Fish
Stingrays
yawu is the stingray, and the dictionary's note on it is a rule: 'Long ago only old people were allowed to eat it, but now this isn't followed much. Spearing one will bring on thunder and rainstorms'[1]. The barb, the serrated spine from the tail, was the point of the war spear and the fishing spear across the coast: dikarra in the dictionary is 'war spear, has a stingray barb', and Roth describes the single- and multiple-barbed spears of the Bloomfield and the trade in barbs up the Palmer, 'rolled up in bark' in teatree parcels[1][2][3]. The rays themselves are the estuary stingray of the mangrove creeks, the spotted and blue-spotted rays of the sand and reef, the shovelnose and the big mantas, each with its word[4][1]. Most of what is written about rays comes from the Eastern Kuku Yalanji coast; each place on this page says what is known there.
Hann River Cape York
Possum People's country on the upper river and Thaypan (Kuku Thaypan) country downstream: stringybark and bloodwood woodland and a spring-fed sandy river that runs north-east from the Great Dividing Range, past the Peninsula Developmental Road, into Rinyirru (Lakefield) and the North Kennedy. Not Kuku Yalanji country: the Kuku Yalanji words on this page are the dictionary's, not the Hann's own languages. Place guide
No ray is recorded on the Hann itself: the Atlas of Living Australia holds no ray record in a box of about 90 × 85 km around the middle Hann, Laura and western Rinyirru[11]. Downstream, the North Kennedy and Normanby rivers in Rinyirru (Lakefield) National Park are a breeding place of the freshwater whipray, 'the only Australian stingray confined to fresh and brackish waters'[12][5]. A century ago the Koko-warra of the Normanby passed stingaree spears on in trade[7].
The river's ray
The freshwater whipray (Urogymnus dalyensis) is 'reported from the Daly, Fitzroy, Gilbert, Mitchell, Normanby, Ord, Pentecost, Roper, South Alligator, and Wenlock Rivers', 'typically reaching 1 m (3.3 ft) across', 'plain brown above and white below with dark marginal bands'[5]. It is told from the estuary stingray by living in fresh water.
Where it lives here
The Normanby Catchment Important Shark and Ray Area 'includes the North Kennedy River to the west, the Bizant River, and the Normanby River to the east and part of the Laura River upstream'; the Hann flows into the North Kennedy[12][13]. There, 'between 2017–2025, 18 (14 with available size) Freshwater Whiprays ranging in size between 38–100 cm DW' were caught or reported, eight of them immature. The species 'appears to be highly resident, especially females'[12]. In a survey of Lakefield anglers in 1986–91, 'various sharks and rays' were caught in the estuarine habitats, not in fresh water[14]. Whether a whipray comes up the Hann is not recorded[11].
Its year here
One 'likely pregnant female' was reported in June 2024 and a 'likely postpartum' female of 100 cm was caught in July 2024; the species is thought 'to give birth during the onset of the austral wet season (November to January)'[12]. That is when the Hann's flow starts to rise again from its September–November low[15].
How people used them here
Roth recorded the stingaree spear moving through this country in trade. 'At Princess Charlotte Bay, the Koko-rarmul of the Morehead River give the Koko-warra (whose "country" extends along the course of the Normanby and Deighton Rivers) reed-spears, iron scraps, European tomahawks, etc., getting in return melo shell, grass-reed-spears, nautilus-shell necklaces; stingaree spears and fishing-nets.' People from the Endeavour and Bloomfield rivers travelled up towards the Laura River to supply the Koko-warra with red ochre, white clay and grass-tree spears, and were paid in the same goods[7]. Roth does not say where the barbs on those spears came from. Nothing else on rays is published for the Possum, Thaypan, Kuku Warra or Lama Lama peoples in the sources used here; the Uses section above has the rest.
On country today
In Rinyirru 'recreational fishing is permitted at all camping areas' and 'Fisheries regulations apply'[16]. The whipray records come from Sharks And Rays Australia working with the Laura Rangers and the Rangers of Rinyirru Corporation[12]. The upper Hann is the Possum People's country and the middle and lower Hann are Thaypan country[17][18].
