Performing Purlapa: Projecting Warlpiri Identity in a Globalised World

Abstract

Performances of Aboriginal musical traditions have become widespread in various national and international spaces and are key ways in which Aboriginal people from distinct regions project their specific identities to a broader world. Warlpiri people, from the remote settlement of Yuendumu in the Tanami desert of Australia, have in the last few decades increasingly gained interest in performing their ceremonial songs and dances in intercultural spaces and to audiences with little understanding of the religious importance. Against a historical backdrop of settlement history and the shifts that have occurred to public ceremonial forms during this period (Dussart 2004), we analyse a recent performance of a purlapa at the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra. We suggest that Warlpiri people are using these performance opportunities to engage a broader world in specific aspects of their identities—being recognised as global citizens—whilst also maintaining important links to their specific cultural heritage.