June 2024

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Kurranji (Cassowary)

The cassowary is one of the major totems (Ancestral Spirit Beings) for our Kuku Yalanji people. He is a big, dangerous bird that rules the rainforest. The cassowwary can attack people but at the same time he helps growing many of the plants we used to collect for food, medicine and tool making.

I inherited the Cassowary Totem and all the cultural stories relating to it from my mother’s side. When I was four years old, my mum taught me how to dance the story of the female cassowary, who is protecting the chicks and the eggs from the carpet snake and goanna.

As a young women, I took on the role of my mum and began teaching our cultural dances to the younger generation at the Mossman Gorge community as well as children that live in Mossman town. I still do this today.

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Kakan (Black Palm) Dillybag

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Pinch Pot Ngunyin (Dillybag) Design

Dillybags played a vital part in Kuku Yalanji culture. Women used them to carry food when out hunting and gathering or soak bitter yams in creeks before cooking them. Dillybags were also used to hold personal and sacred items.

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Tile Willy wag tail

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Tile Kadanji (Black Cockatoo)

Kadanji (Black Cockatoo) is my mother’s mother’s totem from the Kuku Nyungkul clan. It has been handed down from generation to generation.

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Pinch Pot Saltwater Turtle

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Kirbaji (Dugong)

In the past, Kirbaji (dugong) was an important food source. It was men’s business to hunt dugongs and it was their responsibility to cook and provide the meat to all the families. The meat of the dugong was cooked in an earth oven.

Our ancestors also made oil form the dugong fat. They used the oil for medicinal purposes. They used it for skin and hair treatments. When people had an upset stomach they used the oil as an ointment.

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Tile Ngangkin (Echidna)

Long time ago our ancestors used to hunt echidnas for their meat and fat.

The fat was used as bush medicine. They rubbed it onto sore muscles to relieve pain. 

The echidna also appears as part of a rock formation at Manjal Dimbi (Mount Demi). Manjal Dimbi means “mountain holding back“. The rock formation represents a number of significant Ancestral Beings in their animal form and Kubirri, a man who came to help Kuku Yalanji when they were persecuted by the evil spirit, Wurrumbu.

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Kadanji (Black Cockatoo)

There are many Parrots, known as psittacines, there are roughly 398 species. Parrots are mostly found in tropical and sub-tropical regions. Parrots are popularly known for being an intelligent species and their diet includes insects, fruits and seeds. Parrots have significantly different colours world wide. Here they live in the rainforest.

Kadanji (Black Cockatoo) is my mother’s mother’s totem from the Kuku Nyungkul clan. It has been handed down from generation to generation.

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Kadanji (Black Cockatoo)

Kadanji (Black Cockatoo) is my mother’s mother’s totem from the Kuku Nyungkul clan. It has been handed down from generation to generation.