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The Ma-yawa wangga repertory was given to songmen by the Marri Ammu ancestral ghosts known as Ma-yawa. Before the late 1960s, it seems that this repertory was frequently performed at Wadeye, but nowadays Marri Ammu people join their Marri Tjavin neighbours in performing the Walakandha wangga repertory (CD6) for ceremony. All but one of the Ma-yawa wangga songs were composed by the senior Marri Ammu lawman and artist Charlie Niwilhi Brinken (c. 1910–1993), but so far as we know, no recording was ever made of him singing. Maurice Tjakurl Ngulkur (Nyilco) (1940–2001), the Marri Ammu songman, inherited the repertory and added one of his own songs to it. Since his passing in 2001, the songs have rarely been performed. With its strong focus on the Dreamings (ngirrwat) and Dreaming sites (kigatiya) of the owning group, the Ma-yawa wangga repertory holds a unique place within the corpus.

Allan Marett is professor emeritus of musicology at the University of Sydney.

Linda Barwick is a musicologist collaborating with First Nations communities in Australia since 1985 and Italian communities since 1979. She is currently Emeritus Professor at the University of Sydney, Sydney Conservatorium of Music.

Lysbeth Ford is an honorary research associate in the linguistics department at the University of Sydney.

CD

1. Song 1: walakandha ngindji
2. Song 1: walakandha ngindji
3. Song 1: walakandha ngindji
4. Song 2: wulumen kimi-gimi
5. Song 2: wulumen kimi-gimi
6. Song 3: rtadi-wunbirri
7. Song 3: rtadi-wunbirri
8. Song 3: rtadi-wunbirri
9. Song 3: rtadi-wunbirri
10. Song 4: menggani
11. Song 4: menggani
12. Song 5: tjerri
13. Song 5: tjerri
14. Song 6: watjen-danggi
15. Song 6: watjen-danggi
16. Song 7: malhimanyirr
17. Song 7: malhimanyirr
18. Song 8: ma-vindivindi
19. Song 8: ma-vindivindi
20. Song 9: karri-ngindji
21. Song 9: karri-ngindji
22. Song 10: thalhi-ngatjpirr
23. Song 10: thalhi-ngatjpirr
24. Song 10: thalhi-ngatjpirr
25. Song 11: na-pebel
26. Song 11: na-pebel
27. Song 11: na-pebel
28. Song 12: wulumen tulh
29. Song 12: wulumen tulh

Booklet
Introduction
Ma-yawa wangga
Transcription and translation of tracks
Works cited

"I am not aware of any compilation of recordings as comprehensive as this one on any other song genre of Aboriginal Australia. Marett, Barwick and Ford's deep involvement with the people of the Daly River area and their intimate knowledge of the songs, exemplified by Marett's becoming an accomplished performer of wangga, present us with a true labour of love and a great contribution towards interdisciplinary research."
Grace Koch   2018 Yearbook for Traditional Music