Kuku Yalanji Country bubu

Black bean

bawayCastanospermum australe

Baway, the black bean or Moreton Bay chestnut (Castanospermum australe), is a large rainforest tree that grows along creeks and rivers. Its seeds are big, chestnut-like and poisonous raw. Bama made them into food by baki

Black palm

duwar · kakanNormanbya normanbyi

Duwar is the black palm (Normanbya normanbyi), and also the spear made from it. This tall, slender rainforest palm grows only in a small stretch of the Wet Tropics, from south of Cooktown to near Mossman, which is Easter

Candlenut

bilarAleurites moluccanus

Bilar, the candlenut (Aleurites moluccanus), is a rainforest tree with hard, round nuts that are 'edible after roasting'. It was the most highly prized of the Bloomfield nuts: eaten on its own, and added to wallaby while

Fig trees

jarrangkal · mujarr · kumin · yinkunji · dukal · binanji · baril-barilFicus spp. (including Ficus racemosa and F. opposita)

Fig trees (Ficus) have more names in Kuku Yalanji than almost any other kind of tree. Jarrangkal is 'fig tree and its fruit', and there are separate words for at least six particular figs, among them mujarr, kumin, yinku

Ironwood

jujabalaErythrophleum chlorostachys (syn. E. laboucherii)

Jujabala is the 'ironwood tree'. On the Bloomfield River, 'ironwood' meant the Cooktown ironwood, Erythrophleum chlorostachys, a tree of the dry open forest with extremely hard, heavy wood. Kuku Yalanji made hunting spea

Pandanus

jajikalPandanus spiralis (as identified by Anderson 1996); the beach pandan is Pandanus tectorius

Jajikal is the pandanus or screw palm, the spiky, prop-rooted tree of the beaches and creek banks. Its name is written into the country: the lower camp at Ayton, 'where there are lots of pandanus trees', is called Jajika

Paperbark

buyku · jidi · kalkuri · wanjakan · bijan · marngkil · marrabal · marril · bijinMelaleuca spp. (e.g. Melaleuca leucadendra, M. argentea, M. fluviatilis)

Buyku is the Kuku Yalanji word for paperbark: the Melaleuca trees, often called ti-tree or tea-tree in North Queensland English, whose pale bark peels away in soft layers. Paperbark is one of the most useful trees on cou

Red cedar

marrakanToona ciliata

Marrakan is the red cedar tree (Toona ciliata), and the same word means a 'dugout canoe made of red cedar wood'. Its soft, light, durable timber made it, with candlenut and cotton tree, a favourite for the hulls of the B

Stinging tree

miliDendrocnide spp. (D. moroides, D. cordifolia, D. photinophylla)

Mili is the stinging tree: the Dendrocnide shrubs and trees of the rainforest, whose leaves and stems are covered in fine glassy hairs that inject a pain-causing toxin. A bad sting from the gympie stinger 'can last for m

Zamia

marra · julbinCycas media (here subsp. banksii)

Marra, the zamia or cycad (Cycas media), is a palm-like plant of the open forest whose big seeds are poisonous raw. The dictionary sums up how Kuku Yalanji people made it into food: it is 'roasted, ground and leached to

Fish-poison plants

miyilBarringtonia spp., Erythrophleum chlorostachys, Diospyros hebecarpa and others

Late in the dry season, when creeks shrink to separate waterholes, Kuku Yalanji stunned fish with crushed plants. The dictionary's miyil is a tree 'which has poisonous sap used to blind fish': its seed is wrapped in gras

Grass tree

nganjirr · kanunjulXanthorrhoea johnsonii (and other Xanthorrhoea species)

The grass tree, nganjirr, is the tufted, black-trunked plant of the dry open forest, Xanthorrhoea. Its resin, kanunjul, was 'used to make pitch to seal spear bindings'. Kuku Yalanji at Bloomfield also used the light flow

Lawyer cane

mawar · milmarr · kakuCalamus spp. (mainly Calamus australis and C. caryotoides)

Lawyer cane is the climbing palm of the rainforest, Calamus. Its whip-like, hooked tendrils catch anyone walking past, which is why it is also called 'wait-a-while'. Kuku Yalanji has several words for it. Mawar is 'the v

Yams

kawu · wukay · kalkurr · biyangkal · banjay · warrabuka · bambayal · wawukuna · ngakun · wubali · juwalDioscorea bulbifera, Tacca leontopetaloides, Typhonium brownii and other tubers

Kawu is the Kuku Yalanji word for yam, and the dictionary names about ten different kinds. Tubers, bulbs and wild yams were 'the cornerstone of the Kuku-Yalanji diet, especially in the inland area', and the hairy yam, wu

Wallabies and kangaroos

kadar · bimbarrbay · darrba · jumar · julmbanu · mayarriji · nyarrkali · murral · jarrabinaMacropodidae (several species)

