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Mandjabu

Kuninjku people traditionally make two sorts of conical fish traps. One is called mandjabu and is made from a strong, durable vine called milil, and a smaller one is called manylik mandjabu, and made from the grass manylik. The mandjabuconical fish trap is bigger and stronger and used in tidal reaches of creeks to catch large fish. The smaller, lighter manyliktrap is used in freshwater flowing creeks to catch smaller fish and freshwater prawns. In earlier times, only men were involved in the construction of the large fish traps, but children would often crawl inside and assist.

To make mandjabu, weavers firstly harvest milil (burney vine, Malaisia scandens) and put it in water overnight to make it soft. Then they start weaving it; they make rings for the inside to keep the fish trap’s shape. People also make string from the bark of burdaga (kurrajong) to attach the bardainy (hibiscus) rings and to tie the conical end of the fish trap. It’s hard work and it can take three or four weeks to make a fish trap. People also use fish-net fences called kunkarlewabe. They would put the kunkarlewabe  across rivers and creeks. In the middle they would place the mandjabu. They also used small things like sticks, rocks, mud and grass to block the fish from going through. This way we would catch fish such as saltwater barramundi rajarra, ngaldadmurrng (freshwater barramundi), small black freshwater catfish (buliya), bonefish (an-guwirrpiya), and sand bass (dalakan) in the mandjabu.

Categories: Bawinanga Aboriginal Corporation

Name: Raylene Ngalamyorrk Bonson

Language: Ndjébbana, Kuninjku

Community: Maningrida

Biography:

Raylene (Rayleen) Bonson is a skilled textile artist known for her intricate lino carvings, which she prints onto a variety of fabric surfaces. Her work is celebrated for its detailed depictions of ancestral stories and ceremonial objects, particularly the lorrkkon (hollow log used in burial ceremonies), kunmadj (dillybag), and mandjabu (conical fishtrap).

In 2019, Raylene's screen print design Wubbunj (Paperbark Canoe) was licensed by Kip & Co, featured in a successful and sold-out homewares collection. In 2021, the same design was used in a collaboration with Jam Factory to create the contemporary furniture piece Love Bench With Back, which was part of the touring exhibition New Exuberance in 2022.

Raylene has been a key artist at Bábbarra Designs since 2012, where she now holds a permanent position as an arts worker. She was mentored by her late mother, Nancy Gununwanga, a founding member of Bábbarra Women’s Centre and a fellow textile artist. Today, Raylene continues the legacy by mentoring and supporting her daughter, Rosanna Bonson, in their shared artistic journey.

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