Upper Mitchell Western Yalanji
Western Yalanji country west of the Great Dividing Range: dry open woodland cut by the sandy, paperbark-lined upper Mitchell River, around Karma Waters and Mount Carbine. Place guide
Karma Waters is a long way from the sea country, and no ray is recorded there: the Atlas of Living Australia holds no shark or ray record within 60 km of the homestead[19]. The barbs still came this way: Roth recorded them traded up the Palmer, and the words, the trade and the tools reach inland.
Where the nearest rays are
On the Mitchell the freshwater whipray is a fish of the lower river: 'thirty-eight animals ranging in size between 59–138 cm disc width' were caught 'from ~13 km from the river mouth to more than ~17 km upstream'[20].
Barbs in trade
Roth, on the stingaree-barbed spear: 'On the Middle Palmer the stingaree barbs are bartered into the district from the Musgrave River on the east coast, or from down the Mitchell, etc., on the Gulf coast'[2].
Eastern coast Eastern Kuku Yalanji
Eastern Kuku Yalanji country: rainforest, beaches, mangroves, reef and the short steep rivers from the Daintree to the Bloomfield and the Annan.
This is where the ray words and the rules come from: the dictionary was made on the Bloomfield[1], and Anderson's Bloomfield informants recorded who could spear a stingray, and when, and what it was for[6]. Rays belong to the sea country of the Eastern Kuku Yalanji, the Bloomfield and Daintree coast.
Where they are here
The estuary stingray in the mangrove creeks and the tidal river, the spotted rays on the reef flats and sand at low tide, the eagle rays and mantas off the beaches and reefs: all on the Bloomfield and Daintree coast[4][6].
Spearing at the Bloomfield
At Bloomfield, spearing 'was normally men's work and it was done out on the reef at low tide, from the edges of a creek bank, in the water or while standing on an overhanging branch'; 'at other times rock cod, coral cod, red emperor, black-tip shark and stingrays were commonly speared. The latter species was important not only as a meat source, but for the supply of spear barbs. It is significant, too, that the spearing of stingray was surrounded by restrictions. Only adult men could obtain it, and even then never in the presence of, or with the knowledge of their wives' brothers (actual or classificatory). Multi-pronged spears were normally used'[6].
At Bloomfield the barbs 'were held in place by wallaby sinew and resins'[6]. The Bloomfield people took in 'stingaree-spears' by barter[7].
On Country today
Stingrays are still speared on the Bloomfield flats and still carry the only spear barb that grows[6]. Sea-country take comes under the Traditional Owners' plan[21].
Everywhere
Names
yawu 'stingray. Long ago only old people were allowed to eat it, but now this isn't followed much. Spearing one will bring on thunder and rainstorms'. walbul-walbul 'small stingray, spotted. Looks like a butterfly flying through the water', a word that is also 'butterfly'. jarramali 'small species of stingray', the same word as 'thunder, thunderstorm'. janbal 'blue spotted fantail ray'. badibu 'spotted eagle ray'. bilaji 'flat-tailed ray'. ngarmu 'shovelnose ray'. walkan 'diamond fish, devil ray'. yalnganji 'manta ray (Yalanji)' and yidi '(Nyungkul)'. dikarra 'war spear, has a stingray barb'[1]. Roth's Cape Bedford name for the stingray-barbed spear was nin-lon, 'probably connected with the Butcher's Hill KYE word molluu, stingaree'; the Bloomfield single-barb spear was ta-chal and the multiple-barb dikara[2].
The rays, the spearing and the barb
The estuary stingray (Hemitrygon fluviorum), 'also called the estuary stingaree or brown stingray', is the ray of the mangrove creeks of eastern Australia: 'a diamond-shaped pectoral fin disc about as wide as long', a wide triangular snout, a whip tail with the spine; 'while the estuary stingray has gained infamy for consuming farmed shellfish such as oysters, it mainly feeds on crustaceans and polychaete worms'; it bears live young, and is listed as vulnerable[4]. The blue-spotted fantail ray, the eagle ray, the shovelnose and the mantas of the dictionary are the rays of the sand flats and the reef[1].
