Central Land Council

Joint Land Management | National Parks

Traditional Owners Sharing Knowledge

Karlu Karlu | Devils Marbles

Back to National Parks Joint Management story list

Karlu Karlu

Traditional Knowledge was recorded at Devils Marbles Conservation Reserve (Karlu Karlu) in four different languages, Kaytetye, Warumungu, Warlpiri and Alyawarra. Mona Nungarrayi Heywood, Winnie Nangala Martin, Rosie Nampijinpa Thompson, Trixie Nangala Carr, Marlene Nampijinpa Waistcoat, Ena Nampijinpa Rex, Joy Nampijinpa Waistcoat, Norma Nangala Joshua, Barbara Nangala Foster, Sheila Braedon, Ellen Heywood and Anthea Graham were involved in the project at Karlu Karlu recording and sharing their knowledge of the area.

The fieldwork involved documenting the uses of plants and animals for bush medicines and bush tucker, the areas which need to be protected in the park and history of the women in the Devils Marbles area. Women talked about being raised in the area when they were young girls, travelling around with their families, going to school, herding nanny goats, working in the wolfram mines, and swimming and hunting in waterholes.

‘The old people (pulka pulka) used to travel (kalal palu wappaja) through here on their way to the mines to collect their ration. They used to go to a certain camp and they used to stay there for a while (kalalu nyinaja), those old people. There were lots of people who lived all around there and they had and owned lots of goats (nanikut). They had wagons and they used to go hunting (wilinyi kala lu wappaja) with the wagons. They used to go hunting for sugar bag (ngalu), and for porcupines (inalingkki). They used to dig for wild carrots (ngaarlaji) and they used to follow the creek beds (wulppaiyi), looking for wild bush bananas (yupali), crabs (ngtartata) and frogs (kantujanu).'

Mona Heywood (Warlpiri)

• ngaarlaji -Warlpiri
• ngajarrma - Warumungu
• arlatyeye - Kaytetye
• arlatey – Alyawarr
• elangwerre -Alyawarr
• yupali -Warlpiri
• ngamukutu - Warumungu
• attwerre- Kaytetye

‘I'm standing here on this ground, this was a goat yard. Here the yard was here a nanny goat yard, right where I am standing. The grandfathers (Jampajinpas) of these two, those old fellas lived not far away from here, close by to the nanny goat yard, and as kids we used to come and milk the goats. We used to just suck the milk fresh. We used to have some fresh goats for meat they used to butcher them. The Europeans brought some rations with them from the mine, he lived in a very big tent. I'm remembering and I still remember, because I was about 14 years old when I was around travelling with the old people around this part of the country when I walked around right through to Greenwood. They used to collect lots of sugar bags from the snappy gums growing on the hillsides around here. Over there the old people used to collect lots of porcupines east of here. When the water dried up they went back to Wauchope. They used to stay there and they still continue to travel from there to Greenwood. The other old people used to work at the mines and others also went to Hatches Creek.'

Mona Heywood (Warlpiri)

‘The water, this water here all the old people used to gather round here, to this watering place (wainirri – Warlpiri) and used to drink water from here, from this soakage. And still there was this other water for the goats (rock pool water) and the soakage water as well for my old people when it used to all dry out.'

Mona Heywood (Warlpiri)

‘My mother this ones (Mona) sister who was working around here. She use to come across from the mines to hunt for bush tucker and collect and take them back for her. And she went into one of these caves, she went into the cave with her dog for porcupines, but she was in the cave for a very long time, the spirit people kept her in the cave for a long time. We don't know for how long, but one maybe two days, they had her for a long time but then again came my grandfather and some other old men and they sang.

They sang their song and the cave opened and my mother came out and all the porcupine and her dog, she threw them away. All the old people rushed to her to have her back safely, they were happy for her. And they brought her back to the camp and they were happy and they smoked her. And she told me all those stories, to me her only daughter.'

Ena Rex (Warlpiri)

'The people used to come round here, walk here from miles around. They used to come to this water place as a drinking place, it is the only place that used to hold water, where the water used to never go down or dry out. Camping places were nearby where people used to come by in the seasons when people use to go hunting.'

Ena Rex (Warlpiri)

‘In the dreamtime this hole was a home for a mother. A mother was living in this place where these rocks are and there was no creek or anything, but it was a home for her and her newborn baby. She was feeding the baby one day on breast milk, it was a cloudy day and the lightning struck and killed her and her baby and made this waterhole. Today we call this waterhole, lightning waterhole, where the lightning struck it.'

Ena Rex (Warlpiri)

‘This plant is a marbles fig in Katetye and we call it tywerrke because when it rains this fig bears food, little fruits orange and red in colour, there are some around the marbles growing here.'

