Night Herding Song
The cattle stations were highly dependent on their Aboriginal labour force. Aboriginal people with no prior experience proved themselves to be highly skilled in working with horses and cattle. Their knowledge of their traditional lands was invaluable. This is the world Yidumduma grew up in. He was breaking in horses at 7 years of age. Here are the Wardaman Warranggin songs he sang to keep the cattle happy at night while droving cattle great distances.
The Wardaman fought a legal battle over many years and won part of their traditional lands back in the early 90’s. In 2000 they re-settled back in old Innesvale Station, now Menngen Aboriginal Land Trust where Bill and his family live and run the cattle station.
Current Research: The Wanji-wanji Story Project
Since YDP published this song recording in 2008, we have been contacted and informed by language Professor and Researcher Dr. Myf Turpin that Bill here is singing a version of a Wanji-wanji song that has been sung across outback Aboriginal Australia for 150 years. Bill says this song was popular everywhere as he was growing up and working on the cattle stations. This is such exciting research that links Aboriginal people across the continent and “attests to the universal power of music.”
Australia’s Smash Hit That Went Viral
“The earliest written record of Wanji-wanji was made in 1913 at Eucla by ethnographer Daisy Bates who wrote that Tharnduriri, a 70 year old Aboriginal man, recalled it from his childhood at Uluru in the 1850s. Bates transcribed the song with the following refrain:
Warri wan-gan-ye
Koogunarri wanji-wanji
Warri wan-gan-ye
The Gurindji people of the Victoria River region in the Northern Territory continue to sing Wanji-wanji today, although they refer to it as “Laka”. The Gurindji learnt it from Yawulyurru Tjapangarti, a Pintupi songman. Despite the fact that the song wasn’t in their language, the Gurindji rendition of the refrain is almost identical to Bates’ notation 100 years and 2000 kilometres later:
Warriwan kanya
Kakanala wanji-wanji wanpanarra
Warriwan kanya”
