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Mayali Seasons

Gudjewk

  • Full wet season
  • Waters peak at their highest
  • Fish are nice and fat
  • Worledon, the green ant mother, is ready to gather and eat
  • Wirndilk are ready to collect to dye panduanus for making baskets and pandanus crafts
  • Ginga, the saltwater crocodile, are on the move, travelling throughtout the river systems

Bangerreng

  • Last Knock’em down storms bring fierce wind and rain
  • Spear grass seeds are brown that indicates the bamurru (magpie geese) are laying their eggs which are ready to eat
  • Many fish have spawned

Yekke

  • Rains cease
  • Ngarribolkwurlke – we start to burn fires on country as soon as the rains stop towards the end of April
  • Angindjek ready to harvest for eating
  • Wetlands turn into feeding frenzy
  • Egrets in abundance feeding on insects as the waters recede
  • Whistle ducks return in their numbers
  • Fish spawned
  • Fish and turtles fat
  • Anwirndilk, heamadorum plant, start to grow within a couple of weeks in areas that have been burnt
  • Red eye pigeon start to lay their egg in the patches of grassy regrowth that have been burnt

Wurrgeng

  • The orange flowers of the eucalypts beginning to flower indicate the change of season
  • Coldest time of the year
  • Gumugen, freshwater crocodile, are laying eggs in the sand dunes of Kakadu creek systems, indicated by the blooming of the andjedj – bright yellow flowers of the the kapok tree. This is also a good time to collect pods for the yellow fluorescent dye for pandanus weaving
  • The beautiful pink flowers of the calytrix indicate freshwater crocodiles are fat and pignosed turtle are laying their eggs
  • Magpie geese and ducks are getting fat and ready to eat
  • Kapok flowering indicating fresh water crocodiles nesting and also pig nose turtle another indicated is the turkey bush tree.

Gurrung

  • Andudjmi starts to flower
  • Hot weather time
  • Wetlands are drying up
  • Time to hunt for Almangayi on the floodplains
  • Bamurru , magpie geese, are really fat from anguladj the water chestnut good time to eat both
  • Freshwater mangroves start to bloom beautiful red dangling flowers
  • River levels are low and filesnakes ready to gather
  • Long necked turtles in hibination time to hunt and gather them
  • Fresh water mussels fat

Gunumeleng

  • First rains starts making the country beautiful green and lush
  • Anbedje, the spear grass, starts to grow
  • Andudjmi, the green plum, start to ripen and fall of the trees
  • Badju are ready to dig and harvest
  • Andjurrkumarlba the black current ready to gather and harvest

Items collected all year round

  • Pandanus collected all year round
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