Indigenous Weather Knowledge

Yirrganydji Season

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Minor seasons

• Jinjim (cool ‘winter’ time)
• Yiwanyji (windy time)
• Wumbulji (hot and humid build-up time)

About Kurraminya

Kurraminya (also spelt Guraminya) runs from around May to November each year. During the dry season, there are three minor seasonal periods: Jinjim (winter time), Yiwanyji (windy time) and Wumbulji (hot time).

At the start of Kurraminya, it is mostly dry with sunny blue skies, starry nights, calm seas, and cold evenings with dew on the ground. There will be times of pink clouds and red sunset. Towards the middle of Kurraminya, it will begin to warm up and become windy. Sometimes there will be days with light rain, particularly at the changing of each minor season. Towards the end of the Kurraminya, the weather will become hot and humid as the season builds up to the wet season.

Plants and Animals

• Juwara (Wattle) is flowering yellow, indicating mud crab, sea urchin, and various shellfish are at their best for harvesting;
• Fire burn-offs were conducted during Jinjim (cool time);
• Harvesting of fruits such as Wakaday (Burdekin plum) and Murrkan (blue quandong)
• Kurrina (echidna) is nesting;
• Kurunkal (Xylocarpus moluccensis - Cedar mangrove) leaves begin to turn red;
• Ngalungkar (coral spawning time);
• Nyunkulu (imperial ‘torres strait’ pigeon) are nesting;
• Harvesting of bird eggs such as sea gulls and other sea birds;
• Flowering of the yellow kapok (Cochlospermum gillivraei) and fruiting of Yakal (Pandanus) indicating the wet season is near and that green sea turtle will be travelling to beaches to nest;
• Flying ants come out of the ground at the end of Kurraminya when the first rains begin.