breeze are everyday things, but they are also sacred things, deep things, knowledgeable things, meaningful things. Sacred, yes, but not like a religion, not in a way that means they are more special or more linked to our creation and our being that anything else. Everything is sacred. We do not believe in this or that. We are those things. Songspirals are those things. Songspirals are life."
- "Without the songspirals we couldn't know Country. That's why ancestors gave us everything for our survival."
- "Everything communicates and comes through the songspirals. The sounds that human beings make in the songspirals are the sounds that animals make. The names of the animals are the sounds they make."
- "In the 1970s, the first legal case for land rights in Australia was heard when Roy and his brothers led the land rights case against the mining company Nabalco. This laid the ground work for future land rights cases and became part of the broader land rights struggle. It also led to the birth of the homelands movement, in which Aboriginal people moved away from missions and towns back to their Country."
- "All of us are always learning, learning together. Every day, anything can let you down. But if you have a mind that wants to learn, then you can overcome those obstacles. If you look after your mind you can solve problems and work things out to make your life the way you want it to be. There are always people who don't look at things our way. There are people who need to understand more, to be educated, to have a broad mind, to accept things as they are and to work their way around if they don't like it. A healthy person has a mind full of wonder. A mind full of wonder is wondrous and a wondrous mind learns so much more than a mind that is sick. A narrow-minded person is a sick person."
- "They try to make us feel poor. But we must remember and teach our children that we are not poor, we are rich. Every time we sing, we sing about the person's treasure and belonging with Country. Every individual is rich, they have their own wealth, through song, sacred objects, their land, in the sea and in the river. That is why every Yolnu is a rich Yolnu because he or she carries the land. And we are sacred."
- "Wititj, the Rainbow Serpent, claims the territory through singing. The land is sacred. There are many different territories, with many different tribes and clan lands. Wititj didn't claim it for the crown with a flag like the English. She san that Country, made it with her body. The snake casts out by singing, claims the territory as sacred, makes that area. She sing Country."
- "Down south, sometimes trees die as they have no one, no one to talk to them, to touch them."
- "With our songspirals the land renews itself, our songspirals are our land rights."
March 5, 2020
Longlisted for the Stella Prize, this groundbreaking book tells the living traditions of women’s songlines. It was written by five Yolngu women from far North Queensland, in collaboration with three non-Aboriginal women. It is an attempt to take some of the space that has so far been filled by men’s roles in the songlines tradition of oral culture. It was a challenging read as it presents information in a way that I was unfamiliar with and I felt ill-equipped to understand. But the more I read, the more I thought about all the ways in which white Australians maintain a cultural arrogance about our learning and knowing practices. This book was important to me as this year I am taking on the role of Aboriginal Education Coordinator at my school. It opened a door for me about how important it will be for me to seek to learn from my students about how to help them, rather than making assumptions based on my own engagement with the system. An intellectually challenging read, but an important one.
June 8, 2025
This was a very difficult read! I have learned that my napaki brain is so limited, but if I got 0.1%of this book, I am happy.
I can see how Laklak got her doctorate, to be honest these song spirals are beyond academic, if you look at them in the literal sense. How they weave each other! How everything connected is just freaking genius!!
This book is an experience in itself! To be a whale and a hunter? To sing and exist in all times: present, past, and future? I can only think that human development has been delayed by a million fold, when the colonizers crushed this visionary culture, preventing us from our first contact! Specially because unlike napaki, Yolņu are generous by nature, because of Bala ga’ lili.
Laklak is magical, not in the woo woo sense of magic, but in my sense of magic: we just don’t have the instruments to measure this knowledge yet. But I felt it. I felt my future self, understanding the life force and the connection with everything a little better. I think I caught a bit of the other layers of the knowledge.
Wow
I can see how Laklak got her doctorate, to be honest these song spirals are beyond academic, if you look at them in the literal sense. How they weave each other! How everything connected is just freaking genius!!
This book is an experience in itself! To be a whale and a hunter? To sing and exist in all times: present, past, and future? I can only think that human development has been delayed by a million fold, when the colonizers crushed this visionary culture, preventing us from our first contact! Specially because unlike napaki, Yolņu are generous by nature, because of Bala ga’ lili.
Laklak is magical, not in the woo woo sense of magic, but in my sense of magic: we just don’t have the instruments to measure this knowledge yet. But I felt it. I felt my future self, understanding the life force and the connection with everything a little better. I think I caught a bit of the other layers of the knowledge.
Wow
April 11, 2020
'We want you to come with us on our journey, our journey of songspirals. Songspirals are the essence of people in this land, the essence of every clan. We belong to the land and it belongs to us."
I don't think I could do justice to this book in a review, but I would like to express some quotes that impressed and inspired me whilst reading.
"The language of Songspirals is deep and complex, not the language of our every day but of ceremony." (P9)
"Songspirals are a university for us. They are a map of understandings." (p33)
"Every Yolnu is a singer, a painter, . . . a dancer, a song maker, a teacher, a peace-maker. Everything has to be about peace and harmony." (p49)
"Wind is the one that cleanses the footprints of the day. It smooths the sand for a new beginning and a new song tomorrow." (p282)
The book includes a glossary of Aboriginal words used and a detailed reference list and notes from the authors.
I don't think I could do justice to this book in a review, but I would like to express some quotes that impressed and inspired me whilst reading.
