Vol 23

June / July 2014

Kanyirninpa
Jukurrpa
ISSN: 2203-7926
PAGE 01
PAGE 03
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PAGE 11
PAGE 18
Opening up the
Whitefella
world
Women rangers
monitoring
program
Warru program
Martu learning
about Indigenous
Protected
Areas
Helicopter
burning
Karlamilyi
Kalyuku Ninti trip
1
Over the past couple of months, PJ and
Ngangkari have had a chance to talk with all
the leadership program participants about the
leadership program. When we talk with people
for the first time, we ask people things like. What
do you want to get out of doing this program?
Who else do you think should do this program?
One very clear message that we keep hearing is
that people want to know more about makes up
the whitefella world. They want to know more
about government, companies, money and how
the whitefella law system works. Most whitefellas
understand very little about the Martu world. But
equally, many Martu understand only bits of the
whitefella world. It is this understanding that the
leadership programs hopes to increase.
The Jigalong rangers joined the leadership
team with some of the course work and helped
draw the map of the world as they started
to organise lots of different organisations,
companies, departments, agencies etc. This
map will be the basis for many more talks with all
the rangers as we slowly give people a chance
to see how all these different parts work and
where they fit together.
Cover: Thirteen car convoy on the Karlamilyi Kalyuku
Ninti trip. This page from top: A diagram showing
which parts of government the leadership team are
going to learn about first; Kernot adding the first part
of the whitefella world jigsaw puzzle to the board;
Galvin adding a section of the puzzle; Grant
adding more of the puzzle in creating the
whitefella map; the leadership team and
Jigalong rangers with the completed map.
Ranger Leadership Program - Opening up the
Whitefella world
2
The leadership team will go to Melbourne in September to visit
one part of this map. They will visit Not for Profit companies
such as World Vision, The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and others
so they can see for themselves how these companies operate.
Another thing that people are telling us is that they want
everyone to have a chance to do this program. They are happy
to go in the front so they can help PJ and Ngangkari. But very
clearly, they feel strongly about many of their workmates getting
the same opportunity. They tell us that all Martu should get a
chance to do this program.
The leadership team would also like to give a big welcome to Billy Landy (Butler). Butler has joined
the leadership program as a Martu mentor. He brings with him a wealth of experience and much
enthusiasm. You can read Butlers heartfelt words to the rangers that put him in. We welcome Butler
on board.
I would like to thank for my position. I just do not know how to
thank you enough. I have been in Nullagine for most of my
time. On the street. For my position, I heard the rangers wanted
me to take this position. I have not been back to politics for the
last five years. I got a feeling in my mind to help people with
this program. I feel it is important for the future. It is a long road.
It will be hot, dusty, wet. To aim for the goal. To be a part of this.
It is like a footy team that can kick goals for the future and the
young ones to follow. I want to work with the KJ board and the
directors, Martu and whitefellas all together. Thank you for giving
me this chance. I will do what I can. I will help you, you will help
me. My tears are falling with this chance to be a part of this.
Let us go forward.
From Butler.
From top: Ngangkari
talking with people about
the leadership program
at Nyirripi; Butler (Billy
Landy); Leon Taylor
cleaning up in front of the
shop; Leon Taylor, Hayden
Richards, Neville Taylor
and Marc Huber planting
new trees; Hayden fixing
the brush cutter; Neville
Taylor inspecting the
trench
What a great time of the year to do work in the garden and plant trees.
Greening Australia paid the Parnngurr rangers a visit and brought a huge
lot of new plants to put in the ground. The first day the team spent fixing
the irrigation and cleaning up around the existing plantings in
the community. For the rest of the week the rangers planted
another two camps. Now it is just a process of waiting and
watching the trees grow there will be a jungle in the desert in
10 years time.
