Celebrating Kunwinjku ecological knowledge

Kunwinjku calendar contributors Connie Nayinggul, Helen Nawirridj, Julie Narndal with CSIRO’s Emma Ligtermoet.

By Barbara McKaige

A beautiful calendar of Kunwinjku ecological knowledge was launched recently at Gunbalanya School.

Senior Kunbarlanja Traditional Owner Julie Narndal said as well as being a cultural record, the calendar was also a valuable learning tool.

“We want to share our knowledge with the kids and help them learn at school,” Ms Narndal said.

CSIRO PhD student Emma Ligtermoet worked with Traditional Owners from Kunbarlanja (Gunbalanya) to document their knowledge of the seasons and the environment as part of the National Environmental Research Program.

Ms Ligtermoet said that as both a senior Traditional Owner and Gunbalanya School assistant, Ms Narndal wanted to record Indigenous ecological knowledge in a way that helped students learn ‘both ways’.

“Julie felt a seasonal calendar would be a valuable cultural learning aid to help share Aboriginal knowledge with the next generation, while also providing relevant entry points for students into the science curriculum,” she said.

Ms Ligtermoet said interest in developing a Kunbarlanja calendar was sparked after Traditional Owners saw the suite of seasonal calendars developed by CSIRO as part of the Tropical Rivers and Coastal Knowledge program, and through the course of her field work.

“My PhD research focuses on freshwater customary harvesting practices and climate change adaptation,” she said.

“This research included talking with people about their observations of environmental change, such as changes in weather characteristics, or in the timing of key seasonal events that influenced harvesting and hunting, like plant flowering and fruiting or animal movement or reproduction, so the production of a seasonal calendar complemented this well.”

Ms Ligtermoet and Ms Narndal collaborated closely with other senior knowledge holders in the Gunbalanya community, including Connie Nayinggul and Donna Nadjamerrek and their families. Ms Narndal said discussions between contributors over the course of a year helped to refresh and reinvigorate the seasonal knowledge they shared.

“It’s really good you know, I’m remembering again and learning some new things too from those other ladies,” Ms Narndal said.

The development of the Kunbarlanja (Gunbalanya) Kunwinjku seasonal calendar, released on Monday 9 November, was supported by the National Environmental Research Program’s Northern Hub, CSIRO and the Australian National University. Regional linguist and ANU Research Fellow, Dr Murray Garde, also provided in-kind support through the Bininj Gunwok Language Project.

CSIRO’s Emma Ligtermoet with Kunwinjku calendar collaborators, from left, Julie Narndal, Doreen Nadulwad, Donna Nadjamerrek, Molly Nayilibidj, Lois Nadjamerrek and Helen Nawirridj.

View a jpg image of the calendar here.

For further information about the calendars please contact: Emma.Ligtermoet@csiro.au