Trial 17. Gotha at Gäwa 210409

On Tuesday 21st April Gotha took here computer outside for the first time, and used the in-built camera to show the students the Gäwa community.

J

We won’t start it for a minute, I don’t think…

0:16

S

How did last week go with the screen recording

J

fine

S

Oh Good.

0:30

J

Fine?  No no no no, it was gone, didn’t get it. But we had another session on Wednesday night with the conversation class and that was fantastic, because Dhäŋgal who was teaching knows the students who are conversation students through work and other things and it was like ‘Oh it’s good to see you it was really lovely.  Well I’ll just..
See it’s probably getting dark so it would probably be good if we did it now..

1:00

Skype sound

G

Yow

J

Wanhan?

Where?

G

Djinawa, ŋi

Inside, yes

J

I’ll just… this is flat battery batteries is it?  I’ll just put the volume up a bit…

G

???????

1:30

J

I’ll charge up the batteries a moment in my computer while you’re getting ready to turn up the volume.

G

Nhaltjan dhu rra waŋa dhuwal????

Shall I talk here?

J 

Is it getting dark outside?

G

Yaka, manymak yän, galki marrtji bukumunhayirr ŋunha bala gumurrdja

No its still okay, it’s getting dark, coming in from over there.

J

Just while you’re inside I’ll just turn on the picture so you can see who’s here.

2:00

G

Ma’

Okay

J

So that you know who you’re talking to.

G

(Can see everyone) Yow!!!!

All

yo, yo…

G

Yol dhuwandja, David?

Who’s that, David?

Dav

Yow, hello

G

Ma’, Nhämirr?

Oh, How are you?

Dav

2:30 Manymak, nhämirr nhe?

Good, how are you?

G

Manymak wäwa.

Good, brother.

J

So that’s who’s here.

G

Ŋi

Yes

J

3:00 Now, would you like to show us outside?

G

I’ll try.

J

What would you like to tell us about?

G

Where we started our school, under a tree, or that’s too far?

J

No, I think that will be ok. I think you might have to be careful
3:30
of where your body is, and the computer, and the signal from the satellite dish. But I’ll turn off our video in case it’s putting too much pressure on the network. Ŋarra dhu mukmaram dhuwal video.  Ŋarra dhiyal. 

I will close down this video. Me, here,

J

Nhuŋu?

Yours?

G

Yow

Yes

G

Ma

Okay?

J

And tell us where you’re going please.

4:00

G

Yo. I’m going to show you where we started our first school under the shade cloth near the special tree where we sit.
So I’m going there. As you can see, that’s our house ga the beach is … can you see the beach?

4:30

All

Yow

G

Yo. We live near there, right on the edge of the beach ga the turtle comes and lays eggs just in front of our house. Every morning kids get up, try to look for turtle eggs. So …
can you see the old school?

5:00

5:30 …

All

yo

G

Yo, that’s our old school.
Next to the old school is the clinic, started by Marthakal. Can you see the clinic or bäyŋu (not)?

6:00
Marthakal homeland resource centre

All

Yo.

G

Manymak. So this is where we started our trial school here. This place here, used to be good trees because the cyclone had hit the power, so there’s not enough trees here, it’s just starting to grow.

6:30

All

yow

G

We had 42 kids here. This is the place here.

7:00

J

42 was that?

G

Yo, 42 kids, multigrade. Trial school.

J

Who was the teacher?

G

I was the teacher, as Shepherdson College

J

Ya ya

G

And… yo… there was no houses. We used to have to… see that tree? Bit long way. Behind the sand dunes, we used to camp there outside.

7:30

J

Yo gutharra

G

Yo. Can you see it’s cloudy now?

8:00

All

yo

G

Cloudy, rain coming, ga strong wind.

J

Yo, we can hear the wind blowing in the microphone.

G

Yo. That’s manymak, I’m being very careful to carry that laptop.

J

Gutharra, why did you decide to have a school at Gawa?

8:30

G

I didn’t decide, but my old father, he asked us to move out to Gawa? because there’ll be big trouble later on, he could see that.
That’s the reason we moved out and set up the school here at Gawa in 1991. So I’m going back to the house now. There was nothing – all these trees you can see – Colin planted all these trees, my husband.
See all this, It’s like a windbreak, to stop the wind.

9:00

9:30

All

Yo, manymak

G

Yo. And ??  Liŋgu??