Greening up the communities
3
During June three Martu Ranger teams
worked together to carefully burn
over 3,000 hectares of predominately
spinifex country south west of G.J Bore
(Georgia Bore) and around Warntili
(Well 26). The wirrili (faraway) country
from these areas was accessed by
helicopter that dropped small teams
of rangers off who then carefully set
fires. The areas had been previously
identified through a combination of
satellite photos and Martu knowledge,
as areas that would benefit from
careful mosaic style burning, similar to
pujiman (bushman) days. Light daytime
winds and cool calm overnight
conditions contributed to a fantastic
result.
The Jigalong crew focused on breaking
up old spinifex to the south west of GJ
Bore. This area between the Savory
Creek and Punkulyi (McKay Ranges)
had the potential to carry hot summer
wildfires into the Punkulyi area. Punkulyi
is identified as having high cultural
and conservation status and is now
better protected from the large wildfires
summer brings.
The Parnngurr mens and womens
ranger teams focused on burning
around Warntili as it also had lots of
old spinifex and the women had been
keen for a number of years to burn
the area to regenerate wamurla (bush
tomato) known to flourish in the area
following careful burning.
Helicopter burning
From top: Edwina Booth, Parnngurr ranger and Matthew Paterson,
Mens ranger program manager, inspecting the fires;
Thelma Judson and Yanjimi Rowlands having a break
from a days work at Warntili; mosaic burning patterns
appearing across the desert thanks to the Martu ranger
teams
4
Martu rangers have now had a chance to hear
from several traditional owners groups about
Indigenous Protected Areas (IPAs).
Late last year there was the visit to Groote Eylandt
where they got to talk with the Anindilyakwa mob
about their IPA. Anindilyakwa mob told Martu that
they liked having an IPA because it allowed them
to look after country but it also allowed them
to do some business with mining companies.
Groote Eylandt has a very large manganese
mine that is within the declared IPA.
Earlier this year Martu rangers were back in the
Northern Territory as they were invited onto Warlpiri
country. They heard from Warlpiri the story about
their IPA helping them to look after their country
and provide more jobs for young people. At the
moment, Warlpiri have the biggest IPA area in
Australia. This is something they are very proud of.
Coming up is another invite for Martu. This
September Martu rangers have been invited to
a big ceremony at Kiwirrkurra. This ceremony is to
mark the start of a new IPA that covers a lot of the
country around Kiwirrkurra.
This is a big decision for this mob and something
they hope will let them start their own ranger
teams and get some funding from the
government to look after country.
We dropped in at Kiwirrkurra earlier this year
when we were on our way to visit the Warlpiri
mob. We got to hear about what this IPA means
to this mob and some of the exciting plans for
the future. When we got there they were busy
renovating what will be the new IPA headquarters.
Exciting times ahead for the Kiwirrkurra mob.
Martu Learning about
Indigenous Protected
Areas
Late in July, the rangers took the opportunity to improve their ranger station known as the Lakehouse
or Rawa Ngurra. The rangers worked hard and showed off their building and safety skills and the old
people joined in to help, doing some paintings.
The team has also been busy over the past month getting ready for the Kulyakartu Kalyuku Ninti trip.
Unfortunately, due to an unusual amount of rain the trip had to be cancelled and will be rescheduled
at a later time. While this was disappointing, the cold and wet weather meant the Punmu mens
ranger team could get out on country to do some waru (fire) work. Particularly in some places the
team were worried that the waru would have gotten too big and possibly caused problems in the
hotter months.
Punmu ranger station
From top left: Nancy Chapman, Mulyatingki Chapman,
Rosie Williams, Rena Rogers, Minyawu Miller and ranger
Charlston Miller helping to paint the doors of the
Lakehouse / RAWA Ngurra; Punmu men
and women rangers; the Martu leadership
team met up with Jimmy Brown, a senior
Kiwirrkurra man who is one of the people
taking a leading role in getting the IPA
declared for their country
5
All three womens ranger teams have been
working out on country over the past two months
conducting fauna, flora and water monitoring.
