CLIMATE CHANGES
The other seasons
WORDS KATE ROBERTSON
CLIMATE CHANGES
The other seasons
WORDS KATE ROBERTSON
The Bush Tucker Queen, Dale Tilbook shows guests what's in season.
Dividing the year into four seasons and assigning them strict start and end dates is a foreign concept to Aboriginal people, who take their cue from nature rather than a calendar.
The concept of four seasons is so ingrained in Western cultures that learning different Aboriginal communities around Australia recognise anywhere between two and seven seasons can come as a surprise. But, it only takes a moment’s reflection to realise that it makes perfect sense in a land where the terrain ranges from arid desert to lush rainforest, and from coastline to alpine areas.
Dale Tilbrook, a Wardandi Bibbulmun Elder known as The Bushtucker Queen, lives on the southwest coast of Western Australia where, she explains, the Noongar people recognise six seasons.
Birak
(first summer)
‘We’d all gather at coastal locations for the same reason people go to places like Mandurah and other places on the coast at Christmas time; because the fish and the prawns and the crabs are running, so we could easily access all the coastal bush food,’ Dale says.
They would build and maintain fish traps, called mangur, along the estuary rivers, including simple rock walls that would capture fish as the tide receded.
Bushtucker in season.
Bunuru
(second summer)
‘Bunuru is hot season, so we would be in coastal locations, but we’d also start to make our way up the estuary rivers...we'd be eating coastal bush food like fish and shellfish. It's also one of the times of the year that we would burn parts of the Country to drive out small game wallabies and lizards and goannas, and we'd be waiting there to knock them on the head and eat them,’ Dale says.
‘We’d burn bullrushes down to the waterline so they’d be ready to harvest next season, and we’d also start collecting the buyu, which is the fruit of the Zamia cycad, and these would be soaked in running water for a week or two to leach out the toxins before being crushed and made into little bread cakes.’
The soaking process is important, as hungry white explorers discovered when they ate some of the unsoaked fruits they had spotted at Noongar campsites—and became violently ill.
Djeran
(autumn)
‘We would harvest the bullrush tubers, pulling them out of the water, and then we would pound them to make them into little bread cakes, which we call mandjaly.
‘This is also the time of the year when we would be eating emu eggs—and emu as well. The female will lay eggs every two to three days and the Old Man Emu collects them into a nest and, when he's got enough, he'll sit down on them,’ Dale says.
The Noongar people would chase him off the nest, then roll out a couple of the eggs, whilst being careful not to leave their scent on the rest, so he would return to hatch them.
The Noongar seasons, designed by Josh ‘Koomal’ Whiteland from Koomal Dreaming.
Djeran was also the time to harvest yams from the extensive yam farms the Noongar people used to cultivate in the northern part of their Country.
‘We also had yam gardens on the Swan River. They were very productive, well looked after by the women and harvested twice a year,’ Dale says.
Makuru
(winter)
‘People would be very much closer to their camps. So, we would be eating land animals, and we'd be hunting in the local area and accessing all the bounty of the swamps and waterways. So, there'd be frogs, there'd be waterbirds.’
‘This was when the black swans could be eaten because they're moulting and they can't fly as well, so they're much easier to catch—so roast swan for Christmas in July.’
Makuru is open season on black swans. Credit: Dorothe Wouters.
Goanna is back on the menu during Kambarang.
Djilba
(first spring)
‘This is when we started moving away from our camps a bit more, meeting up with other groups and when we might take some of the tubers of other plants, like youlk. Youlk is a beautifully crisp, juicy, and tasty tuber, which grows in the deep south of Noongar country. It's become very popular with chefs, and it's sometimes called a Ravensthorpe radish because it grows in around Ravensthorpe. Its flavour profile is somewhere between carrot and nashi pear.’
Kambarang
(Second spring)
‘Again, we were digging yams in those areas that have that yam, and we're also taking birds, eggs, and hunting land animals.
‘We always took just what we needed, and we never took too much from one place,’ Dale says.
Goannas were also back on the menu in Kambarang.
Hover ON a LOCATION to see some
aboriginal Seasons
With thanks to The Australian Bureau of Meteorology.
TAP ON a LOCATION to see some
aboriginal Seasons
With thanks to The Australian Bureau of Meteorology.
With thanks to The Australian Bureau of Meteorology.
Favourite bush tucker seasons
Juan Walker
Daintree region
The Kuku Yalanji people recognise seven seasons and Juan Walker’s favourite is the end of the Wet.
‘It’s the start of the cool time and the rivers are still nice and full and the temperature’s dropped. It's not as humid, not muggy, but all of your seafood and animals are nice and fat.’
Bec Sampi
Top End
‘Gija have got five seasons. I like just coming out of the wet season because everything is so green. It’s when you've got ducks, you've got eggs, and there’s lots of water around. My favourite food is the black plum. It's beautiful and sweet. We make jam out of it now, but my grandmother told me they would just carry them and mix them with water to eat when they were wanting something sweet.’
Peter Abbott
Central Australia
Luritja/Multitjarra cultures recognise three seasons in the desert region—spring, summer, and winter. ‘Springtime is where most bushfoods are available, including emu and kangaroo. The perentie lizard and yellow sand goannas are hunted during both spring and summer, but the pickings are slimmer in wintertime, when only four food groups are available. It was a very lean time for our ancestors.’
Juan Walker
Daintree region
The Kuku Yalanji people recognise seven seasons and Juan Walker’s favourite is the end of the Wet.
‘It’s the start of the cool time and the rivers are still nice and full and the temperature’s dropped. It's not as humid, not muggy, but all of your seafood and animals are nice and fat.’
Bec Sampi
Top End
‘Gija have got five seasons. I like just coming out of the wet season because everything is so green. It’s when you've got ducks, you've got eggs, and there’s lots of water around. My favourite food is the black plum. It's beautiful and sweet. We make jam out of it now, but my grandmother told me they would just carry them and mix them with water to eat when they were wanting something sweet.’
Peter Abbott
Central Australia
Luritja/Multitjarra cultures recognise three seasons in the desert region—spring, summer, and winter. ‘Springtime is where most bushfoods are available, including emu and kangaroo. The perentie lizard and yellow sand goannas are hunted during both spring and summer, but the pickings are slimmer in wintertime, when only four food groups are available. It was a very lean time for our ancestors.’
Learn more about Aboriginal seasons on these tours:
ABORIGINAL FOOD CAVE AND DIDGE TOUR
Koomal Dreaming
Depending on the season, you’ll get to taste a selection of traditional bush tucker that could include kangaroo, emu, quandong, emu plum and salt bush, served alongside Margaret River Region wine and beers during this tour, led by Wadandi custodian Josh ‘Koomal’ Whiteland.
ABORIGINAL STORYTELLING AND WINE TASTING EXPERIENCE
Firescreek botanical winery aboriginal experiences
Learn about the bush tucker in season and sample Firescreek's unique wines, which have been created using Australian native flora and other botanicals, during this cultural experience into Aboriginal culture and heritage led by a local Aboriginal Elder.
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