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First Peoples’ Perspectives
  • ISSN: 1752-6299
  • E-ISSN: 1752-6302

Abstract

This article explores the spiritual and relational dimensions of community engagements with First Nations music through the Gamilaraay framework of (‘One/Self’), (‘Two/Relationship’) and (‘Three/Community’). Drawing on five yarning interviews across South-East Queensland and Northern New South Wales, Australia, the study centres Indigenous methodologies, relational philosophy and embodied storytelling to investigate music’s role in healing, identity and intergenerational well-being. Framing music not as entertainment but rather as a lived practice, the article affirms music’s role as a relational, cultural and spiritual force. Using a Gamilaraay Indigenist approach led by Glenn Barry, the article proposes re-Indigenizing community music research by centring ancestral wisdom and collective well-being. The findings contribute to Indigenous-led music scholarship by offering a culturally secure model for engaging with First Peoples’ knowledge systems and health.

Funding
This study was supported by the:
  • Australian Research Council Discovery Indigenous (Award IN210100044)
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2026-03-24
2026-04-20

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/content/journals/10.1386/ijcm_00144_1
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‘I am we’: Gamilaraay philosophy and First Nations connections to spiritual health and well-being through music
International Journal of Community Music 19, 7 (2026); https://doi.org/10.1386/ijcm_00144_1
/content/journals/10.1386/ijcm_00144_1
/content/journals/10.1386/ijcm_00144_1
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  • Article Type: Article
Keyword(s): community music; First Nations music; Indigenist research; relationality; The Remedy Project; yarning

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