Some baskets are special ones WITH THOMPSON YULIDJIRRI, BRUCE NABEGEYO, GARNBALADJ NABEGEYO, GABRIEL MARALNGURRA, AND JILL NGANJMIRRA

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1 Twined part 1 22/3/05 11:42 PM Page 42 2 Some baskets are special ones WITH THOMPSON YULIDJIRRI, BRUCE NABEGEYO, GARNBALADJ NABEGEYO, GABRIEL MARALNGURRA, AND JILL NGANJMIRRA Introduced, recorded and collated by Sally K. May and Anthony Murphy, Kunwinjku transcription and translation by Murray Garde

2 Twined part 1 22/3/05 11:42 PM Page Up on Injalak Hill, near to the Gunbalanya community, an image painted on rock thousands of years ago illustrates more clearly than any words how significant fibre objects are to the people of western Arnhem Land. A figure we know to be the Rainbow Serpent in the form of a woman, Yingarna (also known as Warramurrunggundji, Imbromebera and Minyalawuy), carries fifteen decorated baskets, all suspended from her head. 1 The figure is not large, measuring not more than fifty centimetres across, and it is not in the most public of areas on the hill. It was placed quietly in a passageway looking south-west towards inland and central Australia. Yet despite its humble placement, this image represents the very creation of the Kunwinjku (and other) people as they emerged from dilly baskets into the country they had been chosen to inhabit. For the cultural groups living in western Arnhem Land, fibre production is an integral part of life. Yet it is not solely a practical relationship that people have with fibre works. Certainly Kunwinjku people use fibre in their everyday lives as decoration for their bodies, as carrying containers, as a way of earning income and so forth. Arguably, unlike bark painting, fibre art today is based on domestic practices and throughout this book these practices are explored. Yet fibre is embedded in all aspects of Kunwinjku culture and has been so for many thousands of years. Alongside its practical roles it has ceremonial roles, as well as making a central appearance in ancestral stories linking people, land, ancestors and spirits. The Kunwinjku and affiliated cultural groups choose to keep many of their ceremonies private. However, there are some other, public, ceremonies which can be discussed as an example of the importance of fibre to the belief systems and ceremonial practices of the region. In interviews, Thompson Yulidjirri with Gabriel Maralngurra, as well as Jill Nganjmirra, discussed the manmoro ceremony, which celebrates a coming-of-age for boys and girls, focusing specifically on their first successful catch. A special basket plays an integral role in this ceremony as a vessel for esteemed goods. As Thompson Yulidjirri and his translator Gabriel Maralngurra explain: corroboree, like a presentation. They got to hand back that dilly bag and bones to the boy or girl who caught it. They give them a special log coffin, decorated with feathers. That s theirs, that s like a prize that they ve caught. That s what we do. 2 And as Gabriel Maralngurra adds: Yeah, [we] still do that. That young fella, Mathania Garlngarr, they had that ceremony there. He found a two cent so they put that in that dilly bag. They took it to Melville [Island] and it came back. They gave him that two cents back that s his first, like a prize. This is manmoro. 3 Included in Twined Together is one basket collected in 1947 by Margaret Preston. Jill Nganjmirra has identified it as being a basket used for the ceremonial purpose described by Thompson Yulidjirri and Gabriel Maralngurra as manmoro. She explains: First young boy, age of ten to sixteen, kill animal first time, kangaroo. They keep all the bones, first one he kills maybe next two or three then no more. They don t eat, only the boy who kills it or older people, grandmother, aunties. 