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Bush banana

“It’s at the creek in Summer, Springtime. I remember going to the creek and you can eat it. Taste like yellow banana but a bit softer. At any river. I paint the bush banana because it’s nice and good to eat.”

– Raelene Sambo

 

Karlkula (bush banana, silky pear or native pear) is a vine found throughout the dry regions of Western Australia and Central Australia. From November to April, and following rains, the plant produces fruit. When young, the green fruit is eaten raw. Older fruits are cooked and the seeds eaten.

During the pujiman (traditional, desert dwelling) period, Martu would traverse very large distances annually in small family groups, moving seasonally from water source to water source, and hunting and gathering bush tucker as they went. Whilst desert life has moved away from mobile hunter-gatherer subsistence throughout the course of the twentieth century, bush tucker continues to be a significant component of the modern Martu diet. Hunting and gathering bush tucker remain equally valuable as an important cultural practice that is passed on intergenerationally.