A lot of our instruments come from the bush.
First we get clapsticks from the tree.
Didgeridoo comes from the tree.
Sometimes we clap rocks together.
We get the gum leaves from the tree and they make a mad sound.
That connection to Mother Earth, because our beats and our rhythm originally came from the heartbeat of her.
You hear the birds there, calling out.
You hear the wind blowing, creeks too flowing.
It's the stomping of the ground, gives us back that energy to keep doing what we've gotta do.
It's been in all our bloods since the Dreamtime, the beginning of creation.
It's always in us, it's just trying to bring it out.
One, two, three, go!
This is the story of a program uniting Indigenous communities around the country through music.
Grow the Music is a hands-on creative arts program. Everyone gets to play the instruments.
It's really about bringing community together to celebrate what they can do
and what they already do and then learning new skills as well.
Grow The Music has been on the road for three years
collecting instruments and bringing them to Aboriginal communities.
This time around, they're in Wallaga Lake, Australia's oldest Indigenous reserve.
If you saw Grow the Music in a community it would probably look like kids taking photos.
I can see you!
Some kids drawing or painting, people eating fruit, biscuits, a whole lotta noise going on inside.
It's really exciting to witness Aboriginal kids learning music.
Stay in school and get your HSC then you can be whatever you want to be.
Nobody's gonna stop ya little south coast warriors.
Basically look, it's a program about building self-esteem.
The kids we deal with they're just so creative and so naturally rhythmic, you know, they live for music.
Hey I'm Tekeisha, I'm 17 years old, born in Bega, and I'm Yuin.
I kind of just got told that it was a music workshop and that I should go, so I kind of just rocked up.
G'day I'm Warren Foster, and I'm a traditional knowledge Elder, cultural teacher.
Gives them confidence and kills that shame factor out of them
so they're more proud of who they are and where they come from.
The concept of shame comes from a lot of being disadvantaged.
Once we break that shyness barrier, breaks them out of their shell.
I used to hate it. I really used to hate it.
I was like why can't we be like normal people? Like do we have to do these dances?
Two years ago I was aiming to like please everyone. I wanted everyone to like me.
And now I'm just like yeah, you hate me? Cool. Cool story, bro.
The unique thing about Tekeisha is she likes System of a Down and Metallica.
When I was 10 or 11 I hit that emo phase, and I was like don't talk to me, I hate you guys, you're not my mum!
And my mum would be like you're going to grow out of it, and I'm like uh-uh. This is me, this is me for life.
I'm performing Smells Like Teen Spirit and Hallelujah.
After four weeks, the program ends with a big performance.
But a week out, the community was shocked by the sudden passing of a young father in the area.
Workshops the next day were cancelled, and the concert was put on hold.
He's only about 40 years old. I believe he has 12 kids.
A lot of those kids are directly involved in the program, are coming every day to workshops.
He's got nieces and nephews as well.
He was so happy-go-lucky. Yeah everyone sort of really liked him.
It was a bit sad when I found out he took his journey.
I was his uncle so he had a lot of respect for me. A lot of our mob and the Yuin nation are buried here.
It’s real significant to us, so when we take our journey, pass away and stuff.
We wanna be buried here with our people.
I don’t sort of really say when they die, that they pass away because that brings a lot of sadness to the people.
I look at it more like taking their journey back to the Dreamtime. That’s what we believe.
Their spirit is still with us. And when we take the journey we’ll meet up with 'em again.
The feeling at the moment is that the show will go on, it might just change the way that it happens.
We return to the community a week later to find the concert was going ahead, as a tribute.
The gathering, that's very important for us as Aboriginal people
because we've always worked together, very close kinship always.
Our structure in our society, it's all about families and keeping everyone together and learning and passing on.
And you can't do that when you don't have a gathering.
Sharon leads the Djaadjawan Dances, and this is the first time her daughter Arwin is performing at the concert.
It’s great because she’s always wanted to sing. She's always wanted to do some type of performance.
I could have a good cry. It’s very touching.
You're all here for the third Wallaga Lake Grow The Music concert.
This year me daughter Rakaia she's getting up on stage with me and we're performing our song called Hero.
It'll probably bring tears to me eyes having me daughter up on stage with me.
I’m really nervous, I'm like shaking right now.
There's like a rush that you get when you start performing
and once you're done it's like you're happy with yourself like you knew you could do it and you just did it.
Let’s hear it for Tekeisha!
It gives you a lotta strength, a lotta healing. Feels like we haven't lost our culture.
This will continue through song and dance.
It's very touching to see such an old community engage in something so, so deadly.