4 Alongside their ceremonial associations, baskets, fish traps and all other fibre forms are linked with the ancestral stories that pervade Kunwinjku life. Twined Together artists at Injalak Arts and Crafts were asked if there were any stories about fibre that they would like to share with the public, with the people who may be visiting the exhibition or reading this book. We were immediately directed to the most senior storytellers who, while often surrounded by younger artists, shared some of their knowledge and, in turn, the cultural significance of fibre objects. These are their stories, in their words. The stories were told in Kunwinjku by Thompson Yulidjirri and then told by Gabriel Maralngurra in an English narrative style. 5 Following Gabriel s telling, Thompson s Kunwinjku words have been transcribed and translated into Australian Standard English by Murray Garde. 45 Gunbalanya community, as seen from the top of Injalak Hill, October Actually [floor mats and bowls are] not really important to culture but it s something really public like the big floor mat and that bowl, fruit bowl, go and just make, you know? To do something, you know? It is not really for ceremony, but with the dilly bag that s part of the ceremony. If they catch first catch of barramundi, they get the bones, and put that bone inside the dilly bag. Or if that boy goes and shoots a kangaroo for the first time, they put that bone inside it and they take that. You d probably turn up just carrying sometimes dilly bag then you send it away. Yeah, we send it away. We give that to someone and they take the dilly bag, go to the ceremony then they come back and they bring that dilly bag and they give it to who ever it belongs. Then they have Mandjarbu djang: Black Crow (Wak) and the fish trap Thompson Yulidjirri was taught this story as a young man living in the Coopers Creek area by the artist Midjawmidjaw. Fish trap (GM) A big fish trap, the Black Crow made that one, he made it himself, he made one big one. The people are all sitting around watching him make that fish trap. And then when he d finished that, making that fish trap, he went to sleep. The Crow went to sleep. And the other people that were sitting around stole that fish trap and they took it in the river. They caught

3 Twined part 1 22/3/05 11:42 PM Page Painting by Thompson Yulidjirri of Black Crow and the Fish Trap. a lot of fish. He got up and he was looking for that fish trap. It was gone! The people who were sitting next to him had taken that fish trap. And he got really angry. He went and cut a big paperbark tree, he chopped it down, it fell down, and it split [Goulburn] island in two you got the North Goulburn [Mardbalk] and South Goulburn [Wyhena]. Now today we don t see crow, the black crow, eat or catch fish. The other birds they catch fish but not the black crow. Mandjabu (TY) Manekke manbu mandjabu wak bom, marnbom. Njamed yawam kunyarl [manbu mibuwarla kahdi kurrid] manekke manbu manmilerayek wanjh bom mani manbu mandjabu mankimukken. Konda kakodjni kaddum bu ngayahwurdni ngahnang mak bininj birrimarnbom. Kaluk nani wak, marnbom minj meyi djenj, larrk birrihbuyika birrihmey. Nungka kodjkewarreni munguyh yoy. Yuwurrinj dolkkayi la nakka wanjh djenj birrikayi birribuyika. Rayi bu djahwoyi mandjabu nayi larrk, wanjh rawoyhdjuhkemeninj. Yuwurrinj bu kunkodjkewern kunkodjkebuyika mak kunebu ngaye ngayawoyhdolkan. Yuwurrinj barrhbuyi. Kodjkewarreni la bedda birrikakdoy nawu birribuyika. Nanih nawu kabirrihbun mayhmayh birriyimerranj. Kabirrihngun djenj. Nawu nanih wak. Wanjh wanawam djobkeng djobkeng manmurlmu njamed mandarl manu wubbunj kabirrihbun [bonjh kare? disfluent]. Manekke djobkeng, djobkeng mankang, wanjh larlmirranj. Manu manih manyunkurr ngalengman wam Wayirran ngalengman Warruwi wam. Kaluk birringakmeng. Nawu birrimirndemornamerren nani namekke kabirrihngun djenj, la nungka kamre kadjandi karrihnan. Minj kamak kamang djenj djaying mey kondah kunukka mey nungan welengken nguyinj. English translation of TY s Mandjabu (MG) This conical fish trap was once made by Crow (when all the birds were in human form). He went off to search for the strong vine in the jungle thickets which is used to make the traps. They are very large, those conical fish traps. The top of the trap is (called) the head here, and when I was a child Aboriginal people used to make these traps. Well the Crow made a trap but couldn t get the fish because other people came and took the fish out of