Status: Stock A5 Nautilus Shell 1 I am an Eastern Kuku Yalanji man. Members of my extended family have totems related directly to the Great Barrier Reef. The nautilus shell in this design represents our sea country. The reef is sacred to us but also our traditional hunting ground for Read more…
Status: Stock A4 – Nautilus Shell 1 I am an Eastern Kuku Yalanji man. Members of my extended family have totems related directly to the Great Barrier Reef. The nautilus shell in this design represents our sea country. The reef is sacred to us but also our traditional hunting ground Read more…
Status: Stock A3 Nautilus Shell 1 I am an Eastern Kuku Yalanji man. Members of my extended family have totems related directly to the Great Barrier Reef. The nautilus shell in this design represents our sea country. The reef is sacred to us but also our traditional hunting ground for Read more…
Status: Stock A3 Makarr (Fish Trap) 3 Fish traps are called Makarr in our language. They were made by men only. Our fathers and uncles used to make them with the lawyer vine. They stripped the stems and then soaked them in the river to keep them soft and bendy. They Read more…
Kakan (Black Palm) Basket Weaving This design shows how the bottom part of a black palm basket is woven. My grandmothers and aunties used to make them. They cut off the young palm leaves in the centre, stripped and scrapped them. Then they would put the strips in freshwater to Read more…
Jalbil (Boyd’s Rainforest Dragon) Jalbil, the rainforest dragon, is a small and gentle lizard that feeds on insects. It is very hard to see in the rainforest because it takes on the colour and patterns of the environment. The male dragons are very colourful. Jalbil are spiritual messenger for Kuku Yalanji that Read more…
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 Read more…
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. Read more…