Cicada Read online

  Gidja (g): east Kimberley language group, from the Warmun (Turkey Creek)/Halls Creek area

  Gooniyandi (u): central Kimberley language group from between Halls Creek and Fitzroy Crossing, extending north

  gum tree (a): generally a member of the eucalypt family of trees

  jaarin (g): birth totem, jaarinji—masculine, jaarinel—feminine

  Jagada (g): male skin name

  Jalungurriny (g): beautiful (handsome) male

  jampinparuny (g): fish, black bream

  Janbiyin (g): male skin name

  Jangala (g): male skin name

  Jangari (g): male skin name

  janpawurrum (g): saltwater crocodiles

  jarguli (g): pearl shell

  jarlanga (g): creek

  jarlarluny (g): known as the ‘shitwood’ tree for its soft light wood, also known as the ‘helicopter’ tree for its winged seeds

  Jaru (u): east Kimberley language group, from the south and west of Halls Creek

  Jawalyi (g): male skin name

  Jawandi (g): male skin name

  jikilim (g): ugly (plural)

  jila (w): permanent waterhole

  jilikum (g): children

  jilingkuwim (g): curl snake, little spotted snake—plural

  jiyikjiyikjil (g): rufous whistler

  jiyilem (g): men

  juarri (g): spirit of the dead, juarriny—masculine

  jumu (w): temporary waterhole

  Jungurra (g) male skin name

  junpam (g): song

  jurnanykarral (g): beautiful female

  juwerlenywerleny (g): rocky

  Juwurru (g): male skin name

  kardiya (u): white person

  karlumpuny (g): long spear, karlumpum—plural

  karnanganyjal (g): emu

  karnanganyjal wiyarril (g): emu running

  karnkiny (g): moon

  karrabiri (g): large boomerang, karrabirim—plural

  karrjam (g): small water lily flowers

  karrpakji (g): clap-stick, karrpakpu—plural

  kelinykelim (g): galahs

  kilpa (g): rough-tailed goanna, kilpany—male, kilpam—plural

  kriol (a): a mix of northern Australian Aboriginal languages

  kunjiny (g): bauhinia tree

  kupil (g): rufous night heron, kupilji—male, kupilil—female, kupile—plural

  kurlarai (g): peaceful dove, kurlaraim—plural

  kurlungarnany (g): water monitor

  kurlurtukpu (g): bar-shouldered doves—plural

  kurrngam (g): water

  laanturrji (g): elongated hollow or dish made of bark, laanturre—plural

  labi (g): elongated hollow or dish made of wood, labim—plural

  lalankarram (g): freshwater crocodile

  lawuny (g): lemonwood

  lollies (a): hard-boiled sweets

  lunpurruny (g): king brown snake

  maban (g): elder with spiritual powers

  mallee (c): eucalypt shrubs, generally with many trunks

  manan (g): sheet lightning

  marnem (g): fire

  marrawaype (g): spinifex pigeon

  menan (g): lightning from the centre of a storm

  menan menan (g): jagged lightning (strikes)

  mernda (g): paperbark tree

  minyjuwurrji (g): limestone outcrop

  mirta (g): shield

  muderra (g): pulsing lightning

  mukurruny (g): the first rains of the wet season

  mulga (a): acacia (shrubby) woodlands

  naga (g): loincloth, fur or pearl shell or similar hanging from waistband over loin area, nagam—plural

  Nagada (g): female skin name

  nalijam (g): tea

  Najarri (g): female skin name

  Nambin (g): female skin name, Nambinel—third person

  Nangala (g): female skin name

  Nangari (g): female skin name

  Nanjilli (g): female skin name

  Nawurru (g): female skin name

  ngalil (g): woman, ngalingalim—plural

  ngarlka (w): nut tree

  ngamarriny (g): white cockatoo

  ngarrangkarni (g): dreamtime

  ngulngal (g): wife

  ngunyjum (g): tobacco

  nyarnagum (g): river

  Nyawama (g): female skin name

  Nyikina (u): west Kimberley language group, from between Derby and Fitzroy Crossing

  nyimpilawuny (g): newborn baby

  panariny (g): round sweet yams

  perawuruny (g): ironwood

  pilirnji (g): white river gum

  pinariny (g): knowing, being aware, understanding

  pingurul (g): chewing tobacco

  pinkirrpal (g): bush turkey

  piriyalji (g): conker berry bush

  rai (g): spirit children

  stockman (a): seasoned station worker

  strapper (a): casual or young station worker

  sugarbag (u): bush honey

  swag (a): sleeping roll

  tangarriny (g): large tuber of the water lily

  tayiwul (g): barramundi, fish, tayiwule—plural

  terriitterriit (g): white-lined honeyeater

  thirntil (g): north-west glassfish

  tiyirannpe (g): red-tailed cockatoos, tiyarannji—plural

  Wadul (g): Southern Cross constellation

  Walangkernany (g): rainbow snake, creator

  Wandjina (u): creator, rain spirit (originated in west central Kimberley)

  wapuru (w): string headband

  warampurrji (g): vine

  warlarri (g): ghost gum

  wirrilijkel (g): rainbow lorikeet

  woollybutt (a): large pale eucalypt

  Worla (u): central Kimberley Aboriginal group, from north of Fitzroy Crossing

  wukiny (g): brown frog

  Wunggud (u): creation spirits (originated in west central Kimberley)

  Wunggud Walangkernany (u): earth snakes, rainbow snake creators

  wununguny (g): small tubers of the water lily

  yakapiri (w): shrub used to make bush sandals

  Yawurru (u): west Kimberley language group from the country around Broome

  yikawurrum (g): bad behaviour

  yiriyiril (g): cicadas

  Yunguny (g): nasty spirits

  Yuwinji (g): wet season (usually December to mid-March)

  Expressions

  Larna kunyjany yurru (g): In the tree tops (lit.—above the tree it is going)

  Ngaju nga-rna Jaru-yaru. (j): I am from the Jaru speakers.