the trap. Crow was always sleeping and after sleeping he would get up and go and check his trap, but other people had taken away the fish. He would get up and go off to check the trap, but there would be no fish left and so he would place it back into the water again. He would sleep for days and said to himself I ll get up another morning (and go check the trap). So he slept and woke up in the morning. He was so sleeping so much that the others had been up at the crack of dawn already (and taken the fish). These were the people who have transformed themselves into the various birds which eat fish today. And this Crow also. So Crow went off and chopped down a large paperbark tree, the kind of large paperbark big enough to make a canoe out of. He chopped it down and it fell and split the land into two islands. One island became Warruwi (South Goulburn Island) and the other Wayirran (North Goulburn Island). The other people (who stole the fish) fell into the water and became all of the fish-eating birds of the sea and the Crow, he became a bird who stands there looking to bludge fish off other birds. He can t catch his own fish properly, but he was the one who should have eaten the fish he caught himself. Morlerl/Kurrih djang: Blue-Tongue Lizard Blue-Tongue Lizard (GM) That story tells about the Blue-Tongue Lizard. That dilly bag in front of him [see painting], the Blue-Tongue made that one. He made that dilly bag and when he was making that dilly bag he turned around and saw these men, four, trying to spear him. So he went inside and today he got that hard skin that s from the dilly bag. That s why the king brown, any animal won t bite him. That s true because he s got a hard skin from that dilly bag because the dilly bag is really woven nice and tight. So that s how the story goes for that dilly bag and Blue-Tongue and that s still for today, if you hold it you can feel its skin like a dilly bag. Kurrih (TY) La nani kurrih bulbbe manekke bom. Mani bulbbe kaluk [meddanj, meddanj] bennang bininj kabirrimre yimarnek birriyameninj. Kunkurlah kahngimen. Kaluk kunekke kunkurlah manbu rayekminj, bulbbe. Nungka bidju. English translation of TY s Kurrih (MG) This Blue-Tongue lizard made the tightly twined bulbbe basket (for carrying honey). He had the bulbbe basket on and turned around to see a group of men coming towards him trying to spear him. He went inside the basket and the bag became his skin. His skin became strong like the tightly twined basket. Ngok ngokorddol djang: Boobook Owl Boobook Owl (GM) This story here tells about Korddol. That s that [Boobook] Owl. One day this mother and father, they told him We are going out hunting. So they left this boy with his grandfather [Korddol] just to look after him and they went out hunting. He use to hold him, always crying, put him down, crying, he managed to get up and walk, go and get him, but he got really sick of it. So he got this boy, took him to this fish trap. He knew where all the fish trap was. He took him there, showed him the fish trap and said You go inside. So the little boy went Painting by Bruce Nabegeyo of Blue Tongue Lizard. 47

4 Twined part 1 22/3/05 11:42 PM Page Painting by Glen Namundja of Boobook Owl. in he [Korddol] trapped him and put him underwater. And then he went back home. He went back home and then he told those people, Just go look at the fish trap. So they all went down to the river, they took the fish trap out and they untied the fish trap. Then they seen the fish and the bones. And the people around him say, ahh, this is where you put the kid, the child, in the fish trap! So they picked up the stick and started hitting him in the head and that s how he turned himself into an owl. That s why you can see with your eyes, he looks this way and this way, but he was a man and they hit him this way, then this way. There were sticks everywhere. That s why today we see the owl got big eyes, that s from that old man. Korrdol (TY) Nani korddol nawu nani kaluk manjmiken beneyiwurrmeng ngalbadjan ngalbeywurd la kornkumo wurdyaw namekke beneyikurrmeng. Bihkarrmeng nalkbuyi wanjh bikadjuyi bimey. Benemdurndeyi beneniwirrinj