Yurluurrp - cold weather
April
to September
"The
Wantangka gradually goes away and Yurluurrp (cold weather) is coming.
The
winter time foods include the Bush Tomato which is eaten when it
is ripe and is bright yellow in colour. When it is dry it turns
brown and can still be eaten. The dried yakatjirri can be ground and mixed with water to make a roll which is placed under the sun until
dry. This roll can be stored.
We
use the coolamon to carry the food around and for storage.
Bush
Potato or Yarla is one of the main bush foods eaten on its own.
It is cooked under the hot earth by placing the potato in the sand
with hot coals on top.
The
potato comes from a small shrub. We know when to dig for the potato
because there are cracks on the earth along the root system leading
to the potato. Sometimes the potato is shallow whilst other times
it may be two metres into the ground.
The
women go out to collect the yarla and use digging sticks, firstly
to jab or hit the earth with the digging sticks listening for the
hollow sound. If it is a hollow sound then they dig at that point
to find the yarla.
During
the colder months the kangaroo and goanna fatten up and they are
best to eat at this time.
Throughout
the year we notice two particular star constellations moving across
the sky, they include The Seven Sisters and the Milky Way. We also
feel the changing direction of the winds.
Knowledge
about the weather is not secret business. You don't have to be a
traditional owner of country to speak about the weather - it is
the same as your culture: just everyday knowledge."
Lana, Rachel, Pansy, Trisha and Lindy, family members of the Walya Altjerre
Aboriginal Corporation sharing cultural knowledge
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