This is the music and language of the Djabugay people, an Australian Aboriginal tribe.
The Djabugay are a group of Australian Aboriginal people who are the original inhabitants of mountains, gorges, land and waters of a richly forested part of the wet tropics of Queensland including the famous Barron Gorge and its surrounding areas. The melody you heard in the background are the haunting sounds of the didgeridoo – a long hollow wooden tub like structure that you blow into. Trust me, it is much more complicated than it sounds but the music or tones are so melodious and soothing.Dja-bu-guy (also known as Tjapukai) is the name of the tribe of Aboriginals who live in the Kuranda region in Queensland in Australia. The present Kuranda Village was called Ngunbay or the place of platypus which is a semiaquatic egg-laying mammal native to eastern Australia. The Kuranda region was once an important camping area with good fishing and hunting for locals tribe. In those early years, Kuranda was a farming area producing mainly timber, dairy cattle and coffee. The village has evolved a lot since then and today, it’s a vibrant little community in the rainforest enjoyed by locals and visitors alike.
But like many native cultures around the world a lot happened when colonization spread. Much of the original culture and heritage of these tribes were destroyed or lost. People were killed, whole communities obliterated and their way of life threatened. A similar story happened to many of Australia’s aboriginal tribes. Yet over time a different kind of movement started to emerge. A movement to document, preserve and promote the indigenous way of life – the aboriginal culture, history, art, dance and lifestyle – not just for their dependents but also for others now living in many of the colonized states.
So I welcome you to listen and appreciate the music, the dance and storytelling culture of the Djabugay people – one of Eastern Australia’s aboriginal tribes – on this episode of CulturallyOurs.
Clip of Djabugay performance at their Tjabagai center in Cairns Australia (a must see when you go explore the Great Barrier Reef).
Clip of a Didgeridoo performance by the Djabugay people
Nice to know about the original tribes of australia and their vibrant culture. We hear so less about them. I’ve huge respect for them.
I would have loved to have been able to attend a cultural Aboriginal show when I was in Australia. I thought I’d find one in Darwin but was told they were not celebrated and then in Adelaide, I asked where I could go to experience the culture and was told the nearest thing I would get to Aboriginal culture would be in the museum and so I took myself off there to learn more. I was quite shocked that unlike the Maori’s in NZ who are respected and celebrated it seemed the Aboriginies are ignored.