Milliya Rumara: Reflections and Homage, 30 Years On

“Bran Nue Dae” is kriol, pidgin spelling. There were so many different nationalities aboard the pearling luggers of late nineteenth and twentieth century Broome that a dialect had to emerge. Not only did a dialect emerge but so too did a unique cultural creativity that was busting at the seams to talk about justice, life and freedom. That is what is at the heart of Bran Neu Dae, perhaps Australia’s greatest musical ever written to date.

 

Subscribers and supporters of working papers can download the 10,000 word essay on Bran Neu Dae below. The essay tries to update many historical sources and references as well as many reviews and articles written about Jimmy Chi and the Kuckles over the past 30 years. The essay tries to put the legacy of Bran Neu Dae into contemporary terms reflecting on the changing nature of Broome and the challenges of Aboriginal politics in 2020.