Songlines - Manikays 

Manikay Ownership

Each Aboriginal person in North Central Arnhem Land is born into a particular named patriclan, the same one as his or her father. Each clan, together sometimes with one or two others, owns an estate of land within Arnhem Land, where the members may reside some or all of the time. It is by no means necessary to live on one's own estate permanently, nor is it usual to do so, yet clan members are deeply attached to their country, particularly through belief in the power of certain totemic beings (wangarr) who created their estates or gave shape to prominent features of them in the Dreamtime. Thus certain mud flats, sand dunes, patches of monsoonal forest and so forth are thought to have been created by the wangarr. Some of these creator beings are celebrated in manikay songs; However, the manikay also celebrate other spirit beings, who may not have had a creative role in forming the landscape of the owners' estates, but who are, nevertheless, closely associated with them.
Each clan belongs to a consortium of clans who are the joint owners of a manikay song and also share affiliation with the manikay wangarr that the songs celebrate. Consequently the joint owners of a song series share a common mythology which can be expressed in song, in dance and painting. The estates of joint owners are not clustered in the same place but stretch across the landscape, thus linking the clans along a common mythological track. Another more general bond between the owning clans of manikay is that they all belong to the same moiety, the world for an Arnhem Lander being divided into two halves or moieties, one named Duwa, the other Yiritja. Spirit beings, the world of nature and human society are all divided by moiety, so that Duwa clans own Duwa songs which tell of Duwa totems, and the same is true for the Yiritja half of the world. Murrungun is a Duwa manikay.

In North Central Arnhem Land there are many more manikay song owners than there are singers. Although Murrungun manikay belongs to every member of the owning patriclans, men, women and children, all women are disqualified from singing by convention and, from among the owning men, there usually emerge only a few individuals who become recognised singers. A number of factors influence their self-selection, among which are the aspiring singer's kinship with an acknowledged older performer, or close ritual and political links between two clans, and individual talent, both as a performer and as an expert in ritual procedure.

Manikay structure and composition

Named manikay, like Murrungun manikay, comprise a set or series of song subjects which are linked together mythologically and by association with the estates of the clans who own them. The songs all celebrate totemic beings called wangarr and their texts provide epitomes of these supernatural forces, which also have a naturalistic everyday aspect. Among the subjects of Murrungun manikay are various birds, fish, and other animals, a few vegetable foods, human artefacts and natural phenomena; for example ibis, pelican, butterfly, yam species, spear and fire. Every manikay song series has a different set of wangarr subjects and the man who have a right to sing them may perform a particular arrangement of songs from the set, depending on the performance occasion in question. They would be unlikely to sing verses of the whole set on any one occasion; rather, following general principles of arrangement or answering the requirements of ritual convention, they choose a particular sequence of subjects for a particular occasion. Their normal practice is to begin with one subject, sing several verses of that and then move to another. Singers usually perform solo or in pairs or small groups. They provide their own rhythmical accompaniment with a pair of hardwood clapstick (Bilma). Another man provides a drone alternating with a series of hoots on the didjeridu (Wuyumbal).

The ritual use of Manikay

It is not enough for a singer of Murrungun manikay or any other manikay to 'have a big head' for songs and invocations. He must also know how and in what circumstances to use them. This means that he must understand and remember the forms of a number of different rituals for which manikay are the main liturgical accompaniments. These are circumcision or 'young man' ceremonies; rom - exchange ceremonies of a diplomatic kind; and mortuary rites, which take place in well-defined order.



Bibliography
Goyulan - The Morning Star
An Aboriginal Clan Song Series from North Central Arnhem Land
Margaret Clunies Ross and Johnny Mundrugmundrug
Aboriginal Studies Press
Camberra 1988