Playing a Didgeridoo, Nicole Kidman Makes Aboriginal Groups Upset

Tue, 16 December 2008 01:51:20 ET

Nicole Kidman is claimed to have no more children after breaking a taboo against women playing the didgeridoo.

Nicole Kidman made an appearance on German TV show "Wetten, Dass...?" to promote her new movie "Australia" over the weekend. The wife of country superstar Keith Urban has reportedly angered Aboriginal groups in Australia after playing a didgeridoo on the television show.

During the show, the actress she took the instrument and started playing it. While Nicole played the didgeridoo, her co-star Hugh Jackman stood on one leg, imitating an aborigine. The didgeridoo itself is an instrument considered sacred to the indigenous groups of Australia, and women are forbidden to play, claiming it makes them infertile.

"I presume she doesn't know, otherwise she wouldn't be playing it," a cultural officer at Sydney's Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council, Alan Madden, told the Sydney Morning Herald. "But [I would have thought] the women on that set would have told her. Baz should know something about it, after working with those traditional fellas on the film."

Meanwhile, award-winning actor, screenwriter and Aboriginal language teacher Richard Green was furious with the incident, saying it's "guaranteed" to make Nicole infertile. "People are going to see Nicole playing it and think it's all right," he told the newspaper. "It bastardises our culture. I will guarantee she has no more children. It's not meant to be played by women as it will make them barren."

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