The barb on the spear. Roth: 'Stingaree-barbed, single or multiple with the barb or barbs pointing forwards, long proximal end of bamboo or reed, and short distal end of Acacia or Drymophloeus normanbyi, the local "black palm" ... On the Bloomfield the single-barb variety is known as ta-chal, but here the weapon is built of a short Xanthorrhoea butt, and long black-palm or blood-wood shaft.' The multiple-barbed spear 'with the barbs placed one behind the other, pointing backwards' was the Bloomfield dikara[2]. For carrying and trade, 'small articles ... e.g., pigments, stingaree-barbs' were rolled up in teatree bark, folded and tied with twine[3]. The spear page has the spears.
Telling the rays
- Estuary stingray (yawu): brown, diamond, whip-tailed, in the muddy creeks[4].
- Blue-spotted fantail ray (janbal): small, round, bright blue spots, on the reef sand[1].
- Spotted eagle ray (badibu): pointed wings, a duck's snout, white spots, flying over the flats[1].
- Shovelnose (ngarmu): a shark's tail on a ray's head; no spine, and safe to handle by the tail[1].
- Manta and devil rays (yalnganji, yidi, walkan): the big ones of open water, no spine[1].
- A butterfly in the water is the small spotted ray, walbul-walbul[1].
Signs
- A ray's outline in the sand at low tide where one has lain, and feeding pits in the flats[4].
- A cloud of mud moving slowly in a creek shallow[4].
- Oyster beds bitten[4].
- Thunder: the dictionary's jarramali is both the small ray and the storm, and spearing yawu 'will bring on thunder and rainstorms'[1].
Where they are
The estuary stingray in the mangrove creeks and the tidal river; the spotted rays on the reef flats and sand at low tide; the eagle rays and mantas off the beaches and reefs[4]. Inland, the freshwater whipray lives in some of the big rivers of the north; see the Hann River and upper Mitchell on this page, and the sawfish and river sharks page[5].
The ray on the flats
The estuary stingray works the mud and the oyster beds for crabs and worms, and feeds the sharks and the people; on the Bloomfield it fed the spear-makers too, since every war spear and most fishing spears carried its spine[4][6][2]. The mangroves and the mud crab pages have the flats it lives on.
Seasons
Speared on the reef and the flats at low tide through the dry; the rule that spearing one brings thunder sits oddly with the storm season, which is when the rays come up the creeks with the warm water[6][1]. See the year on country.
Uses
- Meat, by the old rule for old people only[1][6].
- Barbs for war and fishing spears, single or in rows; see spears[2][6].
- Trade: barbs and finished stingaree spears moved along the coast and inland to the Palmer and the Laura[2][7].
- Fat: on the Batavia River stingray fat was boiled with bark into a cement[3].
Spearing a ray, and setting the barb
- Walk the reef flat or the creek bank at low tide, or stand on an overhanging branch, with the multi-pronged spear[6].
- Look for the outline in the sand and the moving mud cloud[4].
- Spear it through the disc and keep clear of the tail; the spine strikes upward[6].
- Cut the spine out with the base intact; it is the barb[2].
- Set the barb on the short hardwood or black-palm head of the spear with sinew and gum, single and pointing forward for the ta-chal, several in a row pointing back for the dikara[2][6].
- Keep spare barbs rolled in teatree bark and tied, the way they travelled in trade[3].
- The old rules: adult men, not in front of a wife's brother, and the old people's meat; the dictionary says the eating rule 'isn't followed much' now, and leaves the rest[6][1].
Safety
- The spine is a serrated, venomous blade; a sting means hot water for the pain and a doctor for the wound, which can hold broken spine and infect[8].
- Shuffle on the flats; a ray stepped on strikes.