rawoyhdolkkayi munguyh nalkbuyi bikadjuyi bimey. Munguyh bedman kadjuy nawu benewam njamed benewarlbom. Kunekke djalyimehyimeng wanjh ngudjwarreminj nawu nanih nawu nakohbanj. Wanjh bimey. Bimey benewam. Mandjabu manekke bengkang, manu manih. Kunekke bimarneyimeng yingimen, wanjh ngimeng kururrk. Kunwarre bimarneyimeng. E e yini kumekke. Wanjh yerrekah kurrmeng manyaw. Kurrmeng kubuyika kure kondah kahdang. Manekke kurrmeng, berddukkang. Biwayhkeng bidjuhkeng. Wanjh doweng. Doweng djenj birringuneng birringimeng kondahbu, birringimeng. Benkimey nawu kured birrini birribuyika. Birriyimeng karriray, mandjabu karrimang. Kondabu yimey djenj. Wanjh birriwam wayhkeng. Wayhkeng berdyerrhkeng kunebu yakarrbom birrimurrngnang. Ah nani wurdyaw namekke yikurrmeng kondah. Mani wanjh kahmurrngyo, kunmurrng. Bonj la birridjalbom wanjh. Birrikodjbaddi. Yimarnek meddanj kure birribom, kure meddanj birribom, kure meddanj kure kune kameddan kune kayime la kune yimeng la kubolkyimeng. La birrikodjbaddi konda kodjwarlawarlahminj la mimkimukminj. English translation of TY s Korrdol (MG) Korddol, the Boobook Owl, was a grandfather. His daughter and her husband were the parents of a young infant whom they placed down and left there for him (to look after). He held on to the baby but it cried. Time after time it tried to follow after the parents and he went and took it back. The parents went away hunting and the baby just kept on crying until the old man got sick and tired of it. So he picked up the infant and went off. He thought about the fish trap and went off to where it was (by the water). He told the child Go inside the trap and so it crawled inside. He asked What are you doing? No, just stay inside there. Then he fitted the entrance mouth of the trap and tied up the tail of the trap. He lifted the trap up with the child inside and threw it into the water. The child drowned. It died and the fish went in through the entrance and ate the child. The grandfather went back to camp and took everybody with him back to the trap. Let s go and get the fish trap they all said. They lifted it up out of the water and untied the tail of the trap. The bones of the child fell out and everyone looked. You put the child inside here! Here are the bones. Immediately they attacked him, beating him around the head. He turned this way and that way and they kept hitting him. They bashed his head until it became swollen up and his eyes became big (as the boobook owl is today). Yingarna djang: Rainbow Serpent All them Bininj [Aboriginal] kids, the serpent put them here, cross here [signals with his hands], cross here. 6 Yingarna is the Kunwinjku name for the ancestor whose journey resulted in the creation and dissemination of the Bininj or Indigenous people in Arnhem Land. Yingarna is said to have emerged from the Arafura Sea and traveled inland. Her story is long and complex and relates to many other ancestral stories for the region. As Thompson Yulidjirri explains, Yingarna, she was a Serpent, she was a Rainbow Serpent, carrying all that dilly bag [baken] that woman. She had the woman and all them boys inside the dilly bags, and she dropped a few here, she went east, and then around south, just around the top end here. And then Alice Springs somewhere and then I don t know, that s where she disappeared somewhere. She taught them language and clan and every dilly bag she would leave places like here. 7 Jill Nganjmirra also discusses the same ancestral woman but refers to her as Minyalawuy. My grandfather told me this story. All these dilly bags that she carries on her head that is all the people, in different tribes and languages. So this woman came from north side of Bathurst Island. She came to two islands, Bathurst and Melville Island. She dropped one bag at each. They the tribe, we called them Wunmuk tribe. Then she came to and crossed from two islands inland, Darwin area. She dropped one bag there. That is all the Larrakia tribe. Then she moved walking towards east way. She carried all the dilly bags full of people inside, in that dilly bag. Then she crossed to other island, in Minjalang. She dropped one bag there. That bag she dropped with all the people Iwaidja people. She kept walking east and she dropped another bag inland. She dropped one bag all the Gagadju people, Gagadju language. Then she kept walking towards east way now. Then she crossed to island, it s Goulburn Island and she dropped one bag, all the Malku tribe. Then she crossed inland and she dropped one bag of Kunwinjku people and she kept walking. She had still a lot of dilly bags carrying on when she traveled east and she dropped it east, Maningrida and she dropped three or four bags, Burarra and all those people. 