The remote community of Jarlmadangah has hosted one of Australia’s biggest Indigenous traditional celebrations, the Kimberley Aboriginal Law and Culture Centre Festival in recent days.
The Grant Ranges form the striking backdrop to Jarlmadangah community, about 80 kilometres south-east of Derby in the West Kimberley. (25/9/14) (ABC Local: Ben Collins)
Excited kids painted and ready to dance at the celebration at Jarlmadangah in the West Kimberley. (25/9/10) (ABC Local: Ben Collins)
The story of two mystical beings is told through dance. (25/9/14) (ABC Local: Ben Collins)
The audience were as passionate as the dancers. (25/9/14) (ABC Local: Ben Collins)
Gooniyandi dancers performing traditional stories. (25/9/14) (ABC Local: Ben Collins)
Kimberley state member of parliament, Josie Farrer, backstage with family. (25/9/14) (ABC Local: Ben Collins)
The Jarlmadangah dancers raise the dust. (25/9/14) (ABC Local: Ben Collins)
Kids performed front and centre at the Kimberley Aboriginal Law and Culture Centre Festival at Jarlmadangah in the West Kimberley. (25/9/14) (ABC Local: Ben Collins)
Aboriginal elders passed on cultural knowledge. (25/9/14) (ABC Local: Ben Collins)
Smart phones were busy recording the traditional culture. (25/9/14) (ABC Local: Ben Collins)
People from across the Kimberley gather at Jarlmadangah for the Kimberley Aboriginal Law and Culture Centre Festival. (25/9/14) (ABC Local: Ben Collins)
It’s a legendary event where hundreds of Aboriginal people come together from across the region’s 30 language groups to take care of business.
During the day, it’s the business of three of the region’s biggest organisations: the Kimberley Aboriginal Law and Culture Centre (KALACC), the Kimberley Language Resource Centre, and the Kimberley Land Council. By night, it’s the cultural business of performing traditional dances, passing the culture to the next generation, and conducting welcoming rituals between different language groups.
That language, culture, and country are fundamental to Aboriginal identity is a unifying belief for the vast majority of people gathering for the KALACC 2014 festival.
Preserving culture, maintaining traditional languages, and native title issues are leading topics of discussion. But the chief concern this year focussed on changes planned for the Aboriginal Heritage Act and fears that this will reduce the protection of important sites.
ABC Kimberley was invited to the final day and night of KALACC 2014 to produce television, radio, and this online photo gallery of the evening’s traditional dancing.
- This article originally appears at:
- http://www.abc.net.au/local/photos/2014/09/30/4097603.htm
- Article taken from the following publication:
- ABC Kimberley
- Article submitted by:
- Author:
- Ben Collins