Kuku Yalanji has a whole family of words for the hopping animals. Kadar is the plains wallaby, bimbarrbay the scrub wallaby, darrba the grass wallaby and jumar the little wallaby. Julmbanu and mayarriji are darker and li

Cassowary

kurranji · babarr · barbarrCasuarius casuarius johnsonii

Kurranji, the southern cassowary (Casuarius casuarius johnsonii), is Australia's largest bird: up to 2 m tall and 76 kg, flightless, with a blue neck, red wattles and a horn-like casque on its head. Kuku Yalanji has its

Scrub hen

jarrukaMegapodius reinwardt

Jarruka, the scrub hen or orange-footed scrubfowl (Megapodius reinwardt), is a hen-sized ground bird with big orange feet that builds huge mounds of earth and leaves to hatch its eggs. In Kuku Yalanji the one word covers

Scrub turkey

diwanAlectura lathami

Diwan, the scrub turkey or Australian brush-turkey (Alectura lathami), is the big black mound-building bird of the rainforest. It has a bare red head and a yellow wattle. Kuku Yalanji knowledge ties it to the seasons. Th

Freshwater crocodile

ngawurr-ngawunCrocodylus johnstoni

Ngawurr-ngawun is the Kuku Yalanji word for the freshwater crocodile (Crocodylus johnstoni), the slender-snouted crocodile of the inland rivers. It is the crocodile of the upper Mitchell River around Mount Carbine and Ka

Freshwater turtle

ngujayChelidae: Emydura, Myuchelys, Elseya and Chelodina species

Ngujay is the Kuku Yalanji word for the freshwater turtle, the river turtle of the creeks and waterholes, as opposed to ngawiya, the sea turtle. Bloomfield Kuku Yalanji went to the freshwater streams for 'eelfish and fre

Goanna

kalajarr · walkarr · jadiVaranus spp.

Kuku Yalanji names three goannas: kalajarr, the scrub goanna; walkarr, the black scrub goanna; and jadi, the sand goanna. Of jadi the dictionary says plainly: 'Only old people are allowed to eat it'. Roth called goannas

Saltwater crocodile

bilngkumuCrocodylus porosus

Bilngkumu is the Kuku Yalanji word for the saltwater (estuarine) crocodile, Crocodylus porosus. It is the biggest and most dangerous animal on country: it lives in the sea, the mangroves and the tidal rivers, and it trav

Sea turtle

ngawiya · yalngaCheloniidae (chiefly Chelonia mydas, green turtle)

Ngawiya is the Kuku Yalanji word for the sea turtle; the dictionary also has yalnga, 'sea turtle, poisonous if sacs aren't removed'. Eastern Kuku Yalanji Traditional Owners use ngawiya for all six marine turtles of their

Barramundi

judi · murrabal · kudiLates calcarifer

Barramundi (Lates calcarifer) has three names in the Kuku Yalanji dictionary: judi, murrabal and kudi, which belong to different dialects. It is a big silver fish of the estuaries, mangroves and rivers, and the young fis

Black bream (sooty grunter)

barrbalHephaestus fuliginosus

Barrbal is the Kuku Yalanji dictionary word for 'black bream'. In the fresh water of north Queensland, black bream is the sooty grunter (Hephaestus fuliginosus), a thick-lipped, sooty-black fish of rocky pools and snags.

Freshwater catfish

julaji · kanyaji · walarrjiEel-tailed catfishes (Plotosidae: Neosilurus, Tandanus and relatives) and fork-tailed catfishes (Ariidae: Neoarius and relatives)

Freshwater catfish are julaji in the Yalanji dialect and kanyaji in Nyungkul, and are sometimes called walarrji, 'with whiskers'. They are whiskered, scaleless fish of creeks, rivers and waterholes, and all of them carry

Freshwater eels

kubarr · dandarrbina · mawul · yabaAnguilla reinhardtii, A. obscura and A. marmorata (family Anguillidae)

Kuku Yalanji has at least four words for freshwater eels: kubarr, the big black eel; dandarrbina, the yellow eel; mawul, a small eel that only old people were allowed to eat; and yaba, a big-headed eel eaten only when th

Cherabin (freshwater prawn)

wukujuMacrobrachium species, chiefly the giant river prawn M. spinipes (formerly M. rosenbergii) and the long-arm prawn M. lar

Wukuju is the Kuku Yalanji word for 'freshwater prawn, the big one with long legs': the big river prawns that north Queenslanders call cherabin. The largest, the giant river prawn (Macrobrachium spinipes), is a prized ca

Mud crab

kijuScylla serrata

Kiju is the Kuku Yalanji word for the mud crab, the big, heavy-clawed crab of the mangroves (Scylla serrata). Eastern Kuku Yalanji Traditional Owners name kiju among the important food animals that breed in their mangrov