8 Thompson Yulidjirri painting at Injalak Arts and Crafts Centre, October

5 Twined part 1 22/3/05 11:42 PM Page Rock art painting of Yingarna. Location: Injalak Hill, October On being asked about the significance of the dilly bags that Yingarna carried, Bruce Nabegeyo suggested that she had made the dilly bags herself from pandanus, the same type of material that people often use today. That dilly bag is djerrk. Special one, that one. She put them [the children] in that one and took them. My father told me that one, she [Yingarna] make big one, not small one, a giant one for all the kids to go inside. 9 Yingarna (TY) Ngadedjmang ngayolyolme Yingarna daluk ngalu kure kumdanginj kadungyibme benkang wurdyaw nawern beyken ngorrkang wurdyaw. Kumwam kumdjowkkeng kondah bowkmey manu manih karrihyo kunred. Wam benyawkurrmeng kure dedjmeng kubolkbuyika. Kumekke benyawkurrmeng wanjh kumbebmeng kondanj. Kumbebmeng kondanj kumwam. Konda kayawkurrme konda wanjh kunukkabu. Ngayolyolme bu bendjobkeng bad bedda kabirriyime yahyawurd wurduwurdurd nawu kabindidjobke. Kure kumekke dedjmey kumwam kunukka walk kondanjbeh bebmeng, konda bendjobkeng birridoweng nawu yayaw. Wanjh wam koyek benbawong kondabu. Wanjh kondah ngarrihdi kondah nawu ngarridjebelh. Wanjh derrehmeng kure koyek bendjobkeng kamak. Wanjh wam. Wam beh wahke koyek duninj. Wam kamak yaw benkurrmeng benyawkurrmeng kumwakbom, wam kure walem. Kumekke wanjh bag-ken nawu karrehkarrmeng, benyakwong wanjh. Nganyakwong ngadberre nawu birrihyungki. Wanjh nuk baleh wam. Some final thoughts The stories that Bruce, Thompson, Jill and Gabriel chose to share with us are just segments of a complex and extensive web of ancestral stories relating to objects, land and the creation of people and animals in western Arnhem Land. What they illustrate, alongside of the ceremonial example discussed, is the fact that fibre objects pervade all aspects of Kunwinjku culture. Some fibre objects are clearly considered to have more cultural significance than others or, as Bruce Nabegeyo explains, Some baskets are special ones, some baskets are just normal. 10 Just as Yingarna s image on Injalak Hill illustrates the ability of fibre objects to convey people, animals and things across country, so it invokes their ability to transport culturally across time to subsequent generations of Kunwinjku people and, today, to outsiders who have come to admire and respect these works of art. 51 English translation of TY s Yingarna (MG) I ll tell you a story about Yingarna, a woman who came here from the west. She carried many children in a large number of (string) bags. She came here to the flood plain after crossing over (the East Alligator River) and to this place where we live. She traveled around putting children at the various places and then went off to another place. I ll tell you about how she circumcised those children. Other Aboriginal people still circumcise young children. She walked from one place to another and she came to this country here. When she circumcised the children she put here, they died. So she left them and went on to the east. So today we are non-circumcising people. She moved on to the east and the children she circumcised there survived (and so today the easterners still circumcise their children). She then continued on far to the east placing children at different places as she went along. She then moved around to the south where she finished all of the children she was carrying in the bags. She finished putting all of us, our first ancestors, and from there we don t know where she went.