Eagle Dreaming
Location: Moulamain, NSW April 2018. Snake Well, NT Oct-Nov 2019
Participating communities: Wemba Wemba (Mallee Region, NSW), Walpieri (NT), Barkingi (NSW)
Participating artists: Hazel Davies, Jason Freddi, Mercedes Zanker, Ned Hargraves
The Traditional -
This project saw traditional song holders for Northern Arrernte and Walpieri share a public performance for non-initiated people which involved in part participation by non-indigenous.
With the support of Dreaming Australia and including international participants, we were able to transport, feed and house extended family and skin groups during a three day event at Snake Well community north of Alice Springs. It was an occasion involving over 80 family members and an opportunity for a number of young men to reconnect with elders of their tribe in a cultural context.
The Modern - induction of a group of non-indigenous into the original song and dance.
A variation on this sacred dance was taken on the road to the East coast arts and cultural festival ‘Confest’ by Walpieri lore man Japajinba Ned Hargraves. At this week long event for 8,000 people, the song man from Central Australia prepared an eagle dreaming with non-indigenous participants in traditional form.
Dreaming Australia raised funds with assistance of Down-to-Earth to travel traditional women elders from New South Wales Barkingi tribe to share their song and dance with a large circle of multicultural women at this same event. Around 100 women participated in learning and presenting this dance over three days.
Create the Contemporary -
We next prepared a dramatisation of a contemporary eagle dreaming story incorporating elements of the traditional dreaming story.
The project was initiated by Canberra florist, Hazel Davies. Ms Davies experienced a vision in which the figure of the wedgetail eagle and tribal youths intersect upon a transformational story of the desert pea deriving from her own settler origins. Her subsequent journey of discovery connected her with Dreaming Australia and with a number of desert elders
Ms Davies’ Dream Vision was transcribed, choregraphed and a full size body mask wedge tail eagle was created with flying apparatus. The resulting performance was presented before 800 people in an open bush auditorium at Confest created for the purpose. An important part of the process was discussing the work with story holders for the wedgetail eagle and the desert pea - both stories extend across Australia.
