Milyakburra | "Amakalyuwakba Yirra-langwa Angalya"

Milyakburra – Amakalyuwakba Yirra-langwa Angalya

This song was written, rapped and sung by Warnumamalya who live in Milyakburra, Northern Territory. The song focuses on the island of Amakalyuwakba on which the community of Milyakburra is situated. The particular area that Milyakburra is situated on is owned by a Warnumamalya clan called Warningangkwurrakba. The English translation for the song title ‘Amakalyuwakba Yirra-langwa Angalya’ is ‘Amakalyuwakba is our country’. Warnumamalya still speak their ancestral language as their first language with English a second or third language. The language name is Anindilyakwa and this song is sung fully in Anindilyakwa.

There are 14 Warnumamalya clans who collectively own the archipelago of islands that includes Groote Eylandt. Many other clans also have traditional connections to this archipelago through ceremony and other traditional ties.

This song is one of three songs produced during a project initiated by the Anindilyakwa Land Council’s (ALC) Preservation of Culture department. In collaboration with Bush Fit Mob, Umbakumba School, Milyakburra School, Angurugu School and IHHP, Preservation of Culture ran a song-making project throughout October and November 2019. Three songs were composed in each of the communities of Angurugu, Umbakumba and Milyakburra. The focus of the project was engaging youth. The project married contemporary hip hop culture with the full range of expression that a first language permits. By using Anindilyakwa in this context, the singers accessed a form of expression uniquely their own, connecting their traditional identity with a global twenty-first century genre. Hip hop allows people from all over the world to connect with Anindilyakwa, for the first time hearing the true voice of young Warnumamalya. The experience has empowered the singers and has demonstrated the essential role that traditional language has to play in cultural wellbeing.

Some Anindilyakwa words that you see in the subtitles cannot be fully appreciated through their English translation but have additional layers of meaning that can only be expressed through the language of the culture from which they originate. Examples are:

Emeba – a traditional song that links places, people and spiritual beings that is owned by one or more affiliated clans.
Alukwanja – a traditional dance that connects particular clans with spiritual beings and stories that makes those beings manifest.
Amakalyuwakba – the name for the whole island that the community of Milyakburra is situated on. You will also hear the name pronounced and/or written as Amakalyakba.
Milyakburra – the name of the community that is on the island, Amakalyuwakba.
Enumurrumanja – a place on the island of Amakalyuwakba. The place is the traditional estate of the Warningawerrikba clan and reference to it celebrates clan identity.
Amamalya – a colloquial term short for amamalya ayakwa which Warnumamalya use to refer to their language, connoting the real or true speech.
Yarnumamalya – the same word as Warnumamalya but with a different prefix due to a difference in gender and person.