Kakadu, Northern Territory

We stayed in Jabiru, in the main town and I couldn't believe we had mobile reception. The outback just isn't the outback anymore! But it was still a great place to stay to explore the Kakadu National Park, which was exactly what we did, working our way around the rock art sites which were our main focus. I'm going to try and give you some basic information about what we have learnt in the last few days about the traditional owners of this land. It's going to be hard to do the place justice.

Traditional culture

Firstly I must say that my impression and knowledge is very, very basic. I have only visited the cultural heritage sites and a couple of information centres but am so intrigued by the concepts within. And the stories differ (along with the names of similiar deities) according to the area and of course due to the level afforded me as a tourist. Stories are knowledge and knowledge is power, as is the creation of dreamtime stories. The level of knowledge I can have at this stage is kindergarten, yet if I were of Aboriginal descent by now I would have experienced many ceremonies and have a more vast understanding based upon my gender and age.

But the stories are amazing; they provide so much for the community, spelling out and giving knowledge on the environment and mapping, culture and law, kinship relationships and law and general common sense. Here are some of the stories as told by the National Parks staff and information boards...

Safety/To teach children to be wary of crocodiles....

When children become of age to do ceremony (both males and females) around the age of 10-12 they begin to hear the same stories they have grown up with, but now with more detail. In this area- the northern Alligator River (Ubirr, OO-bir) they're told a story of the Namarrkan sisters who loved playing tricks on each other. These sisters went down to the river one day and one of them decided to play a game and transferred herself into the form of the crocodile. Everyone knows that the crocodile has no law, they are a law unto themselves. The crocodile's brain is minute, they are simply a machine, acting upon impulse and not to be trusted. Well, one sister decided to enter the river and play a joke, lunging out of the water to scare her sister who was dangling her legs in the water. This she did and her sister was unaware it was her kin that was the crocodile. She got away with the trick on her sister, but all young children are taught to be careful of the crocodiles, because it's not the crocodile that wants to hurt them, but the Namarrkan sisters who are cheeky and playing dangerous games.

BEWARE OF CROCODILES!

Obeying law is the first priority...

Law is unwritten but learnt from before children can walk. They learn relationships, and responsibility to others. Many laws govern what food can be eaten at a particular time, for both different aged people (EG. only the old, grey people can eat the slower rock wallaby- the younger ones must try harder and catch the quicker ones leaving food for the less able bodied) and the sexes. One story goes that a young girl was hungry and when fishing caught a barramundi. Now she knew she shouldn't have eaten the barrimundi- it was forbidden for her at that time- but there was no-one around so she determined it wasn't hurting anyone so she did so anyway. Some men of a different tribe saw her breaking law and beat her up for her crime. She then returned to her own people and told the men what had happened. They in turn were also compelled to punish her and she was beaten again just as badly. Then they also had a responsibility to discipline the other tribesmen who shouldn;t have interferred so a tribal conflict began. 

Explaining how nature's seasons work... the rock art of Ubirr

Namarrgon (the Lightning Man) is a character that is relived in many different tribes. In the Ubirr story he and his wife travel a long way from the gulf to this country. Along the way he loses his many children. He is sad but decides he wants them back and he also wants them to be more beautiful than any other creature and turns them into beautiful red and green grasshoppers (now called  Leihardt's grasshopper) so he will be able to find them. Every year now at the end of the dry season Namarrgon's children call out to him, telling him to come down and find them. He does so and his legs and arms hold fire sticks which he uses to create lightening, thunder and torrential rains. This story serves to remind the people that when they hear the grasshoppers it is time to move camp- the rains are coming. Many of the rock art drawings show Namarrgon.

 

Namarrgon's the figure on the right

Namarrgon's wife is on the left and the large figure in the middle is an evil spirit god, Namarndjolg- the one who broke the incest laws with his sister and then threw her off the cliff. He later became Ginga, the great saltwater crocodile (who is not to be trusted)

Oh, and here are the grasshoppers- Aljurr... Namarrgon's children

 Aljirr

Geography...

The rainbow serpent, in this case Bulunga, but known by many different names has created dreamtime places and carved her way (she can be male or female) through the land creating special landmarks for people to be aware of. One story details how once she took her serpent form she no longer had need for teeth so she took them out and left them by the river, which them created a stand of a certain palm tree which usually couldn't grow in that type of location. Of course some places are only for females or for males. Disobeying law on this issue is to evoke punishment of the worst kind.

 View from the Nadab lookout- Ubirr

On looking after children...

One day a mother was out with her child when she found a sweet yam root (found in the ground deep at the end of a wavy vine) for her baby to suck on, but by the time she had returned to camp the baby had chewed all the root and was crying for more. The crying got louder and louder. So the mother went out in search of more, but when she returned she had accidentally found the bitter root which made the child even louder in his crying. No-one in the tribe was attending to the child's cries which became so liud that they woke the rainbow serpent who came down and killed everyone in the village. She even killed two men who had hidden behind a paperbark tree, her excellent hearing picking up on when they killed a mosquito slowly and she heard the buzz. No-one was safe. It is everyone's responsiblity to look after the young so they all deserved to suffer through their breaking of law. Apparently this system works and children are well cared for, although don't turn into spoilt brats because when the next child comes along they are then held responsible for looking after the younger ones. 

