Songs

This site holds songs in Noongar language, some newly composed and some that are versions of important old songs from the south coast region of Western Australia between just east of Esperance and Cape Riche. The songs, along with the stories and other material on this site, are part of cultural work undertaken by Wirlomin Noongar Language and Stories since around 2000. As such they originate in the environment and experience of generations of south coast Noongar people.

Song has long been an important component of Noongar performance, play and spiritual replenishment. Certain songs may well be intended for a restricted audience, but the songs we are sharing have been enjoyed by Noongar men, women and children as part of maintaining and strengthening connections between ourselves and our ancestral Country.

Most of these songs have been inspired by recordings from around 1970 to 2016 of Lomas Roberts, Hazel Brown, Charlie Dabb, Sam Dabb, Albert Knapp, Russell Nelly and others. All these individuals learned versions of the songs from their Elders, but it was Lomas Roberts and Hazel Brown who initiated our song recovery efforts with their considered and deliberate sharing of Noongar songs they had retained. Then, in the early part of the twenty-first century, members of the Wirlomin family and other south coast Noongar began meeting to share, consolidate and enhance this material. In addition to recordings of people named above, people sometimes brought along examples they had themselves made or been given.

A major participant of the workshops was Gaye Roberts, daughter of Lomas Roberts. Gaye had not heard her father sing these songs when he was alive. Lomas Roberts’ testimony about Noongar language and culture contributed to Noongar claimants winning the first and only successful Native title claim over metropolitan lands in Australia in 2006. The involvement of Gaye’s first cousins Aubrey Roberts, Jason Miniter and Olivia Roberts was very important to our song recovery efforts. The generosity and inclusive spirit of Henry and Annie Dabb was also crucial to our workshops. Their father, Sam, and Uncle Charlie’s songs were recorded by C. G. von Brandenstein around 1970. No longer with us, both men are described by Henry and Annie as being reclusive and generous, with extensive knowledge of Noongar language and culture. In 2014, after becoming a member of our Cultural Elders Reference Group, Albert Knapp asked Kim Scott to record his songs. He wanted to make a contribution to Wirlomin in reconnecting stories and songs to Country. Other leaders in our workshops have been Darryl Williams, Iris Woods, Boyd Stokes and Boydan Coyne.

Song workshops were a particular focus in 2017-2019 when now Professor C. Bracknell collaborated with Wirlomin Noongar Language and Stories on his Australian Research Council project ‘Preserving Aboriginal language through song archives.

It is important to realise that until relatively recently people were discouraged from singing these songs, and to do so was often to risk punishment and shame. Henry Dabb has said of his uncle and father that he only “used to hear them singing when they feel free, you know”.  Kim Scott reports hearing Lomas Roberts alternating between singing (and whistling) his Noongar song repertoire and various Country and Western standards as they drove through the Great Southern together, but he very rarely sang them in public. Albert Knapp is on record as saying that he wanted Wirlomin to have the songs he learned from his grandfather rather than “taking them to his grave”. Russell Nelly was initially very quiet, but surprised the group late in his life by offering Noongar songs he’d learned from community people outside of Noongar country. Gaye Roberts says that her dad “would’ve been proud of what we’re doing, bringing the songs back to life and getting them out there for everybody to learn”.

Two songs that we have performed extensively and were composed in our workshops are:

Wirlo Kaya (coming soon)

Kaat Koort Kwon (coming soon)

The remaining songs currently on the website in the Members Only section are:

Baboor

Boon Boon Boon

Dwoorta

Koorli

Ngari

Djen Djen Djen

These are currently only available to Wirlomin members, who may choose to share them with a wider listening audience in ways that they deem appropriate.