  Marra yitja pakumakirrem? (g): Let’s you and I sleep together?

  Skin Naming System

  (Emily) Nawurru Jawandi (Jurulu)

  (Charcoal) Juwurru Nyawama (Wirritjil)

  Nangari Jagada (Ngamarru)

  (Joseph) Jangari Nagada

  Nangala Jungarra

  (Janarra) Jangala Nanjilli

  Najarri Jambiyin

  Jawalyi Nambin

  These are skin names for the Gidja people. Female skin names start with an N and males’ with a J. The skin names can be considered as in two groupings, shown above in the left and right columns. Marriage partners are across the two groupings and in preferred pairings. For example, a Nawurru woman’s ideal marriage partner is a Jawandi man. Lineage is maternal and so skin names are given in the same grouping (down the same column) through the mother; a Nyawama woman has Nagada daughters and Jagada sons and the mother of a Nyawama woman has Nambin skin. At the bottom of the column, a Nambin woman would marry a Jawalyi man and their children would be Jawandi and Nyawama (to begin the cycle again). In Cicada, Jurulu is Jawandi skin and, as Wirritjil is Nyawama, they would be considered brother and sister and therefore should not marry. Charcoal is Juwurru, a partner (marriage) skin for Wirritjil Nyawama. Wirritijil’s child, whose aboriginal name Ngamarru is associated with that of the white cockatoo ngamarriny, has the skin name Jagada.

  The skin of the boy Janarra is Jangala which, although he is not part of Juwurru C
harcoal’s immediate family, gives him a relationship of grandfather–grandson.

  Emily would have been given the skin name of Nawurru (which means she would have been considered Charcoal’s sister) and her and Jawandi Jurulu’s child Joseph would have been considered Jangari.

  Animals and Plants

  Animals and plants also have skin names, for example, the fresh water crocodile lalangkarrany has the Juwurru skin, panariny, the sweet round yam has the Jangari skin, the Ghost gum, warlarri, has the Nambin skin. This gives animals and plants a particular relationship to people. For example the ghost gum, walarri, is mother to Wirritjil and all Nyawama women.

  Acknowledgements

  Thank you to Josie Farrer, linguist and elder of the Gidja people, for her encouragement and advice on the language and many of the traditional activities; also to Bonnie Edwards from the Jaru people for her support, and all the Aboriginal people in the Kimberley who told me stories of their time and expressed their joy of family life despite the dislocation from their land. Thank you also to the old-timers at the bar at the Fitzroy Crossing Inn for their tales.

  Thank you to the Kimberley Language Resource Centre for their valuable materials and advice. Thank you to Marlish Glorie who read every draft of Cicada, also to my Canadian mentor Harriet Richards; to Tom Flood and Trevor Shearston who reviewed the manuscript; to avid readers Reg Parnell, Elizabeth Beerli, Sally Cornelius, Barbara and Alex McKinnon. Thank you to Heather McKinnon and my mum, Fay McKinnon, for accompanying me on various trips to the Kimberley, and to my late father, Ross McKinnon, for his encouragement.

  Thank you to Gaby Naher of Naher Literary Agency who saw the possibility, and to Jane Palfreyman of Allen & Unwin and her team who were great to work with: Clara Finlay, Ann Lennox and Ali Lavau. And of course, thank you to my family: Ian, Harry and James Byers for their patience and endurance.

  Resources used for this book were wide and varied but always close to hand were: Plants and Animals of Kija and Jaru Country, prepared by Glenn Wrightman; Yuwurriyangem Kijam, a phrasebook of Kija language compiled by Joseph Blythe; Yorro Yorro by David Mowaljarlai and Jutta Malnic; Jilji: Life in the Great Sandy Desert by Pat Lowe and Jimmy Pike; Ngalangangpum Jarrakpu Purrurn, stories of the Women of Warmun as told to Margaret Stuart; Moola Bulla: In the shadow of the mountain, stories compiled by the Kimberley Language Resource Centre; Rhythms of the Kimberley by Russell Guélho; Janadamarra and the Bunuba Resistance by Howard Pedersen and Banjo Woorunmurra; Beyond the Lattice: Broome’s early years by Susan Sickert; Aboriginal Woman Sacred and Profane by Phyllis M Kaberry; and Raparapa: Stories from the Fitzroy River drovers, edited by Paul Marshall.

  Moira McKinnon graduated in medicine from the

  University of Western Australia and travelled widely as a

  specialist in population health. Her particular interests are

  emerging infectious diseases and the relationship with global

  and environmental health. She sees a loss for modern society

  in the casting away of the knowledge of indigenous cultures

  and believes understanding the relationship that indigenous

  people had with the land is an important part of the future

  of wellbeing of the environment and humankind.

  Dr McKinnon’s essay, ‘Who Killed Matilda?’, on

  indigenous health, religion and social progress, was joint

  winner of the 2011 Calibre Prize and was published in the

  Australian Book Review.

  Cicada is Moira’s first novel. She currently lives in Canberra

  with her husband and two children.