225182336568

Published by on

Kirbaji (Dugong) and Ngawiya (Sea Turtle)

Kirbaji (Dugong) and Ngawiya (Sea Turtle) are two ancestral spirit beings (Totems) that I inherited from my mother’s side. As a young boy my uncles and cousins took me out to sea teaching me how to hunt, cut and cook dugong and sea turtle. Only men were allowed to hunt them for very special occasions when lots of extended family members had to be fed during wedding, birth and funeral celebrations.  They wrapped the meat in ginger leaves to get flavours and enclose them using a vine before cooking the meat it in a ground oven. Parts of the meat, fat and blood can also be boiled in the turtle shell to make a nourishing soup. The fat of the turtle was also melted to make a body oil.

Categories: Bamanga Bubu Ngadimunku Aboriginal Corporation

Name: Laurence Gibson

Language: Kuku Yalanji

Community: Mossman

Biography:

My father is a Kuku Nyungkul man from Schiffon Flat and my mother is a Kuku Yalanji from Mossman Gorge. My mum used to paint at home and she inspired me to become an artist myself. I prefer doing pencil drawings - I’ve been sketching all my life. I like large figure outlines.

It was my partner, Vanessa Cannon, who first encouraged me to come with her to Yalanji Arts. I like working with and learning from her. Now, my practice has expanded and I do my line drawings on ceramics (sgrafitto) and create drawings for printing on textiles and paper.

My totem is the Cassowary. It was bestowed on me by my Grandfather. He taught me how to dance the Cassowary dance which l sometimes perform for public events. Not only have I performed this sacred dance in Mossman, but across the world in Hong Kong in the 1990s.

I’m happy when I can make art. It relaxes me. My main subjects are the cassowary, echidna, dugong, barramundi, scrub fowl, and brush turkey. My main aim is to pass my knowledge onto the younger generations.

 

Related Posts

Bamanga Bubu Ngadimunku Aboriginal Corporation

225182337580

Jarruka Bulka (Scrubfowl Nest) Jarruka Bulka (Scrubfowl Nest) and the Diwan Bulka (Brush Turkey Nest) is essential to the survival of our hunting and gathering practices, as the women and girls collect the eggs from Read more…

Bamanga Bubu Ngadimunku Aboriginal Corporation

225182337578

Kubarr (Freshwater Eel)

Bamanga Bubu Ngadimunku Aboriginal Corporation

225182337575

Kurriyala (Carpet Snake) The carpet snake used to be an important food animal for our ancestors. They wrapped the meat in native ginger leaves and cooked it on the hot coals of the ground oven. Read more…

© the artist / art centre