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Singing The Landscape
Topic: Songlines
by Emilie, 2019 Cohort
The Seven Sisters is a constellation with stories appearing in cultures from the Ancient Greeks to Chinese to Native Americans to Indigenous Australia. All versions tell of seven sisters being chased by a man- a remarkable feat given the diversity of
In Indigenous Australian culture, the narrative follows the Seven Sisters as they flee east across the Australian continent from an evil shape-shifter (Yurla) and escape into the night sky. The story traverses three deserts and countless language groups and countries. It is often compared to the Odyssey and other epics due to its scale and universality. The story is carried by the Martu, the Anangu, Pitjantjatjara, Yankunytjatjara and Ngannyatjarra people.
However, the Seven Sisters is more than just a story, it is a Songline, an invisible pathway across the landscape held in the collective memory of generations of Indigenous Australians.
Songlines extend beyond language groups, linking community groups and the Dreamtime. The Dreamtime is a creation myth at the heart of all Songlines. It is believed that the Rainbow Serpent created everything in the Dreamtime, singing the names of plants and animals in the first Songline.
Indigenous Australians, as well as other indigenous cultures around the world, rely on forms of communication such as dance, narrative, painting, and song. Songlines are used to store and share generations worth of knowledge without the written word. By crafting narratives, the information is easier to remember and pass on.
Embedded within Songlines is all the information needed to survive on the land and to participate in society. The catalogue of information is vast, plants, animals, sources of water, Dreamtime stories, social structures, morals, as well as paths across the country. In Songlines, even the changing of the landscape is recorded over thousands of years.
Songlines are complex systems, meeting criteria such as complex collective behaviour (no central control), signalling (communication between parts) and information processing and adaptation (integration of new information)- not that these markers are needed to believe they are
Attempting to describe what Songlines are and their purpose is a complex task as there are no simple analogies. Are they an encyclopedia of living things? Are they travel directions? Are they highly spiritual, describing creation myths and rituals? Are they held by multiple cultures and languages? Are they art? Narrative? Histories? Genealogies? Philosophies? The answer to all previous questions is yes, and still, these descriptions are not all-inclusive.
In cultures where the written word is the primary way to store and share information, nursery rhymes and mnemonics are close (but weak) parallels to Songlines. The written word is the greatest barrier to comprehending and using Songlines to understand complexity. It is impossible to fully appreciate and know the roles that Songlines play in Indigenous Australians lives as an outsider to those communities.
What can be understood is that Songlines are a way of unravelling complexity and represent a system that has worked for thousands of years and are still sung today, even in the face of invasion and systematic erasure.
Photo by DAVID ILIFF. License: CC-BY-SA 3.0
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This content has been contributed by a student as part of a learning activity.
If there are inaccuracies, or opportunities for significant improvement on this topic, feedback is welcome on how to improve the resource.
You can improve articles on this topic as a student in "Unravelling Complexity", or by including the amendments in an email to: Chris.Browne@anu.edu.au
The Seven Sisters is a constellation with stories appearing in cultures from the Ancient Greeks to Chinese to Native Americans to Indigenous Australia. All versions tell of seven sisters being chased by a man- a remarkable feat given the diversity of
In Indigenous Australian culture, the narrative follows the Seven Sisters as they flee east across the Australian continent from an evil shape-shifter (Yurla) and escape into the night sky. The story traverses three deserts and countless language groups and countries. It is often compared to the Odyssey and other epics due to its scale and universality. The story is carried by the Martu, the Anangu, Pitjantjatjara, Yankunytjatjara and Ngannyatjarra people.
However, the Seven Sisters is more than just a story, it is a Songline, an invisible pathway across the landscape held in the collective memory of generations of Indigenous Australians.
Songlines extend beyond language groups, linking community groups and the Dreamtime. The Dreamtime is a creation myth at the heart of all Songlines. It is believed that the Rainbow Serpent created everything in the Dreamtime, singing the names of plants and animals in the first Songline.
Indigenous Australians, as well as other indigenous cultures around the world, rely on forms of communication such as dance, narrative, painting, and song. Songlines are used to store and share generations worth of knowledge without the written word. By crafting narratives, the information is easier to remember and pass on.
Embedded within Songlines is all the information needed to survive on the land and to participate in society. The catalogue of information is vast, plants, animals, sources of water, Dreamtime stories, social structures, morals, as well as paths across the country. In Songlines, even the changing of the landscape is recorded over thousands of years.
Songlines are complex systems, meeting criteria such as complex collective behaviour (no central control), signalling (communication between parts) and information processing and adaptation (integration of new information)- not that these markers are needed to believe they are
Attempting to describe what Songlines are and their purpose is a complex task as there are no simple analogies. Are they an encyclopedia of living things? Are they travel directions? Are they highly spiritual, describing creation myths and rituals? Are they held by multiple cultures and languages? Are they art? Narrative? Histories? Genealogies? Philosophies? The answer to all previous questions is yes, and still, these descriptions are not all-inclusive.
In cultures where the written word is the primary way to store and share information, nursery rhymes and mnemonics are close (but weak) parallels to Songlines. The written word is the greatest barrier to comprehending and using Songlines to understand complexity. It is impossible to fully appreciate and know the roles that Songlines play in Indigenous Australians lives as an outsider to those communities.
What can be understood is that Songlines are a way of unravelling complexity and represent a system that has worked for thousands of years and are still sung today, even in the face of invasion and systematic erasure.
Photo by DAVID ILIFF. License: CC-BY-SA 3.0