For the Sake of a Song

Wangga , originating in the Daly region of Australia's Top End, is one of the most prominent Indigenous genres of public dance-songs. This book is organised around six repertories: four from the Belyuen-based songmen Barrtjap, Muluk, Mandji and Lambudju, and two from the Wadeye-based Walakandha and Ma-yawa wangga groups, the repertories being named after the ancestral song-giving ghosts of the Marri Tjavin and Marri Ammu people respectively. Framing chapters include discussion of the genre's soc