The Parnngurr women rangers headed out on
a trip to locate a site where a strong medicine
plant was thought to grow. After spending a night
at Duck Pool, the team headed out to the site
that had not been visited in some time, stopping
on a rocky outcrop to visit a gnamma (rockhole)
on the way. Once the site was found, the women
harvested some of the new shoots and leaves
before beginning a threatened species fauna
survey at a new plot nearby.
In July two researchers, Rebecca and Doug Bird
accompanied the Parnngurr womens ranger
team on two camping trips. On the first trip, a
small group of rangers took the Birds out to Yulpul
and the surrounds to monitor water at Yulpul,
Karlya and Nangurr as well as conduct fauna
monitoring. The team also had a wangka (talk)
around the campfire about the different types of
bush food and bush medicine plants which the
team may want to select as priority species.
The Parnngurr womens ranger team went on
a two-night trip to Pimurlu and Kunti Kunti to
conduct water testing and flora monitoring. Kunti
Kunti was chosen by the Parnngurr women in
May as one of two priority water sites to be tested
regularly throughout the season, along with
Wangkakalu that we hope to visit next month.
The team spotted some fresh mankarr (bilby)
diggings and burrows on the road to Kunti Kunti
and so established a couple more fauna survey
plots on our way home.
Women rangers monitoring program
From top left: Nola Taylor chopping up a medicine plant;
Edwina Booth and Raylene Robinson working their way
through a water CyberTracker sequence;
Charlene Bullen, Noreena Kadibil, Edwina
Booth and Elizabeth Kadibil testing Kunti
Kunti; Jessica Robinson putting in small
burns
6
Despite the unseasonal heavy rains washing
out the work week, the Punmu womens casual
ranger team had some great successes, with
the elders pushing on through the big rain.
Naturally the rain cleared all the tracks, so fauna
monitoring was a little more difficult, especially
estimating the age of signs unless the tracks were
really fresh. It also meant that some usually low
water holes were full and able to be tested, and
regular tests completed at Illyarra.
Following on from last months activities, the
Punmu casual women rangers collected the
sensor camera set up in May, with some great
shots of the resident mankarr (bilby). The large
amount of dingo / dog scats collected nearby
were tested by Barbara Triggs and came back
with some interesting results; rabbit remains
were found and one contained dingo remains.
Most importantly, none of the scats contained
mankarr. Various species of mouse have turned
up in other dingo and cat scats, and one dingo
scat contained cat remains.
The monitoring plot at Yatutuma (Lake Auld),
although washed clean by the rain, clearly
had little use by mankarr recently and no fresh
signs for the last two years. There are many
rabbits living around this area. Rabbits seem
to be appearing in a lot more locations at the
moment.
New locations have been found for the mulyamiji
(great desert skink) and langamarlu (mulgara).
The mulyamiji burrows have parents and babies
living in them now, and the langamarlu burrows
have pregnant females that will give birth in
spring to lots of little ones. They will stay in the
burrows until they have grown enough to come
out. Nancy and Mulyatingki are very excited
about their find, and the younger women rangers
are mapping their locations and collecting
other information that will help to look after the
surrounding country.
Parnukuraja has recently been visited by both the
Punmu mens and womens ranger teams, with
the women digging it out, burning and locating
grinding tools around the soak. The day with the
Punmu mens ranger team was spent looking for
a special soak. Maybe on the next trip we will
find it. The team burnt along the roadsides on
the way home.
From top: Debra, Tasha, Marjorie, Danielle and Michelle
water testing at Illyarra; mankarr captured on a remote
sensor camera; Mulyatingki holds a langamarlu scat while
Marissa enters the GPS location of the burrow; Punmu
men and women rangers clearing around Parnukuraja
soak
7
Rachel Paltridge from Desert Wildlife Services
will be spending the week in Punmu in August
to learn from and share knowledge with the
women on the best way to manage the
special areas for mankarr, mulyamiji and
langamarlu.
The Jigalong casual womens ranger team
have also been busy identifying target areas
for threatened species monitoring.
