Statement

Songs, dances and ceremonial performances form the core of Yolŋu and other Indigenous cultures in Australia. It is through song, dance and associated ceremony that Indigenous people sustain their cultures and maintain the Law and a sense of self within the world.

Performance traditions are the foundation of social and personal wellbeing, and with the ever increasing loss of these traditions, the toll grows every year. The preservation of performance traditions is therefore one of the highest priorities for Indigenous people.

Indigenous songs should also be a deeply valued part of the Australian cultural heritage. They represent the great classical music of this land.

These ancient musical traditions were once everywhere in Australia, and now survive as living traditions only in several regions. Many of these are now in danger of being lost forever.

Indigenous performances are one of our most rich and beautiful forms of artistic expression, and yet they remain unheard and invisible within the national cultural heritage. Without immediate action many Indigenous music and dance traditions are in danger of extinction with potentially destructive consequences for the fabric of Indigenous society and culture.

The recording and documenting of the remaining traditions is a matter of the highest priority both for Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. Many of our foremost composers and singers have already passed away leaving little or no record.

The Symposium on Indigenous Performance proposes the following strategies to address this critical situation.

1. That the establishment of Indigenous Knowledge Centres with digital storage and retrieval systems be supported as a basis for the repatriation of sound and visual records to communities. Such records play an important role in the maintenance and protection of tradition. Research should be conducted into the most culturally appropriate ways of storing and retrieving knowledge from computers. It is acknowledged that different communities may ultimately adopt different storage and delivery systems, and that there should be regular meetings to explore the success or failure of different strategies.

2. That a National Recording Project for Indigenous Performance in Australia be established to ensure that the songs of as many singers as possible are held for future generations. This project will be conducted under Indigenous control with an advisory board of senior men and women from a broad range of communities guiding its priorities and strategies.

3. That the recording and repatriation of songs to local Indigenous Knowledge Centres be supported by universities and other institutions to assist Indigenous communities to integrate their cultural knowledge to a broad range of community activities such as education, bilingual and health programs, and that the performance of ceremony be encouraged through its incorporation into community governance.

4. That well documented recordings of Indigenous song be published in order to educate the broader Australian public and international audiences about Aboriginal performance traditions. The production of both the recordings and documentation should be based on broad consultation with learned senior men and women who would control access to sacred knowledge in song texts. Other forms of production, including multimedia and web based forms should also be explored.

Resolution

The Symposium on Indigenous Music and Dance calls on the Australian Government to support and sustain Indigenous performance traditions through the establishment of Indigenous Knowledge Centres, and a ‘National Recording Project for Indigenous Performance in Australia’ as a National Research Priority.

The Symposium resolves to pursue funding from the Australian Research Council, and government and industry sectors. Individual participants have resolved to request that governments, universities, industry and philanthropy acknowledge and respond to this urgent need.