Songline Signifigance
Guru-Gulu people of Gungganji Country, Yarrabah
The beaches and mountains surrounding Yarrabah, east of Cairns, are filled with stories and songs that tell Elverina Johnson who her ancestors were.
"This whole land, if you wanted to call it that way, is our cultural storybook," Ms Johnson said.
"But it's not made up, it's not sci-fi. It's not anything unrealistic because there are footprints that we see every day that tell us about our ancestors."
Ms Johnson is a descendant of King Menmuny, and the songlines passed down to her tell a rich story about who he was.
"We know what kind of character he had. We know he was a very strong, staunch leader and he was a man who really stood up for his community," she said.
But songlines also tell the story of country, and the ocean between Yarrabah and Green Island tell the people of the community what they must teach their children.
"Our history says Green Island was a men's business area, so that whole area, especially around Green Island, is sacred to our men," Ms Johnson said.
Ewamian people, Gulf Savannah
David Hudson is traditionally a freshwater Bama person, whose home lands are flat, low lands and the savannah country to the west of the Great Dividing Range in north Queensland. (ABC Far North: Mark Rigby)
Although he was born and raised in Cairns, David Hudson feels a strong affinity with the country, language and culture of his ancestors, the Ewamian People of far north Queensland.
"I was raised amongst the reef and the rainforest, but traditionally I'm a freshwater Bama person," Mr Hudson said.
"As soon as I go on the other side of the [Great Dividing] Range towards the flat, low lands and the savannah country, I know that I'm back in my home lands again."
While far north Queensland's coast and savannah plains are in many respects two separate worlds, the songlines of Mr Hudson's ancestors have carried many of the aspects of his culture across the vast distance.
"Our language groups are all connected because those songlines weave across the country," Mr Hudson said.
"And we all have our own different stories; if you come from the desert it could be the caterpillar story. If you come from this neck of the woods it's Kurriyala the rainbow serpent.
"Growing up, we all knew the colourful rainbow serpent created all the mountains and paths where the waters flow through from the west down the Barron River and out to the coast."
Gurindji people, Kalkarindji and Daguragu
Selma Smiler's ancestors were the forefathers of the Aboriginal land rights movement at a time when they struggled to retain their cultural identity.
Ms Smiler's great grandfather Vincent Lingiari is a well-known man who led the Wave Hill walk-off in protest of the harsh working conditions on the cattle station 50 years ago.
The Wajarra songs tell stories about the lives of Gurindji people who lived and worked on Wave Hill Station.
"The Wajarra, it belongs to my grandfather Smiler Kada. They use it every Freedom Day Festival at the river to do the dances. It's his song," Ms Smiler said.
A ceremonial life like no other thrived on the station, and the Wajarra songs were a part of cultural life.
The annual Freedom Day Festival celebrates the walk-off, and the songs are performed every year.
"It's about a man coming up with a spear," Ms Smiler said.
Kalkarindji elders such as Topsy Dodd Ngarnja learnt the Wajarra on the cattle station as children.
"All the girls and all the boys [learn it]. Men have to teach it to boys and we do it for girls ... women's ceremony, you know?" she said.
"When the old people pass away they've got to take over from us."
Port Macquarie, New South Wales
Steven Donovan uses dance as a way to connect to the country. (Supplied: Cass Sutton)
Steven Donovan has been on a quest to reconnect with Aboriginal culture.
Born and raised in Port Macquarie by a non-Indigenous family, Mr Donovan, of Biripai and Dunghutti descent, created an Aboriginal dance troupe and developed his own dances based on the local wildlife that inspired him.
"I had no culture growing up, but I knew where I came from and who was my Indigenous family," he said.
"I was first introduced to Indigenous music through my cousin playing the didge, and I picked up the instrument and connected with the music and the culture straight away.
"Having been in trouble [as a youth], I knew how to speak with other young kids who had lost their connection to country, and developed a series of dances based on today's dreaming.
"Songlines are our connection to our ancestors, and I use dance as a way to connect to the country."
Mr Donovan hosts workshops at schools, and said he noticed the change that came over Aboriginal kids when they started to learn to dance.
"They start to understand what it means to be an Aboriginal person. It changed my life," he said.
Songlines lost after settlement
Rhonda Radley is a Birrbay and Dhanggati woman who grew up near Port Macquarie. (Supplied: Rhonda Radley)
A lot of songlines stories from the Mid North Coast of New South Wales have been lost because of European settlement.
Rhonda Radley is a Birrbay and Dhanggati woman who grew up near Port Macquarie.
She helped establish the Djiyagan Dhanbann, or Strong Sister Movement, which encourages Aboriginal women to grow and develop their cultural connections through language and dance.
Ms Radley said due to European contact, her ancestors were moved off their land and into reserves.
They were encouraged to speak English and lost a lot of their culture.
"As a result, a lot of the songlines stories were lost," Ms Radley said.
"However, as I see it, the songlines are a map of our country. You sing up the land and it guides you as you walk through our country."
Ms Radley said part of the work she was doing was encouraging a reconnection to language and culture.
"The land holds the language, and I know when I speak the language as I walk through country, I feel there is an opportunity to learn the songlines," she said.
