Abstract
This chapter explores the use of didgeridoo as a central symbol of Australian Aboriginality in early childhood spaces. This practice raises questions around the place of Aboriginal women and girls in particular within these experiences. As the didgeridoo is largely understood to be a traditional men’s instrument in the Aboriginal community in Victoria this chapter explores the specific question ‘should girls and women be allowed to handle and play the didgeridoo?’. In this chapter, two interrelated case studies examine the place of the didgeridoo within the gendering of Aboriginality in Victoria through the lens of feminism, human rights, decolonisation and cultural appropriation. In negotiating this complex terrain, the writer finds that the gendering of the didgeridoo is positioned as an act of decolonisation rather than an act of gender oppression.
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Acknowledgments
This chapter was written in Brunswick a suburb of Melbourne, the capital of Victoria, Australia. I wish to acknowledge the Wurundjeri people, the traditional owners of the land on which this chapter was written.
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Lopez-Atkinson, S. (2017). The Didgeridoo, an Instrument of Oppression or Decolonisation?. In: Smith, K., Alexander, K., Campbell, S. (eds) Feminism(s) in Early Childhood. Perspectives on Children and Young People, vol 4. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-3057-4_3
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