 

Family groups are pictured on the same rock wall, wearing headdresses and dancing; the women who are breastfeeding have two lines on their breasts so you can tell them apart.

The rainbow serpent at Nourlangie... and a warning story.

Skin names, responsibility and relationships...

Each child born is given a skin name according to her mother. There are different variations for males and females but the actual names given are dependant only upon the mother. There are only eight variations. These names dictate the relationships this child will have throughout it's life. And when they are of ceremony age this becomes crucial as they are immediately unable to speak to certain family members and can only marry someone with one of two skin names. They usually refer to each other by relationship rather than names, and Uncle, Sister etc is more common in greetings. Some of these relationships are exclusive so they are unable to have anything to do with each other, having to ignore and have no contact at all. There is a story about an evil god who was angered when his sister told everyone her shame because the two of them had disobeyed law (how is unknown to the European) so he pushed her off a cliff at Ubirr (Mentioned above). When the rest of the tribe found out, they hunted him down with burning sticks which when thrown stuck into his back and he turned into GINGA, the saltwater crocodile and ran away. You can see the burning sticks now, still on his skin making raised marks. 

Relationships are complex; EG. children are born who may be considered Uncles to those who are by blood actually their grandfather and much older etc. It's confusing but works, not only enforcing social responsibility but just as importantly ensuring the survival of the tribe and genetic material. To marry someone of the wrong skin is against law and punishable to the highest degree. Age is irrelevant, it is the relationships that take priority. This social justice system enables the tribe to take responsibility for each other. If someone disobeys law, it is up to certain others to enforce justice. The aged care problem that exists in western society has no place here.

A reminder of law at Ubirr...

Food and health...

Many of the rock art drawing contain references to food and give information as to when certain foods are best enjoyed, when they are in season and how they are to be prepared. (Our guide joked that the incredible drawings are like a menu.) Even the cooking methods will vary according to the time in the season and the type of food being prepared. (Eg. different turtles require different wood be used in the cooking fire.) The children learn very early on what is available to eat when, and how to treat certain foods so they don't cause sickness, which is a matter of survival of course. The same goes for medicinal items.

 

Turtle in the middle-left showing where the prized fat deposits are, around neck and back legs.

The wallaby is bottom right and various fish are pictured.

NOTE: See also the white man in the hat- he's a boss as evident from his hands in his pockets.

 Turtle

Other general knowledge items were fascinating... the banskia pod when removed may be used as a fire keeper, once lit it continues to burn and enables fire to be relocated from one place to another with minimal effort. Much easier than rubbing two sticks together to create a new flame each time they move camp.

The Anbangbang cave we visited today was especially interesting not only for the art works within, but for the fact that carbon dating has shown the floor of the cave to contain artefacts dated from 20,000 years ago. When you consider Jesus Christ died approx. 2,000 years ago, the Ancient Egyptians and the massive pyramids were built 4,000 years ago and stonehenge created 5,000 years ago, this is amazing. And to think that some artefacts were discovered in France that date back 12,000 years just makes this living culture all the more special. The Australian Aborigines have adapted with the times, taking into their stride European arrival, climate change (Ice Age?!) to maintain a unique culture that is evident today. 

 Wallaby

 A great camp site

 

Grooves where ocre has been ground for thousands of years

More artwork from the Anbangbang cave- art is a very important form of expression, storytelling and ceremony

European influence

I'm not going to go into the whole issue of the arrival of Europeans and the impact this had upon the traditional owners because at this point I am embarrased and ashamed of many of the events that followed. It's beyond shameful to think that some people believed it best to remove children (and adults) from their native lands, forcing them to live in a new culture, learn a different language and punishing them for speaking in their natural dialect. Some of the recounts in the information centres brought tears to my eyes- the poor children, punished for speaking their mother tongue and then sent home only to find that the language their tribe was speaking when they were taken away has since changed and they now need to learn a whole new vocabularly. Not to mention the stress of leaving behind their culture and missing their ceremony and learnings. The stories of the elders are equally as confronting when people examine the effects of money,  drugs, and general western influence on their special way of life. It's up to each family to determine how "westernised" they will be, and gives us an insight into the challenges traditional countrymen face today. Some choose western ways (and run the risk of being banished from the tribe), and others they find it all too much, reverting to a more traditional lifestyle after tasting what the cities have to offer. Some manage to combine to two, successfully integrating technology into acient practice. (Hunting using rifles rather than spears is just one example) Regardless of the choices made, sacrifices are evident either way. 

A sneaky mullet drawn as he'd be after caught- immediately his head is removed because he can't be trusted, unlike other fish. (The information boards throughout the parks were great)