Dr. John A. KingIndigenous Australian. 100% Human. Neo-Noir Novelist. Poet. Speaker. Performance coach. More than a Survivor. Terrible Golfer, Awkward Dancer🕺

#54 Secret Men’s Business. What a privilege and an opportunity Melissa gets !!

21 Dec 2023 · 2 min

Watch on YouTube

1:57

In this YouTube monologue, Dr. John A. King explains that a recent family death (“sorry business”) delayed an Aboriginal men’s ceremony. He notes the recent rain and upcoming heat. The core of the update is a rare cultural opportunity: for the first time in ~70,000 years, senior Waramungu men—guardians of secret men’s lore—have agreed to have their traditionally unrecorded songs and dances documented as part of a preservation program. Remarkably, they have also invited Melissa, a woman, to film the ceremony, a privilege that is unheard of in their culture. Dr. King emphasizes the secrecy of the event, stating he cannot share details, and signals that the team will travel into the bush in the coming days to carry out the recording.

Chapters

So we had some sorry business yesterday. A family member died. Mel's the father over here, Aboriginal father. So that delayed a ceremony, starting a ceremony, which is okay. It rained the last couple of days, so it's been, it's been nice. It's cooled things down a little bit. It's going to jump back up to 43, which is, you know, 100 degrees. 100 and butt sweat over in Texas. Um, so that started. So we'll go in there. We had an incredible opportunity turn up. I mean, I mean, unbelievable. So for 70,000 years, the white band Waramungu men, men, the men responsible for Waramungu lore, for the lore aspect of the men's business, have never made a recording, never done anything. They're very, very secret. And they've asked us to actually record the songs and the dance for them, part of a preservation program, which is a mind-blowing privilege. And the other thing is, and this just blows me away, is they've actually invited Melissa to do that filming and to see it. Now, for a woman to see that stuff is Unheard of. Absolutely unheard of. For them to trust her enough to invite her in and to help preserve this stuff is, is the most incredible privilege, um, that, that you could ever, ever, ever be shown. So, you know, um, it's all afoot. So that'll be the next couple of days. We'll be heading off and going bush. I'm not sure what any of that involves. And I can't— won't be telling any of you about it. So it's secret business for secret business. So cheers.