- A barbed spear wound tears on the way out; the spear page says why[2].
- Creek flats are crocodile country; Be Crocwise[9].
- The estuary stingray is listed as vulnerable; take comes under the Fisheries Act 1994 and, in sea country, the Traditional Owners' own plans[4][10].
On Country today
The dictionary's dozen ray words are a field guide to a coast that has not been photographed under those names[1]. Who spears rays today, and where, is under each place on this page. The contribution box below is for the people who spear them.
Language
yawu 'stingray'; walbul-walbul 'small spotted stingray; butterfly'; jarramali 'small species of stingray; thunder'; janbal 'blue spotted fantail ray'; badibu 'spotted eagle ray'; bilaji 'flat-tailed ray'; ngarmu 'shovelnose ray'; walkan 'devil ray'; yalnganji, yidi 'manta ray'; dikarra 'war spear, has a stingray barb'[1].
References
- Hershberger, H. D. & Hershberger, R. (1982). Kuku-Yalanji Dictionary. Work Papers of SIL-AAB, Series B, Volume 7. With Toby Bloomfield, Roy Friday, Billy Roberts, Hector and Doris Sykes, Joe Walker and others. www.sil.org/resources/archives/18038
- Roth, W. E. (1909). North Queensland Ethnography, Bulletin No. 13: Fighting weapons. Records of the Australian Museum 7(4). — Sects. 10–11 spear-throwers (middle Palmer; Cape Bedford, Endeavour and Bloomfield rivers, Butcher's Hill) archive.org/details/biostor-52873
- Roth, W. E. (1904). North Queensland Ethnography, Bulletin No. 7: Domestic implements, arts, and manufactures. Brisbane: Government Printer. — Sect. 10 'Fire-tongs' archive.org/details/northqueensland00landgoog
- Wikipedia. Estuary stingray (Hemitrygon fluviorum). en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estuary_stingray
- Wikipedia. Freshwater whipray (Urogymnus dalyensis). en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freshwater_whipray
- Anderson, C. (1996). Traditional material culture of the Kuku-Yalanji of Bloomfield River, North Queensland. Records of the South Australian Museum 29(1): 63–83. Based on fieldwork at Wujal Wujal in the late 1970s and early 1980s. — Hunting (spears, spear-throwers, harpoons); fishing (stupefacients); manufacturing (gums and resins); post-contact bush component archive.org/details/RecordsSouthAus29Sout
- Roth, W. E. (1910). North Queensland Ethnography, Bulletin No. 14: Transport and Trade. Records of the Australian Museum 8(1). — Sects. 14–15, dug-out canoes from the Flinders Group to Cape Grafton; sect. on trade and barter (Bloomfield River; Princess Charlotte Bay: Koko-rarmul and Koko-warra) archive.org/details/biostor-52863
- Isbister, G. K. (2007). Managing injuries by venomous sea creatures in Australia. Australian Prescriber 30(5). australianprescriber.tg.org.au/articles/managing-injuries-by-venomous-sea-creatures-in-australia.html
- Queensland Government. Be Crocwise top tips; Be Crocwise in Croc Country (web pages, accessed 5 October 2026). www.qld.gov.au/environment/plants-animals/animals/living-with/crocodiles/becrocwise/be-crocwise-top-tips
- Fisheries Act 1994 (Qld), current as at 27 April 2026: s 14 (defence for Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islander peoples). www.legislation.qld.gov.au/view/html/inforce/current/act-1994-037
- Atlas of Living Australia. Occurrence records of sharks and rays (class Chondrichthyes: no records, including none of Pristis pristis, Carcharhinus leucas or Urogymnus dalyensis) and of ray-finned fishes (127 records, 1960–2026) in a box of about 90 × 85 km around the middle Hann River, Laura and western Rinyirru (lat −15.6 to −14.8, long 143.5 to 144.3), queried 28 October 2026. biocache.ala.org.au/occurrences/search?q=class%3AChondrichthyes&fq=decimalLatitude%3A%5B-15.6%20TO%20-14.8%5D&fq=decimalLongitude%3A%5B143.5%20TO%20144.3%5D
