Ghostly Voices: some Observations on Song‐Creation,Ceremony and Being in NW Australia

Wangga songs are given to songmen by ghosts in dreams. By singing these songs in ceremony songmen at Belyuen gain power over the ghosts of the recently dead and thereby conduct them away from human society. This paper argues that it is the replication not only of the melodies, rhythms and words of the ghost‐given songs, but also the voice of the song‐giving ghost itself that gives the singer his power. While the accumulation of spiritual power through the replication of the actions of the world‐creating ancestors has been widely discussed in the literature, dreamt song has been less closely examined. It is suggested that dreamt songs such as wangga play a role in facilitating adaptation to new patterns of residency and are thus a significant element in contemporary Aboriginal life.