The Jigalong casual women rangers
have been tracking on three new fauna
monitoring sites. So far, one of these sites has
consistently shown tracks and ngurra (home)
of langamarlu.
In July, the women found a closed off burrow
network, which they believed had babies in
it. The same site also showed the picture of
a dingo chasing a mankarr at high speed.
It is unknown what became of the mankarr
and more tracking needs to be done to
find mankarr burrows, diggings and other
evidence.
The women continue to keep an eye on many
waterholes. Two waterholes are monitored
every month in both the morning and
afternoon: Nuka Springs and Meeka Springs.
With lots of recent rains, it was good to see
many water sources full with clean water,
including Ngujapunya and the Watch Point
claypan.
From top: Rena Rogers with a wakura (upper part of
a grinding stone) at Parnukuraja soak; the Jigalong
casual women rangers: Moranda Burton, Ravina Dunn
(background), Gabrielle Samson (foreground) and
Judith Samson having a laugh while water testing
at Meeka Springs; Chrissy and Brenda Sailor with a
loaded grass tree seed head on the Puntawarri track.
8
In May, the Parnngurr men and womens ranger
teams assisted Dave Wells from Prevailing
Wind Productions and Curtis Taylor in making a
traditional ecological film about pulija / kirti kirti
(hill kangaroo).
Elders, the Parnngurr ranger teams and the
filming crew headed out on country for a
few days to record footage and stories.
Waka Taylor, Muuki Taylor, Nola Taylor, Nancy
Taylor, Yanjimi Rowlands and Thelma Judson
provided knowledge and stories about pujiman
(bushman) days and pulija. Curtis and Waka
hunted a pulija for the film. Dave and Curtis
filmed Waka cutting up the animal in the
traditional way while explaining its importance
to Martu and country.
Whilst out on the trip the Parnngurr mens
team also collected their camera traps that
had been placed along the rocky outcrop a
number of months before while the Parnngurr
women rangers carried out fauna surveys.
The movie is now available for viewing on
www.kj.org.au/films and is also available on the
Community Access Libraries (CAL) in each
community.
A number of other films about traditional
ecological knowledge are scheduled to be
made. If you have any ideas of a movie you
would like to make please contact Zan King at
the KJ office.
Pulija / Kirti-kirti
(hill kangaroo)
From top: Curtis Taylor capturing footage of burning;
Waka Taylor demonstrating hunting with a spear during
pujiman times; elders recording thier stories about
pulija; Leon Taylor, Parnngurr ranger, acting in the
movie
9
Last week the Jigalong rangers headed out to Kaalpi to
undertake the final stage in the warru (black flanked rock
wallaby) protection program for this year. Part of the warru
relocation project is to continue to undertake work around
Pinpi and Kaalpi to protect the warru populations.
The Pinpi work was done earlier in the year and last week the
Kaalpi work was done. The trip was also extremely fortunate
to have Yunkurra (Billy Atkins) join the trip. A big thank you to
Yunkurra from the Jigalong team for coming out with us. Also
on the trip was waru (fire) man Rohan Carboon from Bushfire
Safety Consulting. Rohan is a bushfire safety specialist who
came out with the team to assist the rangers with burning work
to protect important sites and animals.
A 20-minute film produced by Prevailing Wind Productions on
the management of the warru in the Western Desert can be
viewed on the KJ website www.kj.org.au/films. This film covers
three weeks on country where some of these wallabies were
relocated from Kaalpi to nearby gorges at Pinpi, to help
secure their survival for the future.
Warru (rock wallaby) program
From top: Rohan Carboon and Jigalong rangers
undertaking burning north west of Kaalpi; Jigalong
rangers putting in small burns; elders on the Karlamilyi
trip pointing out a soak
Karlamilyi Kalyuku ninti
trip
For eight days in early June 60 people travelled
from Punmu to Parnngurr on our first Kalyuku Ninti
trip for 2014. There were representatives from
the Taylor, Miller, Chapman, Roberts, Landy, Long,
French, Oates, Biljabu, Jones, Sailor, Nanudie,
Yates, Larry, Rodgers and Williams families. The
Parnngurr and Punmu ranger teams supported
the trip. The trip headed down the eastern side of
Lake Dora to Jutupa and Tarl.