Winnie Martin (Kaytetye)

‘In the Northern Territory this name Karlu Karlu a lot of people know it. We call this area tywerrke in Kaytetye and Alyawarr and witjiji in Warlpiri and Warumungu as there is no other place which has these trees around here but Karlu Karlu. I remember this tree from when I was a little girl growing up around here.'

Rosie Thompson (Alyawarr)

When the figs are in season, November is the time that the flowers appear and the fruits arrive in December and they stay around until March. They do not stay fresh for as long as the raisin. They are on the tree in the summer and in the winter.

• Ntywey - Kaytetye,
• Jitina - Warumungu,
• Pirriwa – Warlpiri,
• alwenp – Alyawarr

This type of corkwood tree is good for two types of use, one is the honeycomb peoples collect and the second one is medicine. People collect the wet barks and burn them in the fire to a cinder. When they go very small people take them out of the fire put it in a bark dish and mash them up, mix it with a bit of water and fat. If there is a newborn baby in the family they rub the medicine all over the baby to make the baby very black, to make the baby grow nice and brown and strong. They also use that for rubbing on sores and for rashes too.

‘These are the crab holes, where the old people used to come to collect them. When it rains the crabs and frogs come out. When they use to come and dig these crabs out they use to gather them and break their claws and put them in the sun to make them dry and then put them on the fire.'

Mona Heywood (Warlpiri)

Leaves from the gum tree family (ngurrku) are used as a herb for a stuffing to give a pleasant taste for any meat like turkey, kangaroo and even today they use it for cattle meat. We use river red gum , snappy gum and the bloodwood for flavour. Whitewood is also used.

• red gum (ngapirri – Warlpiri, kunjumarra – Warumungu)
• snappy gum (arlketh – Alyawarr, kunjawarri – Warlpiri)
• bloodwood (wilkali – Warlpiri, warlji- Warumungu) .
• Whitewood (warnakuta – Warlpiri, kuntanarri- Warumungu)

Spinifex grass is used two ways, one is for over head shelter from rain to keep everything dry and out of the cold or the heat. The other, is people collect it and mash it down to make a soft bed for people and kids to lay on.

As for the spinifex wax itself, there are two types of uses. One is for material use, the old people use to make stone axes, they used to use it as a resin, like a glue and for spears and stone knives as well to keep them onto a handle with kangaroo sinew (ngalapi – Warumungu). As for the grass itself they used to collect it and pound it up into a lovely tight resin a round one (ball). This type of resin is stronger than the ant wax.

The other use for spinifex wax is for medication, people use it when they are sick, they dig a small pit and light it up. They get chips off the ant hills found in spinifex and sprinkle it in the fire pit. People inhale it, it is good for their lungs and the whole of their chest, good for breathing. As for the newborn babies they are choked in the pit to help them grow strong. At the same time, after the baby was choked in there they would have some hot ant bed waiting put aside from the coals. You mash it up, then wet it with water in a bark to make the steam come up and make the baby drink the warm ant bed drink. They also used to rub the baby with the ash to make the baby black and strong. Mothers used to rub the breast with the ant wax to make the milk run. Also the mother used to drink the ant bed drink too to make the mother strong and her milk come.

• Spinifex plant:
• karlkurr - Warumungu
• marnna - Warlpiri
• aywert – Alyawarr & Kaytetye
• Spinifex wax:
• palya parnta - Warlpiri
• yakula – Warumungu
• anker – Alyawarr
• atnkere - Kaytetye
• Spinifex/Ant wax:
• mingkirri - Warlpiri mintapa – Warumungu
• kerrthe - Kaytetye

‘They used to collect the flowers and leaves of this plant and then they used to put it in the water to purify the water, it used to clean the water, the water used to come out real clean and it used to cool the water like an air-conditioner for people to drink. It is a very useful plant to us. We have these plants near waterholes because if the waters are dirty we put them in the water and they clean them out for us.'

Ena Rex (Warlpiri)

• warnakuta - Warlpiri
• irrikiki - Warumungu
• anwukutu - Kaytetye

We used paperbarks (pakali- Warumungu) for wrapping things and snake vine to tie them up. People would wrap tools like stone knives and axes and for wrapping food to keep fresh. Sometimes it was collected for use as blankets and to lay in the coolamon (purnnu- warumungu, parraja- warlpiri, al angarreye- Alyawarr) for babies to lie in and as a cover for them. People would also wrap up the tools of person who has passed away to hand on to their family for safe keeping. There are two types one has bigger leaves than the other and big pretty flowers pinkish in colour. We also put the flowers in water to make like a cordial.

