"Where I come from in Western Australia I'm Yamitji of Irish ancestry. My mother's Yamitji and so I grew up straddling both sides of the fence culturally as Aboriginal and Irish. When I traveled to Ireland I ended up working with Irish musicians and having a good time with the music. It was a very rewarding experience. I thought after all these years I was discovering my other half. I'm proud of both of my heritage's and being multi-cultural. When I was old enough to go to pubs I could go to one side of the bar and have a drink with my Irish relatives and then go to the other side of the bar and have a drink with my Aboriginal relatives."

To give you a bit of history, the relationship between the Irish and Aboriginal people is a complex one. When the English invaded Australia and claimed it as their own they were at war with the Irish and so Irish prisoners were sent to Australia. When they escaped, frequently they were hunted by Aboriginal trackers in the service of the English. If the person got far enough away outside of the boundaries of the Aboriginal tracker's land then he frequently got away . Aboriginal trackers were reluctant to go outside of the land that they knew. Sometimes the Irish fellows would be taken in by Aboriginal communities and marry. So in Australia today there are quite a few of us Aboriginal people who are multi-cultural. In the Territory and around Alice Springs way , for example, there are Aboriginal people of Chinese ancestry and ones of Afghani ancestry. The Chinese came with the opening of the mining industry. The Afghani came when camels were imported into Australia. When cultures connect interesting things happen musically and otherwise."

The name of my performing duo "Ankala" really captures how we use the didjeridu as contemporary Aboriginal artists. Ankala comes from the Pitjantjatjara language and it means "leaves at the outer tips of a branch" symbolizing new growth. We take an Aboriginal instrument that is rooted in traditional culture and adapt it to modern musical idioms. We're one of many contemporary Aboriginal performing groups who do this. You know... Yothu Yindi, David Hudson, and Alan Dargin, all those fellows as well."

"In our performances and workshops we're continually challenged to educate the growing audience of didjeridu enthusiasts. We like to put the instrument in a cultural context telling people where it's from originally, how it is used traditionally to accompany singing and dancing and how we use it today. We share what we can of our culture. We hope that didjeridu players will take the time to learn about the instrument and who we are as Aboriginal people."

"In our workshops we occasionally encounter players who have been playing for a couple of years that call themselves didjeridu healers. We're asked questions like "Can you teach us about healing with the didjeridu like some of the non-Aboriginal teachers are doing" or " Why don't you heal with the didjeridu? "While we believe these individuals are sincere in their inquiries we find ourselves in the unfortunate and awkward position of having to clean-up the cultural mess left behind by the non-Aboriginal teachers/performers who are parading around as gurus of the didjeridu and Aboriginal cultural knowledge. "
 

"I don't want to name the players because it's not our way, but they know who they are. Typically they are New-Age people who make up things as they go along. They shamelessly bastardize Aboriginal culture and then profit by it at our expense. From my perspective they appear to be disconnected from their own European cultures and for that matter they have no real connection to Aboriginal people. Their stories are evidence of that. It's just another example of exploitation as I see it. I feel that these people and their followers are barking up the wrong tree and may be misled."
 

"If you really want to look at the didjeridu in regards to healing I think you need to be playing it for 40 years, like the old fellows, then we'll talk about healing. For me, it's a process. If you conceive of the instrument in a healing way --as in feeling better after playing or listeningóthat's fine. People need to know that Aboriginal players of the didjeridu don't go around talking the way these non-Aboriginal teachers/performers do about healing and the didjeridu or calling, themselves, healers. It's a bit much. "
 

"One of the interesting things I've noted in meeting these didjeridu teachers that I've described is a sad irony. While they are so focused on healing and praising of Aboriginal Culture they appear to have no awareness or interest in our social and political struggles we live with at home in Australia as indigenous people. Now that's something that could use some healing ! "

"Let me add that there are high-profile non-Aboriginal players who present accurate information about the didjeridu and who are respectful of us and our culture. Charlie McMahon, Stephen Kent and Phil Cunningham are a few that come to mind. They're all good players and nice blokes . If you are a player of any instrument you need to learn about that instrument and learn to respect the culture it's from as well ."

---Mark Atkins as told to Fred Tietjen---