Larwari and Walkara

Duration: 0:43:57

Genre: Documentary | Educational | Ethnographic

Year Published: Cont

Creator: Indiana University. Audio-Visual Center: Distributor | University of California Extension Media Center: Distributor

Format: 16mm

Color: Color

Sound: sound

Description: Documents an Aboriginal rite performed in 1972 by men of the Walbiri tribe at two religious centers in the Northern Territory, Australia, associated with the myth of the Mamandabari sisters, two ancestral figures said to have been pursued and killed by dingoes. Shows the ritual dance-ground painting, the construction of the kumaku (a totemic effigy), and chanting and professional dancing at a sacred creek. Concludes with a re-enactment of the killing of the two sisters by the dogs. Records a ritual long neglected while depicting some of the problems facing contemporary Aborigines who wish to maintain their traditional customs and ceremonies.

Complete Record: , Documents an Aboriginal rite performed in 1972 by men of the Walbiri tribe at two religious centers in the Northern Territory, Australia, associated with the myth of the Mamandabari sisters, two ancestral figures said to have been pursued and killed by dingoes. Shows the ritual dance-ground painting, the construction of the kumaku (a totemic effigy), and chanting and professional dancing at a sacred creek. Concludes with a re-enactment of the killing of the two sisters by the dogs. Records a ritual long neglected while depicting some of the problems facing contemporary Aborigines who wish to maintain their traditional customs and ceremonies.NOTE: Two (or more) records have been merged together to create this data.