Aboriginal languages | Groote Broadcasting

Explore powerful stories at the intersection of history, culture, and music—from Aboriginal cricket pioneers and war heroes to legendary albums by Hendrix, Miles Davis, and Gurrumul. This blog dives deep into First Nations resilience, iconic protest music, and untold truths that shaped Australia and the world. Engaging, thoughtful, and unapologetically real—where powerful voices from the past meet today's social conversation.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be aware that this page contains images and names of deceased persons.

Music Spotlight: Saltwater Band, Gapu Damurrun.

There’s a special kind of magic when music comes from a deep connection to Country, language and culture. For Saltwater Band, from Galiwin’ku on Elcho Island in northeast Arnhem Land, that connection is at the heart of everything they do. Their debut album, Gapu Damurrun, brought the sounds and stories of Yolŋu life to a wider audience, blending contemporary rock and reggae with traditional influences and songs sung in Yolŋu languages. The band was formed around the late Dr.

Groote Broadcasting

6 days ago1 min read

Music Spotlight: 'Countryman' by Frank Yamma.

There is something elemental about Frank Yamma’s voice...deep, weathered and full of lived experience. On Countryman, released in 2010, the Pitjantjatjara singer-songwriter delivers a powerful collection of songs about Country, family, love, loss, identity and the realities of contemporary Aboriginal life. Produced by David Bridie and Tim Cole with Bart Willoughby on drums, the album is beautifully restrained. Acoustic and electric guitars, piano, keys and understated percuss

Groote Broadcasting

Oct 31 min read

Kardajala Kirridarra — Kardajala Kirridarra (2017)

Released in July 2017, Kardajala Kirridarra introduced the world to an extraordinary collaboration of Mudburra women from Marlinja and Kulumindini in the Northern Territory, joined by Melbourne-based producer and multi-instrumentalist Beatrice Lewis. The name translates roughly as “Sandhill Women”, referring to a mysterious bush woman from the sandhills behind Marlinja whose descendants are part of the group’s story. Musically, the album occupies a fascinating space between a

Groote Broadcasting

Sep 262 min read

Music Spotlight: A songman from the Gulf. A flamenco guitarist from Barcelona.

Ngulmiya Nundhirribala comes from Numbulwar, a coastal community in Arnhem Land on the Gulf of Carpentaria — just 55 kilometres west of Groote Eylandt, where his mother's family is from. This is Gulf country talent on the world stage. And what a talent. Ngulmiya is a traditional songman and ceremony leader — just as his father and grandfather were before him. His singing style has developed over thousands of years, largely in isolation in one of the most remote corners of the

Groote Broadcasting

Sep 192 min read

The day an Aboriginal man claimed England.

The day an Aboriginal man claimed England. And did it with more manners than the British ever showed us. Picture the scene. 26 January 1988. Exactly 200 years to the day since the First Fleet sailed into Warrane, Sydney Cove and planted a flag on land that was already home to hundreds of nations. Across Australia, the government was throwing a giant birthday party for itself. The Bicentenary. Two hundred years of "settlement," celebrated with fireworks and tall ships, while F

Groote Broadcasting

Sep 162 min read

Music Spotlight: From My Eyes [1982].

A group of young Aboriginal men, most of them raised on Koonibba Mission near Ceduna in South Australia, came together while studying at the Centre for Aboriginal Studies in Music in Adelaide. It was there, for the first time, that they heard the sounds coming out of Jamaica — Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Jimmy Cliff. Reggae. Music of struggle, of resistance, of a people refusing to be broken. And something clicked. Led by Pitjantjatjara man Bart Willoughby on drums and vocals, th

Groote Broadcasting

Sep 122 min read

Alexis Wright: Writing from an unshakeable Waanyi worldview.

Alexis Wright is a member of the Waanyi nation, from the southern highlands of the Gulf of Carpentaria. Born in Cloncurry in 1950, she grew up to become not just one of Australia's finest writers, but arguably one of the most important literary voices this continent has ever produced. And that's not us being generous. Before the novels, there was the activism. Wright worked for decades across Aboriginal organisations and campaigns...on land rights, on mining, on community. Th

Groote Broadcasting

Sep 12 min read

Little J & Big Cuz.

What do you get when you mix two cheeky cousins, a wise Nanna, a mischievous dog and plenty of imagination? Little J & Big Cuz! The much-loved Australian animated series follows Little J and his older cousin Big Cuz as they navigate school, family, friendship and life in their Aboriginal community. Along the way, they learn about culture, Country, language, history and the importance of listening to their Elders—but the clever part is that it never feels like a lesson. It's f

Groote Broadcasting

Aug 281 min read

“Black Boy” by Coloured Stone.

Released in the early 1980s, the track helped bring the voice of Aboriginal Australia into the mainstream through the infectious sound of one of the country's pioneering Indigenous rock bands. Led by Bunna Lawrie, Coloured Stone brought together rock, reggae, pop and traditional Indigenous influences, creating a sound that was unmistakably Australian — but unlike anything else on the radio at the time. “Black Boy” has an irresistible groove, but underneath the rhythm is somet

Groote Broadcasting

Aug 211 min read

Yothu Yindi — Treaty and the Moment Everything Changed.

If you want a single moment that represents the breakthrough of Indigenous music into the Australian mainstream, this is it. Yothu Yindi — a band of Yolŋu and non-Indigenous musicians from Arnhem Land — released Treaty in 1991, a powerful protest against the Australian Government's failure to honour Prime Minister Bob Hawke's promise of a treaty, made at the Barunga Festival in 1988. The original version struggled for commercial airtime. Then a Melbourne DJ remixed it into a

Groote Broadcasting

Aug 151 min read

The media has enormous power to shape what people know.

What happens when the stories we hear about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are overwhelmingly stories about crime, disadvantage and conflict? We start to believe that those stories are the whole story. That was one of the concerns raised during the Australian Parliament's current inquiry into racism, hate and violence directed at Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. The inquiry is examining not only racism itself, but also the influence of social media

Groote Broadcasting

Aug 132 min read

Album Spotlight: Christine Anu — Waku – Minaral A Minalay.

After two decades without a new album of original material, Christine Anu returned with something far more meaningful than a comeback record. Waku – Minaral A Minalay is a beautiful journey into family, Country, language and memory, drawing heavily on songs passed down from Anu’s grandfather, Saibai Island songman Nadi Anu. Working with longtime collaborator David Bridie, Anu blends traditional Torres Strait Islander music with contemporary production, creating something that

Groote Broadcasting

Aug 81 min read

Blak History Month: The Central Australian Aboriginal Women's Choir. Voices That Carry Culture Across Generations.

Music has always been a powerful way to share stories, preserve culture and bring people together. Few groups embody that spirit more beautifully than the Central Australian Aboriginal Women's Choir. Made up of women from remote communities across Central Australia, the choir is unlike any other. Their performances blend centuries-old Lutheran hymns with the rich sounds of Aboriginal languages including Arrarnta and Pitjantjatjara, creating a musical tradition that is both de

Groote Broadcasting

Jul 112 min read