Didgeridoo Sacred Origins

"We go along, making country...
Going there, to where the white clouds are rising, our hips swaying...
Step by step, we sing as we go, making the country...
Shall we sit here? Shall we erect our shade here?" - Translation of a sacred song from north-east Arnhem Land, Yolngu language group.

Where did the didgeridoo come from? How did it first come into this world? Who were the first people who made and played it?

Aboriginal people in Arnhem Land, in Australia's remote Northern Territory, are recognised as the traditional owners or custodians of the didgeridoo. To the Yolngu people, for instance, there is a body of knowledge relating to the origins of the instrument that stretch far back into the 'Dreamtime' - when the world was first created. In this part of the world there exists deep sacred knowledge that is closely guarded by elders and by those who are vested with the authority to protect and maintain the religious life of the people.

Djalu Gurruwiwi, a senior member of the Galpu clan, is one such person. Djalu is fond of reminding didgeridoo players throughout the world of the special place the didgeridoo has in his culture. The didgeridoo is a totem, a symbol of identity and authority, and a musical instrument. In public ceremonies, the didgeridoo is played to accompany singing and the pattern of clapstick beats particular to each clan. In some secret ceremonies, a different sort of didgeridoo is brought out... only initiated men may view this special instrument and its inner secrets are only known by the most senior elders vested with maintaining the law. Transgression of the law carries serious penalties including death by sorcery.

When the Ancestral Beings created the land, animals, plants and all other life forms, they also laid down a set of rules and regulations so that human beings could live within a system of law. The didgeridoo and its origins are part of this law... in this sense, the didgeridoo and its associated mythologies are the foundation blocks for life itself because the didgeridoo and its inner manifestations have their roots in Creation Stories much like the Book of Genesis in the Bible.

Djalu is fond of saying that a didgeridoo made by a traditional owner or custodian has spirit. The spirit is in the instrument itself, a genealogy dating back to the first didgeridoo. An instrument made by a non-Indigenous person, on the other hand, has no spirit but is merely a musical instrument like a trumpet or a trombone. The same applies to didgeridoos made by Aboriginal people who do not have the instrument as part of their cultural heritage.