Native bees and sugarbag

dabu · kuja · kalburiji · mawal · kawar · mandi-mandi · dabadaba · wuju · wunbaTetragonula and Austroplebeia spp. (native stingless bees); Apis mellifera (wunba, the introduced honey bee)

Sugarbag is the honey of the small native bees that nest in hollow trees and in the ground. Kuku Yalanji has a whole vocabulary for it: dabu and kuja for bees and their honey, kawar for the 'honey bread', mandi-mandi for

Witchetty grubs and green ants

mujurr · jambun · kuran · jiljay · kurran · durra · munjurr · kurrmaja · kalbalWood-boring larvae of beetles and moths (mujurr is a beetle larva); Oecophylla smaragdina (green tree ant)

Mujurr is the fat white grub found in rotting wood, which turns into the beetle ngirran. Kuku Yalanji also names a grub of green wood (kuran, a case-moth larva), a grub found in antbed (jiljay) and one in dry grass trees

Red ochre

murbuy · wuba · makirr · makarra · kambarIron-oxide earths (haematite, ferruginous clay); kaolin (white clay)

Murbuy and wuba are red ochre. Makirr is yellow ochre, makarra 'streaky yellow ochre' and kambar 'white clay'. Together with charcoal, these earths were the paint box of the Bloomfield. They were used for painting the bo

Stone

jangka · kulji · jalngarr · jinali · jundi

Jangka is stone in Kuku Yalanji, and the dictionary has a word for each kind that matters: kulji 'pebbles, small stones', jalngarr 'flat rock', jinali 'smooth rock' and jundi 'pumice stone, carborundum stone'. Stone was

Spear and woomera

kalka · balur · Milbayarr · mirrba · mingu · ngurmu · mumal · dara · wulburr · duwar · yinba · yirrmba · jindal · jinil · manbir · murrangkal

Kalka is the spear, and especially the fishing spear. Balur, Milbayarr and mirrba are the woomera, the spear-thrower whose hook, mingu, fits into the end of the spear. Bloomfield River spears were built in two pieces: a

Firestick and fire

jimal · jimal damal · dama-murnil · baya · kunjin · jirramar · ngunjil · kubu · ngalku · miyilkura

The jimal is the fire drill: two sticks, one twirled upright between the palms against the other until the wood dust smoulders and lights a pinch of tinder. Roth recorded it on the Bloomfield River as tchi-mal (his 1904

Earth oven

kurrma · bangkal · dukul-dukul · jidu · dindal · wayjul · waju-l · nyamal · muyu wayjul

The kurrma is the earth oven: a pit of hot stones, lined and covered with leaves, then sealed with earth. On the Bloomfield River and at Cape Bedford, Roth recorded that the stones were heated in a fire and pulled out wi

Dilly bags

balji · ngunyin · kakan · ngurran · bilanji · mawu · wukurril

A balji is a 'ladie's dilly bag, made from grass or black palm', and a ngunyin is a dilly bag: on the Bloomfield River, the men's bag of fig-fibre twine. Anderson describes three main Bloomfield kinds: a black palm fibre

Fish poisoning

miyil · kuli

Fish poisoning stuns fish in a still pool with crushed bark, leaves, seeds or fruit. The fish float up dazed and are picked out by hand. At Bloomfield it was a late dry-season method in the inland creeks, when the smalle

Fish traps and weirs

wukurril · kanbil · milmarr

Fish traps catch fish without hook or spear. A cane cage, a stone dam or a fence of sticks blocks a stream, and the fish are taken as the water falls or as people drive them in. Neither Roth's Bloomfield records nor Ande

Fishing nets

makarr · warrur · ngunyin

A makarr is a fish net. The dictionary records nets made of warrur bark, 'dragged through the water in the dry season when the water goes down'. Roth, writing in 1901, thought fish-nets were not used on the Bloomfield, t

Hooks and lines

badur · mandurr · ngarruy

Fishing with badur, 'hook and line', was a year-round Kuku Yalanji method that worked even in muddy water, when spearing could not. At Bloomfield it was mostly women's work. In salt water the line was twisted from the ba

Hunting with fire

ngalku · duli · balbi · baya · kangal · karangaji · kubu

Kuku Yalanji hunting on land was usually a matter of one or two men, but in the dry season whole groups held wallaby drives with fire. Fires were 'carefully lit to create a ‘wall’ of fire going in one direction with only

Leaching poisonous plant foods

ngabal · julurril · nyurrbal · dirka · marrbal · jinali

Leaching is how Kuku Yalanji people made poisonous plant foods safe to eat. The food was cooked, broken down very fine, sifted, and then washed in running water or in bark troughs of fresh water until the bitter taste, w

String, twine and rope

karra · ngurran · kuralbi · warrur · ngunyin · biyal · murnil · kajal

Karra is 'rope, cord, string'. Kuku Yalanji people made string from the inner bark of figs and other trees, from grasses and palm fibre, and from wallaby-tail sinew. It became fishing lines, nets, dilly bags, turtle-harp