The Punmu team took the lead and did the
scouting for the first part of the trip. This meant that
the Punmu team had to find the way to the next
place and make sure it was a track that everyone
else could follow safely.
Although the lake was wet and there were a lot
of bogging the Punmu rangers did a really good
job guiding people through and fixing up the
road. Waka and Minyawu showed the way and
the Parnngurr rangers made sure everyone got
through at the back.
Waka guided the group to Wawul
that he had found on a helicopter
reconnaissance trip a few weeks
earlier.
10
It was very exciting for everybody to find this important
place and pay our respects. We then headed over to
Mirrpurn (Jarntinti) claypan that was looking beautiful with
so much kalaru seed there. The Punmu ranger team
then lead the group to the river. We camped for two
nights at Jamparri claypan that was full of water. This
was a really beautiful camping spot where people had
a good wash. Then we headed down the river with
the Parnngurr ranger team taking over the leading and
scouting for the group.
Both teams did a great job getting the 13 vehicles
though the tricky river crossings and Parnngurr team found
a new less bumpy road. We visited a special place for
the Chapman family called Jatarrngara. We went on
to Kunti Kunti and then out from the river via Kuta Kuta
and Pimurlu. It was a great trip with lots of storytelling, fun
around the campfire, great food and good company.
On the trip many of the old people asked the rangers to
take on the responsibility for looking after the country as
the group was travelling through. The rangers are happy
the old people have given them this responsibility and
it will be easier to get into this country for waru (fire) work
and checking the water places now the teams have put
a road through.
Thank you to the old people Waka and Nancy Taylor,
Minyawu Miller, May Chapman, Mulyatingki Marney and
Nancy Chapman who showed us the places and told
so many stories to the young people. Also thank you to
the Punmu and Parnngurr ranger teams and to all the
whitefella KJ staff. It was a great trip.
From top: Fifty-two Martu and eight non-Martu were
involved in the eight day Karlamilyi Kalyuku Ninti trip;
Waka Taylor showing the younger generation how to
carve; paying respects at a waterhole; Punmu and
Parnngurr ranger teams inspecting the map to plan
the days route
11
1 - 9 August: Greening Australia working with the
Jigalong rangers
4 - 12 August: Parks and Wildlife working with Jigalong
rangers on the warru program
4 - 15 August: Rachel Paltridge mankarr work with the
Punmu women rangers
11 - 16 August: Leigh Sage (Parks and Wildlife) working
with Parnngurr rangers on firebreaks
11 - 15 August: Leadership trip to Kirriwirri
14 - 18 August: We Dont need a Map exhibition
Melbourne
18 - 23 August: Darks and Wildlife working with Parnngurr
rangers on the warru program
20 - 26 August: CSR trip Jigalong rangers
26 - 28 August: Cultural Awareness Newman
24 August - 2 September: Jigalong women ranger work
29 August - 3 September: CSR trip Jigalong rangers
3 - 14 September: Punmu women rangers work
6 - 12 September: CSR trip Jigalong rangers
8 - 15 September: Helicopter mapping
15 - 19 September: Greening Australia weed training with
the Parnngurr rangers
23 - 25 September: Cultural Awareness Newman
22 - 24 September: Parnngurr rangers overnight trip
27 September - 12 October: School holidays
29 September - 2 October: Kiwirrkurra football carnival
Whats coming up:
august and september
From top: Jigalong mens ranger team involved in the helicopter burning; Raylene Robinson, Parnngurr
ranger, at a gnamma (rockhole); Jamie Rowlands, Parnngurr ranger, burning country; claypans viewed
during the helicopter burning trip
12
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Funders, Partners and Supporters