Songs provide healing
Arlene McInherny, of the Biripai nation, grew up near the Hastings River at Port Macquarie and was surrounded by a large family that shared elements of culture at regular camping trips to Point Plomer.
Photo: Arlene McInherny says songlines connect her to culture. (Supplied: Arlene McInherny)
Her mother, who is a language teacher of the local Gathang language, began a journey that has seen Ms McInherny pursue with a passion the goal of reviving the language for the next generation.
"Songlines are the seed of culture. It connects me to everything," she said.
"When the creator was making the land, he laid down a huge map, which is the songlines, and it is the vibration of that land, and it depicted what animals we had and what language sounded like.
"So for me, the songlines is the root of language. It is the root of our stories and the root of all our culture.
"When I first heard the language it was like a forgotten song which was returning to me. It was a very healing experience."
Songlines tell the story of land and language
Uncle Bill O'Brien chairs the local Biripai Land Council. (ABC Mid North Coast: Cameron Marshall)
Uncle Bill O'Brien grew up near the ocean at Port Macquarie on the Mid North Coast, and his ancestors are from Biripai Country.
After a career as a professional jockey, Uncle Bill devotes his time to sharing Aboriginal culture, and chairs the local Biripai Land Council.
"Songlines are very important to Aboriginal people," he said.
"The songlines were used when people moved between country, and these songs tell the story of the land and the language.
"We lost a lot of our songlines due to European disturbance of our traditional lands.
"Port Macquarie was a penal settlement, so the break from our traditional past happened back in the 1820s.
"If you listen to the elders as I have done, you will learn the knowledge and understand the importance of the songlines."
Muswellbrook, Hunter Valley
Noel Downs says the mountains that surround Muswellbrook form an important part of many songlines. (Supplied: Noel Downs)
This year's NAIDOC Week theme of Songlines is one close to Noel Downs's heart.
Mr Downs is the Wanaruah Aboriginal Land Council chief executive in Muswellbrook in the NSW Hunter Valley.
The mountains that surround the town form an important part of many songlines that were used to help travellers navigate to places as far away as Adelaide.
One of the most recognisable landmarks is Mt Arthur, 4 kilometres south of the town.
Mr Downs said the site, which was also the scene of a massacre, was particularly significant to travellers.
"Once you reached Mt Arthur you had the option of going out towards Moonan Flat and out over the Barringtons to the New England Tablelands, or you could go down the valley to Singleton," he said.
"You could branch to Mt Olive and then to the Mid North Coast, or you could continue down the valley to what we call Newcastle these days."
Today, Mt Arthur looks quite different to how it would have appeared before white settlers arrived.
Transmission towers sit on top of the majestic slope, and one of the largest open-cut coal mines in the Hunter Valley sits at its base.
Mr Downs said the songline remained intact, despite the development.
"Ploughing through an area that is sacred may be desecration, but it doesn't necessarily destroy the landscape," Mr Downs said.
"And the landscape is where the story is. If you destroy a landscape, you're tearing out a page of the history book for all Aboriginal people."
Nukunu people, Port Pirie
Michael Turner says Urumbulla is a significant storyline for the Nukunu people. (ABC North & West: Michael Dulaney)
Michael Turner is the Nukunu people's chairman.
He lives in Port Germein in South Australia and is passionate about preserving Nukunu history and the language.
"My daughter was asked to paint a design that was significant to the Nukunu people and she came to me to ask for guidance," he said.
"We sat and we talked with her for a while — me, my brother, my sister and a few others, and we talked about Urumbulla."
Mr Turner said Urumbulla was a significant storyline for the Nukunu people.
It is one of the longest storylines and runs from Port Augusta right through to the Cape of Carpentaria.
"Prior to the hospital being built at Port Augusta, there was a very large tree there and this tree actually captured some of the main stories," he said.
Mr Turner said the spirits of the tree were the protectors of the seven sisters, the Umawara lake and the region around Port Augusta.
"It was actually protected by the people of Amorte and that was the Cab people and the Cab dreaming," he said.
Nyamal people, Pilbara region
Alice Mitchell is a Nyamal elder who remembers and can sing the original train song recorded in 1964. (ABC Open: Susan Standen)
Songlines are still being created today, including the contemporary train song in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.
Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island Studies (AIATSIS) historian Mary Anne Jebb said songs like the train song were everyday, or japi, songs, created by one person and sung solo without dancers.
She said they were not considered sacred or secret, and were a bit different to what people often called songlines.
"The Spinifex Express train song follows the waterholes on the track from Port Hedland to Marble Bar and creates something like a songline across the country," Ms Jebb said.
"Japi songs connect with traditional songlines in many ways.
"They are not talked about as having been dreamed like some songlines.
"They are talked about as being created by one person, the composer. The composer thinks and then sings."
Ms Jebb said for dreamed songs, the composer was connecting with creation spirits and the spirit of the country that gave the singer a dream.
Photo: Bruce Thomas is a Nyamal elder who can sing the original train song. (ABC Open: Susan Standen)
"That dreamed song then gets handed on for generations and will make sure the country stays alive and well," she said.
"For Japi songs like the Spinifex Express train song, the composer creates a song to share an experience like the train ride, and in the case of the train song, to journey through country from waterhole to waterhole, and named places.
"Many songlines that are dreamed work this way too, to pass on knowledge of places and journeying through country."
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