‘In the early days when I used to travel and I used to get those young ones and smash them up to tie up, maybe for a leg in pain. It is used as a tourniquet for injuries like fractured bones, knee aches and for headaches. Also for people when they used to fight and get hurt they would apply those as bandages. When people would get bitten by a snake they would tie up their feet or where the bite was to stop the poison from travelling. They used to cut themselves to let that poison out. Those old people never used to die from snake bites because of that plant. They would smash it up just to soften it, to make it easier to tie it around. We also used to use it as rope, for tying things together to carry them.'

Rosie Thompson (Alyawarr)

• Manjani- Warumungu
• Ngarlyipi- Warlpiri

• ayntwerretete – Kaytetje
• irrwek-irrwek – Alywarr
• kurrng kurrng – Warumungu

‘People kill these birds with a rock or stick. To cook them people chuck them into the fire with the feathers, into the coals and when the feathers are all gone you get them out and clean them up and then put them back in the coals again. They are good tucker, those old people used to eat those.'

Barbara Foster (Warumungu)

• Wirrilki – Warumungu
• watingki – Warlpiri (witchetty grubs) are found in lots of trees around Karlu Karlu like murrlurr
• river red gum (ngapirri – Warlpiri
• kunjumarra - Warumungu) and Munkarrija - Warlpiri
• Warumungu
• antengnye – Kaytetye
• Alyawarr

• Arunkurrngu – Kaytetje
• atweynterl– Alyawarr.

During the rain time, it is the only time the frogs come out and people used to kill and eat them and they used to cook them where they used to hunt, those old people. They used to collect the frogs, they used to squeeze the frogs and rub themselves with the frog water, the old ladies especially when they used to be sick. With the cooked frog, they used to collect the fat and rub themselves with the fat all over their body. That's how they used to get themselves well.

‘This tree is the bloodwood tree and the first one on this bloodwood tree we are looking at is the sap. The sap on the bloodwood tree is used for sores and for drinking. If it is bleeding with lots of sap with the red gum people collect them and pound them up, then boil it up. Mix it into a thick liquid and save it then sometimes put a little bit into the water or tea and mix it up and drink it.'

Ena Rex (Warlpiri)

‘It is the sap from this tree that can also be used as medication for eye drops when they are boiled.'

Winnie Martin (Kaytetye)

‘In Warumungu we call this tree waltji. We call it waltji and it is good for us because of the sap of the red gum. The sap is used for medication and that medication is for two reasons, one is for the eyes and the other one is for drinking. People drink it for heart and lung pressure, diabetes and cancer. It is also used for rubbing on sores if kids have sores on the mouth.'

Marlene Waistcoat (Warumungu)

• lirrkarr – Warumungu, Warlpiri

• anenpu- Kaytetye

‘Plus we also collect wild coconuts, we collect them when they are white and fresh and good to eat. The grub we call kuntherre in kaytetye, iplerre in warlpiri and miiyilmii in warumungu. Sometimes the trunk goes swollen a bit, you cut it open to get the water.'

• julata – warlpiri
• kulpu – Warumungu
• iprelke – Kaytetye

Ena Rex (Warlpiri)

‘The tree is good for sugar bag as well. When people want the honey, people chop the tree and cut it open to get the honey. Sometimes they have to cut the tree right down to the ground.'

Winnie Martin (Kaytetye)

‘Sometimes in this tree there is water (kurrjarre – Kaytetye, kurrja – Warlpiri, napa – Warumungu), if there is no water anywhere else people look for water in this tree. If people see lumps in this tree they cut the tree open where the lump is to get the water.')

Winnie Martin (Kaytetye)

• karnta – Warlpiri
• kantaji – Warumungu
• kulkulpa - Kaytetye

‘This plant (tinji) is used for ceremony. It is like an aboriginal cotton, the flowers are dried out and then you pound them up and make it into nice soft balls. You then pound up the colours and mix the tinji with the colours and dry them out on spinifex. When they are dry enough we put them on our body for decoration.'

Rosie Thompson (Alyawarr)

‘When I was living with my aunty, me and my cousin we used to go out riding horseback to go and get some bush tucker. My aunty used to stop with us kids and others in the school, we would go out and ride then. My Aunty, she would be wondering what they been doing now, 'its running late for them two to come back home'. But we were sitting in the shade because it was too hot going back home. 'Oh no, we have to go home now!', and my Aunty, she would be growling at us, ‘you two been late, where you been? I seen that bush fire on the other side, I thought someone grabbed you and took you away, the other way.' She would be worrying, worrying, those two girls.'

Rosie Thompson (Alyawarr)

• ngamuna ngamuna - Warumungu
• ngapurlu ngapurlu - Warlpiri
• arlparrj arlparrj - Kaytetye
• amikwel– Alyawarr

When this plant is broken milk comes out. People boil it up with water for sores or pain, have a shower with it or make a powder for pain. The milk is also used for boils and abscess.

