May 2025

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Nawarlah – Brown River Stingray

We hunt the Nawarlah (Brown River Stingray) during the wet season.  There is a plant with a yellow flower that tells us that it is the right time.  We know it will be fat. 

It is well known that Aboriginal art often depicts images of sacred totems or dreamings of Aboriginal culture. However, the world of the non-sacred also provides a rich source of subject matter for Aboriginal art. Much of the rock art of western Arnhem Land for example features secular topics such as common food animals and plants, depicted because of their economic importance but also merely because of their existence in the environment.

By , ago

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Kirbaji (Dugong)

Kirbaji (Dugong) is an Ancestral Spirit Being (Totem) that I inherited it from my mother’s side.  It is my Totem. The dugong was also an important food source for my ancestors. Only men were allowed to hunt them, and only men had the right to cook and distribute the meat to all the families. My uncles and cousins showed me how to hunt dugongs and they passed down to me the cultural knowledge about them.

My ancestors used to wrap the dugong meat in ginger leaves for flavour, close the wraps with a vine and cook them in the ground oven. Dugongs were only hunted on special occasions such as births, weddings and funerals to provide food for large family gatherings.Dugong fat was also melted to make oil which was used as a medicine for skin and hair ailments or as ointment to treat an upset stomach.

By , ago

225182367849

Kurranji (Cassowary)

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.

By , ago

225182367848

Wakuka (Kookaburra)

Wakuka (Kookaburra) is an important totem or spiritual being for our Kuku Yalanji clans. We call him a messenger bird because he lets us know when a family member has passed away.

By , ago

225182367846

Kurranji (Cassowary)

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.

By , ago