SINGING ONE’S STORY Keeping Custom and Country in Westwind: Djalu’s Legacy
‘An ancient story was handed down to me. This is the truth. When you feel it sinking into you, then you will know.’
A Yolngu senior law man and father, Djalu Gurruwiwi is one of the last living leaders of his people’s country in the Northern Territory. His words open Westwind: Djalu’s Legacy (2017) – by director/co-writer/co-producer Ben Strunin – in subtitles as lightning cracks over blue storm clouds in fast motion. A master yidaki (didjeridu) player, Djalu is not just a songman but a custodian of the Galpu clan’s songlines. He knows his time in this world is almost up, however, and his son Larry Larrtjanŋa Gurruwiwi and the youth of their community have not yet worked out how to sustain their culture and country.
A production for the Melbourne International Film Festival Premiere Fund and NITV, Westwind is the story of how an Indigenous elder united with a global pop star – Australian Wally De Backer, better known as Gotye – to save an ancient culture, culminating with a performance by his son’s band, Bärra West Wind, at the festival WOMADelaide in 2015. Beyond that, the documentary offers a lesson in the tradition of songlines for a broader, non-Indigenous audience unacquainted with Aboriginal law, and a lucid vision of how Indigenous cultures are engaging new technologies to ensure their survival today.
Nobody really knows how old Djalu is; he