- IUCN SSC Shark Specialist Group (2025). Normanby Catchment ISRA Factsheet (Important Shark and Ray Area, Region 08: Australia and Southeast Indian Ocean). Dubai: IUCN SSC Shark Specialist Group. Data from Sharks And Rays Australia with the Laura Rangers and the Rangers of Rinyirru Corporation, supported by Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service. — Description of habitat; sub-criterion C1 (bull shark, largetooth sawfish, freshwater whipray); acknowledgments sharkrayareas.org/wp-content/uploads/isra-factsheets/8Australia-Southeast-Indian-Ocean/Normanby-Catchment-8Australia-Southeast-Indian-Ocean.pdf
- Wikipedia. Hann River (Queensland) (accessed 28 October 2026). en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hann_River_(Queensland)
- Russell, D. J. & Hales, P. W. (1993). A survey of the Princess Charlotte Bay recreational barramundi fishery. Queensland Department of Primary Industries, QI93049. era.dpi.qld.gov.au/id/eprint/6393/1/Survey%20of%20the%20Princess%20Charlotte%20Bay%20recreational%20barramundi%20fishery_QI93049_1993_russell.pdf
- Bureau of Meteorology, Water Data Online. Station 105001B, Hann River at Sandy Creek: daily and monthly mean discharge 1968–2026 (recent data provisional), retrieved 28 October 2026. No day of zero mean flow in 20,711 days of record; mean flow highest in February–March, lowest in September–November. www.bom.gov.au/waterdata/
- Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service. Things to do: Rinyirru (Lakefield) National Park (CYPAL) (web page, last updated 20 April 2020; Wayback Machine copy of 27 September 2026). — Boating and fishing parks.qld.gov.au/parks/rinyirru-lakefield/things-to-do
- Ross on behalf of the Cape York United #1 Claim Group v State of Queensland (No 21) (Possum determination) [2023] FCA 1316 (Federal Court of Australia, 2 November 2023). — Determination area (upper Hann and Kennedy rivers); prescribed body corporate; affidavit evidence on hunting and fishing www.judgments.fedcourt.gov.au/judgments/Judgments/fca/single/2023/2023fca1316
- Ross on behalf of the Cape York United #1 Claim Group v State of Queensland (No 20) (Thaypan determination) [2023] FCA 1315 (Federal Court of Australia, 2 November 2023). — Determination area and waters; prescribed body corporate (Awu-Laya Indigenous Corporation); affidavit evidence on hunting www.judgments.fedcourt.gov.au/judgments/Judgments/fca/single/2023/2023fca1315
- Atlas of Living Australia. Occurrence records within 60 km of the Karma Waters homestead (16.62° S, 144.60° E), species counts for Animalia (accessed 10 October 2026). biocache.ala.org.au/occurrences/search?q=*:*&lat=-16.62&lon=144.60&radius=60
- IUCN SSC Shark Specialist Group (2025). Mitchell-Palmer-Walsh Rivers ISRA Factsheet (Important Shark and Ray Area, Region 08: Australia and Southeast Indian Ocean). Dubai: IUCN SSC Shark Specialist Group. sharkrayareas.org/portfolio-item/mitchell-palmer-walsh-rivers-isra/
- Yalanjiwarra People & Jabalbina Yalanji Aboriginal Corporation (2016). Nganjinanga Bubu, Nganjinanga Jalun, Nganjinanga Bama Plan: Our Land, Our Sea, Our People Plan 2016–2021. Eastern Kuku Yalanji Indigenous Protected Area Management Plan, Stage 3. Mossman: Jabalbina. — Sections 4, 7.9 (Wrong fishing and sea hunting), 7.10 and Action 9.2 www.wettropicsplan.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Eastern-Kuku-Yalanji-Indgenous-Protected-Area-Management-Plan-Stage-3-Yalanjiwarra-Land-and-Sea-Country.pdf
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