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Wakal (Freshwater Prawn)
Wakal are small freshwater prawns. They can be found in streams and creeks where they hide under rocks. We use them as bait when fishing up-stream and in deep waterholes.
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Kudi (Barramundi)
Kudi (Barramundi) is of great cultural importance for our Kuku Yalanji families. It is a major food source for us. We hunt them when they are fat. Kudi (Barramundi) is also one of a group of totem names that our elders give to a newborn child of the younger generation. A child who receives, for example, Kudi (Barramundi), as a totem name will be protected by the barramundi’s spirit their entire life.
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Wambiji (Platypus)
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Wambiji (Platypus)
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Ngujay (Freshwater Turtle)
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Kakan (Black Palm) Dillybag.
Our ancestors used Kakan (Black Palm) dilly bags to carry food when out hunting and gathering or soak bitter yams in creeks before cooking them. They were also used to hold personal items.
When I was a young girl my grandmother would teach me how to make Black Palm dillybags. We used to set up camp with other Kuku Yalanji women at a creek near Helenvale. It is very hard work. The men would help us cutting down the palm trees and separate the crownshaft from the trunk and the leaves. Then the women used to peel away the outer leaves until they felt strong threads they could pull out. They cleaned these threads from pulp with a mussel shell. When we moved away from Helenvale I forgot how to make them. Luckily years later I asked a relative of mine, Wilma Walker, who is great weaver, if she could refresh my memories. From then on I kept making dillybags as long as my health allowed it. I really enjoyed making them.
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Birmba (White Cockatoo)
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Ngawiya (Sea Turtle)
