Tennant Creek – Sacred Dances
Clip 1: Strong spirit
2 min 16 sec
Taken from the documentary Tennant Creek – Sacred Dances (1999)
Original title classification not known – this clip chosen to be PG
Availability of the complete title
Please be aware that this clip may contain the names, images and voices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who may now be deceased.
Curator’s clip description
Over shots of landscape, an elder named Napanangka tells us about Moonga Moonga, a strong spirit who makes children from other cultures sick, and that ‘he is bad and cheeky to people from other countries’. In order to sing these songs, the elders tell us that they must be good.
Curator’s notes
Elder Napanangka tells us about the songs and dances of this particular country. We begin to get an understanding that this land is alive and requires management through dances and songs. When Napanangka tells us that people from ‘other countries’ might get sick, she is referring to anyone who is not from this place.
Romaine Moreton, curator
