Catherine Ellis (1935–1996)

Abstract

I first met Cath Ellis (née Caughie) in the late 1960s when she was working for the Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies at the Elder Conservatorium, University of Adelaide. At the time she and her husband Max were making field trips to Ernabella and other areas of northern South Australia where the Pitjantjara people lived. It was largely her interest in the area that inspired my own interest, field trip, and subsequent publications on Pitjantjara children’s music at Yalata. For this I thank her. Cath touched the lives of many people, not only ethnomusicologists, but also many students of Aboriginal culture and music educators around Australia and overseas.