Friday, May 19, 2006

Bill Harney




Bill Harney is the senior elder of the Wardaman People in the Victoria River Gorge region of The Northern Territory of Australia. He's an artist, master didgeridoo player, story teller, author, cattleman, entrepreneur, and keeper of the laws for his people. My camping trip with Bill was an extraordinary experience.

We all bought paintings from him -- I asked for Brolga Dreaming because the story about Brolga spoke to me deeply on our trip. Brolga is about a young girl who goes to a sacred ground and transforms from human to Brolga. It's the original Swan Lake. It's about transformation, about restoration, about spirit.

This image is not the one Bill made for me, but it is similar in style. I put it here for me to remember, and I think I may just put it on a sidebar too.

4 comments:

Sue said...

I so wanna learn digeridoo. I guess i have to leave SC to get it n'est pas? I am practicing my francais to go back to Louisiana on Sunday. Go to my other bloghttp://susiegoesonatrip.blogspot.com
How yall are!

Anonymous said...

Bill Harney's art is mindblowing. Wow. Thanks for putting it on your site. And telling us a little bit about the legend/myth that it's about.

DivaJood said...

Sue, women are not supposed to play didjeridoo -- it makes them infertal. When I first heard that, I was at a conference for travel agents -- and about 30 women rushed the stage...

Suzanne, thank you for the link -- I'm going to post it in a new post. I wish you could hear that story in Bill Harney's voice.

Unknown said...

incredible. I love digeridoo and since I don't plan to have kids, I guess I can play one, eh?