In the land where there are hundreds of indigenous languages, one stands out, the unique language of women’s water drumming, or Ëtëtung.
Sandy Sur, manager of the Leweton Culture Village & Magical Water Music says, “I believe that it is important for people to understand the sacred nature of water and this is one of the major reasons that I have worked hard to revive the use of magical water music in Vanuatu.
“I see three things that connect us on earth,” he continues. “There is mother earth, our natural mother and water. Without these three things, nothing would exist.”
The Vanuatu Women’s Water Music ceremony is an amazing display of sounds, rhythms and movements, which demonstrate the living nature of water and life on Earth.
Ëtëtung is the Mwerlap name for drumming. Mwerlap is the language spoken on Mere lava island in the northern Banks Islands of Vanuatu, where Ëtëtung originated and is still performed today.
The water drummers are now connecting with the part of Vanuatu Kastom that has been hidden from the men, women’s stories told through dance and song performed in water.
Water drumming is helping women deepen their ties to the ocean and nature, and also boost their economic and social standing.
“One of the things we do is to push the women in the front, their rights and what the women can do,” says Sur. “The women’s water music brings each of the girls and the women to a state where they can tell their story and talk about their rights through their performances, and it also helps them with their economical sustainability within their families. So what they do is tell their story and also bring in a bit of an income and sustain their life in their community. They help others to see the great things that they can do.”
“Leweton is named after the villages from the two islands that we come from,” he clarifies. “It’s made out of six villages. We formed to perform cultural activities and it’s related to the tribe and connected to what we are performing.”
He says it is a way of preserving cultural practices and pass them on to future generations.
“As we do explain to the visitors and the world, we honour the land and the ocean through our performances,” says Sur. “The land gives us our daily food so we honour that through our dance. The water drumming tells us a story and is honouring the creatures under the water – fish and shells and things like that. The shell money also comes from the ocean and in return we honour them through our dance.
“The water music is also about the privacy of women, when the ladies go for a bath or a swim after having their period, then they stay away from their families. So they go for a wash in the pure water and perform their water drumming. Men are not allowed to go near the women around this time.
“When they come to the end of their period and everything is going back to normal, then they go to the sea water for a big wash and that’s when they return home. It’s a cycle of life.”
And their music has travelled well beyond Vanuatu.
“We have come to Australia a few times and to the world music expo as musicians and artists. We travelled to Orlando, Disneyland (USA) to open the Volcanic Bay Destination there.”
At home the performances are carried out in a concrete pool in Leweton, in the ocean when it’s high tide, or at the river, depending on conditions and visitor preference. The ceremonies can be performed in honour of weddings, birthday parties and funerals, as well as in welcome.
“We weave our story into the water,” Sur says.
The economic impact of the activity is also important.
“After all this international travelling, the ladies are now building their homes,” says Sur. “They also have their own little businesses that they can sustain. Leweton helps them to support the houses that they have built and the small businesses that they have.
“They also invest in the islands where we come from. The family has moved on and the younger ones are coming up.”
Their stories are also reflecting more recent concerns, such as climate change.
“We do respect the water, we do respect the land where the water is,” says Sur. “Water is powerful and it connects everybody in this world. We should honour the water.”
