Ngoorabul calendar

The Ngoorabul people's traditional country covers the Glens Innes Highlands, including Boorabee and The Willows Indigenous Protected Area (IPA).

The Ngoorabul people manage around 3,000 hectares of land, and hope to conserve the koala (Burrbii) on their land. The Ngoorabul people use traditional fire management practices to manage the region.

January

Key words

• Mali'yan (Wedge-tailed Eagle)
• Nun'dah (river)
• Oparra (Native Cherry)

Plant and animal indicators

• Beard Heath (Leucopogon) is fruiting, we eat the berries. We used to eat Mistletoe fruit as kids, they are yellow when ripe. We eat the Native Cherries in summer.
• Sacred Kingfishers can be seen down at the gorge near the river at this time of year.
• There are many Wedge-tailed Eagles at the Willows-Boorabee IPA. They have been here forever, they nest here and we see them regularly. They are considered to be a higher power.
• The Severn River floods in summer and autumn after random big rains.
• Mussels were an important food source year-round. We have found many shells in rock shelters and around the willows.

February

Key words

• Tuurii (Bells’ Turtle/Western Sawshell Turtle)
• Bulagrii (Eastern Long-neck Turtle)
• Mirridjin (Broad-shell Turtle)
• Noocoorbeen (blossom of apple tree)
• Goora (blossom)

Plant and animal indicators

• Kangaroo Grass seeds during January to February. It's ground and made into damper and eaten.
• Lomandra is seeding. Lomandra was used to weave baskets, make fishing nets, wear as clothing or to carry a baby.
• Snow grass is seeding. Rough-barked apple and Mistletoe flowing.
• The Bell’s Turtle, which is threatened under New South Wales and Federal legislation, is found in the Severn River and Arrawatta Creek. Turtle eggs hatch around February. Long-necked Turtles are also found in the river and are eaten.
• Seeding grasses, including Native Millet and Spinifex/Porcupine grass, provide a food resource for threatened Turquoise Parrots and Red-browed Finches.

March

Key words

• Bandarr (Eastern Grey Kangaroo)
• Dandur (Wallaroo)
• Waa'guuii (Scrub Wallaby)
• Wilgul (Rock Wallaby)

Plant and animal indicators

• Flowering eucalypts attract small flocks of Musk Lorikeets, threatened Little Lorikeets and groups of Yellow-faced Honeyeaters, White-eared Honeyeaters, Brown-headed Honeyeaters, White-naped Honeyeaters and Noisy Friarbirds.
• Scarlet Honeyeaters feed on nectar from flowering mistletoes.
• Eastern Grey Kangaroos and Common Wallaroos take advantage of new grass growth following summer and autumn rains. Macropods were an important food source, particularly for young Eastern Grey Kangaroos. Other macropods at The Willows-Boorabee include Red-necked Wallabies and Swamp Wallabies.
• The Kangaroo Apple fruits at the end of summer.

April

Key words

• Burr'bii (Koala)
• Murruu (Quoll)

Plant and animal indicators

• Sometimes we can hear koala bucks calling. We used to see koalas everywhere, but now we occasionally see them at Boorabee (in autumn). We think a big fire burnt them all out. Hopefully they'll come back with the right fire management.
• Spotted-tailed Quoll, Common Dunnart and Yellow-footed Antechinus breed with the males roaming widely. Frogs are active, such as the Peron’s Tree Frog, Whistling Tree Frog, Plains Froglet and Pobblebonk.
• You can hear the fish slapping the water as they catch the frogs and eat them.
• The ripe fruits of the Poison Pimelea are eaten by threatened Turquoise Parrots and Spiny-cheeked Honeyeaters at this time of year.
• Many bird species are travelling past the Willows-Boorabee heading north, including threatened Dusky Woodswallows, White-bellied Cuckoo-shrikes and Tree Martins.

May

Key word

• Mookrum (Urn Heath)

Plant and animal indicators

• Urn Heath flowers.
• Black Wattle is used as a fish poison, as it takes oxygen out of the water and stuns the fish. The best time of year to do this is when the river is low.
• Wattle seeds are soaked in water/boiled, crushed and made into damper. They can also be used like tea or coffee.
• The Willows-Boorabee IPA provides habitat for declining woodland bird species and mostly ground-foraging bird species. At this time of year, these birds are feeding in woodland and forest areas, including the threatened species Brown Tree Creepers, Speckled Warblers and Diamond Firetails. More common species found include Chestnut-rumped Heathwrens, Yellow-rumped Thornbills, White-browned Babblers, Jacky Winters and Double-barred Finches.

June

Key words

• Billar (Forest Oak/Belah)
• Holpin (Scrub Oak)
• Tulgil (Cypress Pine)
• Arrgana, Bargan, Burr-gun (boomerang)

Plant and animal indicators

• Greenhood and Onion Orchids flower.
• If children get lost, they're told to sit under the Hairy Oak Trees because snakes wouldn’t go near it due to the rough bark. This slow burning timber is used to carry coals from one camp to another. Elders made a boomerang from the bent root of the tree.

July

Key words

• Man'daa, Gurrill (large Murry Cod)
• Wag'gar-bal (catfish)
• Beeu, Billarngun, Yarungun (grub)
• Nilla (hooks for grubs)
• Nullo, nindore (dilly bag)

Plant and animal indicators

• During cold time, big Murray Cod settle in the waterholes. They move slowly and don’t fight when they are caught. Little fish are around throughout the rest of the year.
• Cold weather is time to look for Witchetty Grubs. They change colour according to what plant they live in. The yellow grubs are in the root of the wattle, the red grubs are found in the wood of the red gum. We use a hooky wire to fish them out of the wood, you have to be quick and quiet or they will get away.
• Kangaroos stand still in the paddock and don’t move away when you go near them.

