My job at Garma

I went to Garma in August at Gulkula for the Festival. We were having workshops talking about tourism, bungul and making spears.

My job at Garma was talking to a group of about 11 tourists about Yolngu land, the bush medicine, the trees and the bush foods, the animals like bush wallabies, kangaroos and reptiles.

Before we go for the walk, l tell them to bring sunburn cream, mossie cream, a hat and to wear shoes for bush walking. I told them to get water for the walking trail. I waited for them to get water. l was talking to 2 men about bush trail walking. l was telling them l would have to look after them and to beware of buffalo and snakes and l would care for them.

We started walking from the top of Buku mountain and we went down the cliff. I was watching them and waiting for them to get near me. I showed them what we eat from the bush; the bush foods like yam.  l showed them  milkwood trees (gudarba) for the spears and stingybark trees (garaga) for the yidarki (digeridoo) and ironwood trees (mabin) for the bilma (clapsticks).

We saw pandanas for the women to make the bags, baskets, nets and mats. We saw red, yellow and black rocks we use for painting for ceremony or for painting on bark. We didn’t see any animals because it was too hot .

The tourists were asking questions and they were interested and excited about what l told them. They were asking how we dig for the yam ; with a wire or a sharp  stick. I told them we use a one metre straight stick made of mabin (iron wood).

From the bottom of the cliffs, we went up  through the rainforest.  We saw  a  palm and I  showed them   how we eat the fresh growing leaf which tastes like potato. The tourists liked it.

Then we went back to Gukala amd they were saying “Thank you Banula for taking us bush walking.” They were saying “Well done” and “Thanks for showing us the bush. It was awesome “. Some had never been walking in the bush before because they were from the city. I felt happy and very joyful and proud that they said that to me.

By Banula  Marika

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Working at  Garma

All the Dhimurru  rangers and  Laynha Rangers  went to Garma  at  Gulkula  on Thursday 4  August  2005.

On  Friday   5  August  me  and  Banula  some  Laynha  rangers  we  were  taking  tourists  to  Cape Arnhem   for a whole  day. We   showed  them  how  we  get  turtle eggs  from  the  sand  so  we  showed  how  we  get  out  from  the  sand  we taught  them. They  did  enjoy   that  day .                                                                                           

Then  on  Saturday  6  August  with  the  Rangers  from  Laynha   and   Dhimurru,  we  were making  spears  showing  them  how  we  get  spears  from  the  bush. Then  we  showed  them  how  we  make  fire  for  the  spears  to  straighten  them  it  took  us  about  one  hour  or  two  they  did  it  alright  and  they  did  enjoy  that   day.

On  Sunday  7  August   we  went  to  Yalangbara   with  me  Mawalan  Marika , Mandaka  Marika , Banula  Marika with  the  boys  from  Laynha rangers. We  showed  them  how  we  got  lots  fish with the spears. We caught lots  of fish, crabs  and  stingray.

On  Monday  night  on  8  August  there  were  band  playing  from  all  over  Arnhem  Land  and  from   central  Australia  even  the  school  band  was  playing  from  north, west; east, and  south. The nights  were  great.

Mawalan Marika

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WARNING  SIGN  ABOUT  (BARU) CROCODILE

On  Friday  23rd of  September  Parks and Wildlife and  Dhimurru   Rangers  went  to  Bawaka  to  put  a   warning  sign  about crocodiles.

First  Timmy Burarrwanga, land  owner  for  Bawaka  went to Dhimurru  and Parks and Wildlife  office  to  plan  to  put  a  sign  onto  the  beach.  The  Bawaka  community  are  worried  that  Yolngu and  Balanda  kids  or   friends  or  visitors  might  get  killed. 

So Phil Wise, Parks and Wildlife Ranger ordered signs from  Darwin Parks and Wildlife  office. We got two signs, one big one and one small one.

On  Friday  we  went  to  Bawaka  with  Phil Wise, Banula,  and  Marcus.  First Timmy showed us the spot for the signs.  Then  we  started  shovelling  the  sand to  make  two  holes  about  a meter deep.  Then  we  put  the  signs  into  the  holes  and  put  in  the  concrete.    

All  signs  are  important  to  give  us  a  message  about  (baru)  crocodiles.  The attack on Groote Eylandt shows how dangerous  crocodiles  can be.

Do  not  spray-paint  signs  or  scratch  out  the  words.
Do  not  smash  them up. 
Read  them  and  think  and  learn.

BY  AARON NALKUMA  BURARRWANGA

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Baru  (crocodile)  at  Gaynguru

On  Wednesday  the 14 of  September all the Dhimurru  rangers  went to Gaynguru to help Parks and Wildlife ranger Phil Wise catch a small crocodile.  He said there was a small baru  (crocodile)  trapped in the cage and had to be transferred to   Daliwuy. 

So we gathered all the equipment we needed and drove down to the town  lagoon where the trap was . First we got all the ropes ready so we could noose  the crocodile jaws . Phil was there to   supervise and tell us the correct way to capture and noose the  baru.  Me, Arian and Mawalan  were the ones doing the  noosing .

First we had a noose and secured the to jaw at the  back  of   its  upper  last  teeth. Then we used a cable tie to secure both  jaws so it kept them closed and safe.

We pulled the crocodile up a little bit out of the cage. Then we started to put the special, strong silver tape around its jaws but not across the nose. Then we took it out from the cage.

We checked it to see if it was a female or a male. It was a female. We measured it to see how long it was. It was 1.5 metres long. We checked its scales on its tail and found it was numbered. It had been caught before and was from the croc farm.

Then we put the tape on its back legs so it couldn’t run. Then we took it to the Dhimurru vehicle and we covered its eyes with a wet hessian bag so it couldn’t see and it was quiet.

It’s important to remove the crocodiles from Gaynguru, to the croc farm because they are dangerous for people. Some people visit Gaynguru to watch birds and walk around the area. My work moving crocodiles is important and I’m caring for the area.

Dhuru Yunupingu

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