The Yulba (Saltwater Mussel) is a favourite food in my family. We gather the shells from the mangroves and either cook them in the fire at the beach or take them home. I learned how to find them when I was a little girl and now I am teaching my own children.
The cassowary is one of the most important animals for our Kuku Yalanji people. The cassowary is the boss of the rainforest. He is dangerous but he also helps grow many of the plants we used to collect for food, medicine and tool making.
How does he do this? He eats many different fruits, digests them in his stomach, and then drops his dung mixed with the leftover seeds onto the ground. This way seeds grow into new plants wherever he walks. This helped us Kuku Yalanji in the past to survive.
The cassowary is a spirit bird and celebrated to this day in public ceremonies with song and dance. You must be very careful of them because they can attack. Never feed them. You must always be alert when walking in the rainforest.
The Kingfisher, known as Yindili in Kuku Yalanji language, is according to our culture one of the significant messenger birds. The Kingfisher will let us know when to expect a visit from families living in another community, And when we see a Kingfisher close by, we know that something good will soon happen in our personal life.