• ngamu ngamu – Warumungu
• ngapulu ngapulu – Warlpiri

When girls are starting to grow up a bit and starting to develop breasts and they notice it is taking a long time to grow, they use to collect some of these plants and break it and take the sap and put it on their breasts, so they would grow bigger and faster for them.

• murrlurr – Warumungu
• murrlurrpa – Warlpiri
• murlerrte – Kaytetye

This plant grows all over the park, it is a plant where witchetty grubs are found.

• wirrilki – Warumungu
• watingki – Warlpiri

The plant itself is very useful as when new born babies are born or people are sick, people collect the leaves and twigs and they dig a small pit. They put the twigs and leaves in and light the fire. The baby is held inside the pit so the baby can inhale the smoke to help the baby to grow strong and healthy. The mother after birth squats over the pit to heal her wounds to make her strong. It also brings on the milk of mothers.

‘Minynyina (Warlpiri) is an acacia which grows in hill areas on hard soil rocky places, like near the old mine.

When blood pressure is high, this is the plant people use. They collect the leaves and boil them and use it to drink as a tea to put the blood pressure down. It is also used as a medication for rubbing too, when people have bad kidneys or hot flushes and sharp pains they use this for rubbing to help them get well. Sometimes they use another process of making ointments. Sometimes they have to dry the plant out first, when the plant is dry they collect them and put them on a flat rock and mash them up. They then shake them out, put them in boiling water with a bit of fat and make the ointment.'

Mona Heywood (Warlpiri)

• pantali– Warumungu
• jurrku – Warlpiri
• erlejerr – Kaytetye
• akarley – Alyawarr

People would eat the gum off this tree and suck on it like a lolly. The fruit is red, green or brownish. If they were hard people would soak them in the water or bury them in the ground to ripen them.

• ngarlurr – Warumungu,
• papingnyi – Warlpiri
• altwerr – alyawarr.

The fruit is eaten off this plant that grows like a vine. When the fruit is starting to split open at the top, it is ready.

• munkarrija – Warlpiri & Warumungu
• antengnye – Kaytetye & Alyawarr

‘We used to go round when we were young and we used to get witchetty grubs from this plant. I've got these leaves I've collected them, I boil them up, put them with the fat for medication for rubbing on the body. It is used for pains or when not feeling well.'

Ena Rex (Warlpiri)

• nukerrje – Alyawerre
• marnikijji – Warlpiri
• mainukujju – Warumungu

The fruit of this plant is eaten and the plant is used like Murrlurr (Warumungu) to smoke babies and mothers. It is also mixed up with spinifex wax too.

The roots are dug up and washed and used for boiling. When the medication they were given for measles at Ali Curung wasn't working, they bathed in the boiled water and it cleaned it up and everyone got better.

The thorns are useful too, if anyone has warts, it only acts on one certain day. If it is a cloudy day and it is going to rain the families collect thorns and stick them in the warts and when it rains the warts and the thorns disappear and the skin is normal.

• marrkirdi – Warlpiri & Warumungu
• ankwerleye– Kaytetye
• alkwa – Alyawarr

The leaves and barks are boiled up and used as medication for sores to wash in. Sometimes it is used for drinking for chest pain and to ease all the stuff up inside from having cold and flus. The fruit is eaten, they are ripe when they are purple in colour.

Dixon Creek

"The station manager used to come and encourage the old people to sing songs. That station manager used to encourage those old people to collect the rain stones and put them in the water and they used to sit and sing those songs. After a few days a big rain used to come and it would rain for one or two weeks. The old people used to sing those songs to make the rains come for animal feed, for horses, goats and cattle. They also used to sing those songs for bush foods to grow in abundance (pannu-Warlpiri)."

"Those old people used to walk around, travel, collect and hunt. They used to stay in one place (kirrika - Warlpiri), lots of people, all tribes meeting together. People from all directions, the west, the south, the north and the east used to come to this place. They used to come, they used to interact together, the Alyawarr mob too. They used to live on the big water, they used to collect the bush carrots, crabs, wild cucumber, they had a wide range of choices of bush foods to collect."

Ena Rex (Warlpiri)

‘My grandfather used to put that white clay in the water when there was no rain, he used to go and get them white clays and put it in the water so the water can rain for days and days and days, all night and day. When the pasture was green and everything was green, that old man used to go back to that same water hole and he would brush out that white clay from that water. That's how the old people used to live with water and bush tucker. For the nanny goats and the animals that is how they used to survive. When they used to go they use to get them clays and move onto other places and do the same thing over and over. Some of those old people used to sing, used to be the rain makers, they used to sing.'

Mona Heywood (Warlpiri)