August

Key words

• Ngar'ruu (honey/sugar bag)
• Girruu (Grass Tree Honey)
• Marrar (Lomandra)
• Kao, Kob/bai (small bee), Boo (large bee)
• Probiccullo (Bumblebee)
• Gungi, Tungi, Menge (Shield)
• Goonol, Ginnon, Inga (crayfish)

Plant and animal indicators

• Bees make delicious honey from Red Ironbark flowers during winter and spring. We use the hard timber to make shields.
• Wattles flower as the weather starts to warm up.
• Some bush foods come up after fire, but others won't fruit for a few years after a fire, such as Leucopogon. If you burn too often, you will kill these plants out. Geebungs don’t like fire, they're good bush tucker. Mookrum resprouts after fire. It fruits about 12 months after the fire. Lomandra comes back after fire.
• Some native yams are found in this country but pigs eat them out along with ground orchids. Honey from native bees was an important bush tucker.
• In the old days, Ngoorabul people used to climb trees to collect sugar bag.
• Murray cod are spawning and aggressive, we don't fish for them at this time.
• Yabbies come out and can be found until April, when the water cools down. Yabbies were a big part of the diet for Ngoorabul people. We collected swampy grass, put some meat in there, the crayfish would crawl in and get caught. Then, we could cook and eat them.

September

Key words

• Burr-burr (Grass Tree)
• N'yun'dah (tree)
• Jaw, dooral (smoke)

Plant and animal indicators

• Johnson’s Grass Tree flowered in the Porcupine Grass area following a burn in 2015, which attracted Yellow-tufted Honeyeaters and Noisy Friarbirds. The Grass Trees are a culturally important species used for resin and bush tucker. Grass Trees were known as the 'fire tree' and used for fire drills and torches/fire sticks. We can only get it at a certain time of year when it dries out and we use it in place of tinder. These fire trees were burnt as the old people walked past them. The burnt fire trees helps you find your track again.
• Echidnas are active in the early morning. Sometimes we see mating trains of echidnas. The echidna is a favourite bush tucker. To prepare it, we pull out the tongue and take the glands out of the throat. Then, we cook it.
• Many orchids are flowering at Boorabee, including Sun, Fairy, Donkey and Copper Beard Orchids, as well as Early Nancies, and the Kunzea and Bitter Pea Shrubs.

October

Key words

• Gaar'abul (cockatoo)
• Gubi (possum)
• Baay (Dunnart/Kangaroo Rat)
• Wurra (White Gum), Orr'a (Manna Gum)
• Kull-een/Ya (Black Snake)

Plant and animal indicators

• Donkey orchids flower. The tubers of this plant were an important resource for Aboriginal people in south-east Australia. They were once eaten every day by Aboriginal people.
• Urn Heath fruits.
• Reptiles are active during the day, including Nobbis (dragons), Lace Monitors (goannas) and Red-bellied Black Snakes. Bandy Bandies forage at night. Dragons lay their eggs on the road.
• Lace monitors are a favourite bush tucker.
• White cockatoos nest in gums.
• Platypus breed in spring. The males are active this time of year.
• Juvenile Spotted-tailed Quolls become independent of their mother. Common Brushtail Possums carry healthy young on their backs. Common Dunnarts have young in their nests.
• Microbats are active, particularly around canopies of flowering eucalypts. They feed their young in maternity roosts, as do Lesser Long-eared Bats, Goulds Long-eared Bats, threatened South-Eastern (Corben's) Long-eared Bats, Little Forest Bats and threatened Eastern Cave Bats.

November

Key words

• Gam'mira-bul (Crimson Rosella)
• Wug'ul-buu-tuu (Red-winged Parrot)
• Gimma (Feather-tailed Glider)
• Bangu (Squirrel Glider)
• Mubuubiirbitbiin (Grey Ironbark), Bug-gil-ee (ironbark)
• Yarra (Red Gum)

Plant and animal indicators

• Yellow Box and Blakely’s Red Gum flower next to the Severn River. Tumbledown Red Gum and Narrow-leaved Ironbark flower through the central section of the IPA. When eucalypts flower, many birds (especially parrots and honeyeaters), bats, gliders, possums and insects gather to feed from the flowers.
• There are lots of Eastern Brown Snakes in the area. Their heads are cut off and the body is eaten.
• Peregrine falcon pairs nest in Severn River Gorge. They fed their young Musk Lorikeets and Starlings.
• White-Browed Woodswallows and Masked Woodswallows come out on storm fronts to hawk insects in late spring. White-throated Needletails also take insects high overhead.
• Bell’s Turtles lay their eggs in November and December.
• Weeping Bottlebrush flowers along the Severn River, attracting groups of Little Red Flying-foxes and honeyeaters, including Spiny-cheeked Honeyeaters, Red Wattlebirds, Scarlet Honeyeaters and Striped Honeyeaters.

December

Key words

• Goo-long (rain)
• Boo'-roo (thunderstorm)

Plant and animal indicators

• The threatened plant Rodd’s Star Hair flowers. This precious plant is a favourite food of goats so the rangers fence it off to stop them destroying it.
• Chocolate and vanilla lilies flower. The root tubers of the lilies are eaten roasted or raw in some areas of Australia.
• Ladies tresses flowers.
• Frogs are active and call after rain from storms. Types of frogs include Peron's Tree Frog, Plains Froglet, Ornate Burrowing Frog and Stony-creek Frog.
• The threatened Border Thick-tailed Gecko is found at Boorabee and is one of many threatened species that finds sanctuary here.

Acknowledgement

The Aboriginal language words included in this calendar are from Ngarabul (also known as Ngoorabul) and Yugambul Country, including the Narul dialect of Tenterfield. These places are located on the New England Tablelands of New South Wales.

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