"The language of Songspirals is deep and complex, not the language of our every day but of ceremony." (P9)
"Songspirals are a university for us. They are a map of understandings." (p33)
"Every Yolnu is a singer, a painter, . . . a dancer, a song maker, a teacher, a peace-maker. Everything has to be about peace and harmony." (p49)
"Wind is the one that cleanses the footprints of the day. It smooths the sand for a new beginning and a new song tomorrow." (p282)
The book includes a glossary of Aboriginal words used and a detailed reference list and notes from the authors.
did-not-finish
February 28, 2020I have tried to read this astonishing work but I fear it's beyond my capabilities right now. I will come back to it eventually because I very much want to do it justice. I can't give it a star rating yet. What I can say is this: we desperately need books like this. Reconciliation is hard work. Telling the truth is hard work. Hearing, or reading, the truth of the First Australians' experience is challenging. The Yolngu people have a profoundly different way of being in the world and it was difficult for me to get my brain around the concepts in Songspirals. I really hope, though, that I can rise to the challenge. Finally, I am deeply thankful to the amazing women who created this book for their generosity in sharing their knowledge with the rest of the world.
August 23, 2020
There is so much wisdom in this book, so much to absorb, to try to understand and to think about. I thank the Gay’wu Group of Women for their teaching and their generosity.
https://denisenewtonwrites.com/?p=1443
Songspirals: Sharing women's wisdom of Country through songlines
Gay'wu Group of Women
https://denisenewtonwrites.com/?p=1443
Songspirals: Sharing women's wisdom of Country through songlines
Gay'wu Group of Women
January 5, 2020
A book about indigenous women’s practices of knowledge and spiritual life from Arnhem Land NT.
Not an easy read- spiraling though stories and names. Gives you a great sense of how human indigenous culture became throughly embedded into the ecosystem of Australia and its surrounding sea and islands.
Purchased this book at 2019 GARMA festival. I think my experience of the festival helped me find this book more accessible. My own Anglo / Celtic settler culture is so different that I had to take this book very slowly to gain some understanding.
Not an easy read- spiraling though stories and names. Gives you a great sense of how human indigenous culture became throughly embedded into the ecosystem of Australia and its surrounding sea and islands.
Purchased this book at 2019 GARMA festival. I think my experience of the festival helped me find this book more accessible. My own Anglo / Celtic settler culture is so different that I had to take this book very slowly to gain some understanding.
April 10, 2020
“Songspirals connect us through generations, to our knowledge, to those that have come before and those yet to emerge.”
I felt very privileged to have this special knowledge shared with me through Song Spirals by the Gay’Wu Group of Women. Although at times I did find the writing style challenging, and at times had to put the book down and simply digest, it was definitely a worthwhile read for anyone and everyone to better understand indigenous cultures, particularly that of First Australians.
I felt very privileged to have this special knowledge shared with me through Song Spirals by the Gay’Wu Group of Women. Although at times I did find the writing style challenging, and at times had to put the book down and simply digest, it was definitely a worthwhile read for anyone and everyone to better understand indigenous cultures, particularly that of First Australians.
April 11, 2024
Anyone interested in spiritualism would enjoy learning how the Gay'wu culture is not separated from the spirit world. It relays a strong connection to the deep past of millennia.
I gave only 4 stars because I found the writing to be overly repetitive. I had to skim read much of it. This style was deliberate because it mimicked the way the elders teach the younger generation, gradually building up layers of knowledge.
I gave only 4 stars because I found the writing to be overly repetitive. I had to skim read much of it. This style was deliberate because it mimicked the way the elders teach the younger generation, gradually building up layers of knowledge.
April 3, 2021
A book that increases our knowledge of the spiritual connections of Yolnu people , connection to country, to the past and the future. It does this through sharing 5 songspirals and allowing us to see their significance to the Yolnu. Unfortunately I just couldn't engage with the style of the writing and struggled to understand many of the concepts.
January 22, 2022
I can see the salt water carrying me, moving together with the current;
Carrying me further into the depths of the ocean, where the foundation of my bloodline lies.
Here my grandmother and I, together we paddle,
following the sea breeze, to finish our journey, across the calm, mercurial waters towards the horizon, our final destination.
Carrying me further into the depths of the ocean, where the foundation of my bloodline lies.
Here my grandmother and I, together we paddle,
following the sea breeze, to finish our journey, across the calm, mercurial waters towards the horizon, our final destination.
August 13, 2021
Wow. When I first picked up this book, I thought "wow", just what I want to read, right up my street. Got halfway through and thought "yeah,nah" a bit boring and repetitive. But then, I started reading more slowly, referred more to the glossary and got to the end, being totally amazed by the depth and connectedness of this book. Deceptively accessible language (also in Yolnu language), but as the generous sharing of knowledge builds through the book, I became aware of the depth and connectedness and the spiralling nature of the knowledge. The authors know many layers, and the knowledge in this book is just one layer. I liked that some of the papers they have written have Bawara country as the lead author. The women being the guides for the non-indigenous academics was refreshing. The knowledge is in the land. So not an easy read despite the accessible language, as the knowledge conveyed has a poetic quality , is one of the layers and benefits from slow deep reading.
May 28, 2023
Read this book slowly, and honestly? Read it twice.
Beautiful and mind-bending, this book made me tear up and cry more than once at the beauty of the song lines and all the emotion within them. I will be reading this book again.
Beautiful and mind-bending, this book made me tear up and cry more than once at the beauty of the song lines and all the emotion within them. I will be reading this book again.
March 12, 2024
The style of writing I just couldn’t get into; it felt repetitive and disjointed. Had it of been an audiobook it may have made more sense, but it felt like a conversation that continued looping back and restating what had already been said.
November 17, 2024
A rare gift given openly and lovingly to all who care to stop and listen. I learnt a lot and thought a lot. The language component made it difficult at times, and I wish I had noticed the glossary sooner!
May 8, 2021
Took me a while to get through but I learned so much through this book! Highly recommend for those wishing to learn Indigenous culture authentically.
April 24, 2022
How beautiful to be truly connected to everything. Thank you for sharing culture. I hope what I have learnt improves how I live as part of this world.
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