Milpirri is a hand-in-hand celebration of old and new ways that happens every two year in the remote community of Lajamanu. The theme of each Milpirri performance is given to you by the Milpirri Creative Director - Wanta Jampijinpa Pawu-Kurlpurlurnu (Steve Jampijinpa Patrick).

What theme are you celebrating in 2021?

Yinapaka

Can you tell me a bit about this year’s theme?

Yinapaka is many things. Firstly, it is a place, it is a large body of freshwater in the Tanami Desert (European name is Lake Surprise). It dries out and creates a large flat area, that gets burnt off and becomes an important ceremonial site.

Secondly, Yin the Jukurrpa (Dreaming) it is a place where the birds come together to go through the Sky Ceremony. Thirdly, In language Yinapaka means to slap - it is interpreted as a wake up, wake up to yourself and what it is you need to learn.

The general theme tells us about birds who want to be the best hunters, like the eagle. They are looking for the right teacher.

It’s really worth reading the story of Yinapaka told in Steve Jampijinpa Patrick's own words.

You are heading down to Lajamanu in April for two weeks to prepare for the September performance. What sort of activities will you be doing while you are down there?

While in Lajamanu we have so many things to do. We are working with Marc Pekham and Rob Tremlett (Monkey and Mantra) to finalise the sound track by recording the lyrics with the school students, and the stories with community adults and Elders. This helps the students get a heads up about the themes before they start practicing the new dances, and they love hearing themselves in the produced tracks.

We will also be presenting the Milpirri themes to the school staff. There’s a high turnover in the non-Warlpiri teachers so we constantly reinforce, remind, and tell the value this project has.

There is always so much talk with Steve Wanta Jamijinpa Patrick (Creative Director) and his father, the main Elder of Lajamanu, Jerry Jangala Patrick. Milpirri is part of a five ceremony cycle and every conversation we have deepens our shared understanding of Warlpiri culture and values. It makes us acutely aware of how quickly things can change and the need for nimble adaptation.

This year Milpirri has to move its performance site, so we will be doing a lot of work around what needs to be put in place for September

We are also working through community organisations to get new understanding settled so that we fit in with national Indigenous Protocols

You’ve been producing Milpirri performances in Lajamanu since 2005 - what has this meant to you?

Milpirri since 2005 is a build for me on the 15 years in the community prior. So much activity in Communities is determined outside, but Milpirri came from Steve. It is fully about his culture, his people, their history and their future. Tim and I (and the rest of the Tracks team) have an important job of, under Steves watchful eye, translating the hard Warlpiri (Ceremonial activities that children are not aloud to see or do) into soft learning (public ceremony)  - creating material based on the values inherent in the ceremonies. This two way, hand in hand approach has allowed me (and Tim) to really find out how the two cultures can work together towards common goals. Both cultures have to be strong and clear. At times this is challenging because ceremonial practice determines so much of community life and Western performance can often ignore that.

What are the highlights of a Milpirri performance?

I love the start when people pay remembrance to those passed in the brushing of the banners (This is called Manyi Manyi). When we see all of the students in their Milpirri shirts sitting in their kinship groups, eagerly awaiting the start, showing such discipline that is rarely seen in the rest of their lives - this makes my heart sing. 

Watching the young men dance in dances many of them have never done before and seeing how they learn through doing. The women, when they dance well, are totally transformational, I can see them go to the country that they are dancing about. I also love that we are so remote and that these people are performing about and for themselves. Outsiders may be there, but they are totally creating this for themselves, community art at its finest.

Give me three words that describe your Milpirri experience?

Radical
Challenging
Transformational