Welcome to Walabunnba country
"Our names are Lana, Rachel, Pansy, Trisha and Lindy. We are part of the Rankine family. We are happy to share our cultural knowledge about the seasons and changes that take place and what we look for.
The country (dreaming place) that we belong to is Walabunnba (approximately 300 km north of Alice Springs, Northern Territory), which is the birth place of the Ngapa (water) Rain Dreaming. We are the caretakers of the Rain Dreaming, which brings us our knowledge about our ceremonies, places, pictures, songs and dance. The Rain Dreaming has been handed down to us from our ancestors. It is our beginning and our understanding about many things.
We have lived in the central desert of Australia all of our lives. We participate in many Aboriginal cultural norms such as women's business ceremony, sorry business (upon the death of a family member), respect our Rain Dreaming and other people's Dreaming stories and our relationships to each other (Kinship and Skin names). We speak more than one tribal language and English.
There are two distinctive seasons that we talk about – the hot and cold weather. Desert life changes from hot weather to cold weather and so too our activities. The main changes we see are the different plants and animals and we feel the hot and cold weather coming and going."
Wangtanka – hot season
Summer: October to March
Bushfire time and heavy rains.
Lifestyle of the Walabunnba communities during Wangtanka
"Wantangka gradually gets hotter so we know to be ready for high temperatures, bush fires and rains. A variety of different bush foods become available and certain animals are ready to eat.
The Bush Plum is found around Central Australia in Watangka. The Bush Plum is not a traditional Dreaming, unlike Bush Banana or Bush Potato. We eat the plum straight off the bush when it is dark. It is sweet to taste.
The Wakalpirri (Bush Bean) can be collected between winter and summer. During the middle of the hot weather, the beans dry on the bush but we can still collect them for food. The women go out in the country with a blanket or large piece of calico material and place it under the bush bean tree. We then hit the leaves of the tree with a stick until the dry beans fall off and are easy to collect. We store the dried beans for months, but sometimes eat them straight away.
The dried bean is placed into a coolamon and mixed with water using our hands. We mix it until it's milky, then sip the juice. When we've finished, we lay the beans out onto the blanket in the sun to dry. When the bean is really dried out, we crush and grind together to make flour. We use flour in the damper and store it for months at a time.
When a big storm is coming, we hear the rain bird (Mirrlarr) call out. When we hear that bird we know there will be a lot of rain coming. The rain fills the water holes, but we always know where to find water even if there is no rain.
We share a ceremony which is held during the hot weather.
The grass is burnt after the rains, which is the end of the hot weather. The burning helps the bush foods to grow again."
Yurluurrp – dry season
Kangaroos get fat during the winter months, so are best to eat during this time
Winter: April to September
Dry time and cooler temperatures.
Lifestyle of the Walabunnba communities during Yurluurrp
"The Wantangka gradually goes away and Yurluurrp (cold weather) is coming.
The winter time foods include the Bush Tomato, which is eaten when it's ripe and bright yellow. When it's dry, the Bush Tomato turns brown and can still be eaten. The dried Yakatjirri can be ground and mixed with water to make a roll, which is placed under the sun until dry. This roll can be stored.
We use the coolamon to carry the food around and for storage.
Bush Potato or Yarla is one of the main bush foods eaten on its own. It's cooked under the hot dirt by placing the potato in the sand with hot coals on top.
The potato comes from a small shrub. We know when to dig for the potato because there are cracks on the ground along the root system leading to the potato. Sometimes the potato is shallow, other times it may be 2 m into the ground.
The women go out to collect the yarla. They use digging sticks to jab or hit the earth and listen for the hollow sound. If it is a hollow sound, they dig to find the yarla.
During the colder months the kangaroo and goanna fatten up and they are best to eat at this time.
Throughout the year we notice 2 particular star constellations moving across the sky: The Seven Sisters and the Milky Way. We also feel the changing direction of the winds.
Knowledge about the weather is not secret business. You don't have to be a traditional owner of country to speak about the weather. it is the same as your culture, just everyday knowledge."
Lana, Rachel, Pansy, Trisha and Lindy are family members of the Walya Altjerre Aboriginal Corporation sharing cultural knowledge.
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