10:00

J :

Yo, thanks for showing that.

G

Yo Any questions?

Kid’s voice in background at Gäwa.

S

Yo. Wanha nhuŋu wäŋa? Does that make sense?

Where is your house? 10:30

G

Yow. Bäyŋu questions?

(She didn’t hear the student) No questions?

J

Wait a moment.

M

Badak!

Wait?

G

Yow, I’m sitting outside.

S

(to John) Yeah, what do I call gutharra?

J

I don’t know, I’ll have to think about that

Ok, Wanha nhanu wäŋa?

11:00

J

Nhanŋu?  Hers? 

John trying to clarify the question

M

Nhuŋu, Wanha nhuŋu wäŋa (coaching the student)

S

Oh! Wanha nhuŋu wäŋa?... I don’t think she heard…

M

Ŋäma ga? 

Can you hear?

J

Come up and say it again.

S

I feel silly…. ?? Okay… um Wanha nhuŋu wäŋa?.

G

My wäŋa is here….

11:30

S

Oh Yeah, she understood! … is where?

J

Is here.  I might put our picture back on, now that you’re sitting there.

S

Oh here! Yow

G

Yow.

J

I might put the picture back on again, now that you’re sitting there.

G

Nhä

What?

J

I’ll put the picture back on.

G

Ehh

J

Gutharra? Ok if I ask a question? Yesterday, Gutharra, you told a story about your gutharras, the two men who walked around. Could you tell us a short story about that, what happened?

12:00

G

Yo, yesterday, first time, my two gurruŋs son-in-laws  took the older kids to Gäwa, sorry to Naŋinyburra, and they showed some of the landmarks like Goki and Dhoru rock, where they used to have a ceremony inside the jungle, and when they come out and that’s how they, like, men dancing and the public dance they …

12:30

13:00

Sound off….

13:15

J

Maybe too much…

Skype noise

13:30

J

She may not realise it’s gone off….

Skype noise

14:00

J

Ah blow it! 
noises off…
Skype noise
connecting, blow it! I can’t make that smaller.
Skype noise

14:30

15:00

G

Yo

J

We got cut off.

G

I know

J

We heard about you going to Naŋinyburra and … not you, your gutharras, and then the line cut out.

15:30

G

Yo. That was the first time that kids ŋarra ga Mawuyul we went with teacher, Ben, all the kids from school, they were telling us this story for Naŋinyburra. There’s three groups that connected to that land, Warramiri ga Birrkili Gupapuyngu Wana-marrwalamirr, ga Gupapuyngu. We share that wäŋa at Naŋinyburra Gurrumiya. That means the whale came ga died, washed away and died there, that’s why they call it Gurrumiya.
Ga very sacred place. Before, bäyŋu ladies allowed in that area, or children, only men. But now we can walk, go hunting, manymak.

16:00

... different Yirritja clan groups

16:30

… no ladies…

All

Yo

G

It was something very good that they’ve been talking and telling the kids where the ceremonial areas were, so they’re learning …  the places, who belongs to that wäŋa. So maybe next week they’ll do a story about Gäwa here. Also, they said to us, we didn’t get that not our really wäŋa
but got that wäŋa through milmarra. I don’t know how I can explain to you, the word milmarra. Very hard, maybe John or Michael, you might help me on that.

17:00

17:31

milmarra – ancestral promise-making practice, linking groups of the same moiety through marriage.

M

Yow.

J

Yo, gutharra

G

Yo

J

It sounded very interesting.

G

Ŋi, Yo

18:00

J

Did those students enjoy that time?

G

Ŋi, All the kids, some yaka, because some of the kids were not from here. If you belong to the land they get interested, Gurrumuwuy and Dhoru and the other kids was taking video, ga taking notes, Yo.

18:30

J

(To Students) Anyone want to talk? (To Gotha) I’m just asking any body if they’d like to ask you a question.

G

As long as it’s not hard.

All

laugh

G

Can I ask about why there was going to be trouble? What kind of…

19:00

J

(to student) yes, come up… (to Gotha) You’re going to be asked a question in a moment.

G

Wanha Gamarraŋ’tja? Bäyŋu?

Where is Gamarraŋ?  Not there?

S

When your father asked you to make a school up there, because there was going to be trouble, what was the trouble going to be for? If that makes sense.

19:30

G

The trouble he was looking at how the town Galiwin’ku would grow up, ga lot of people living, ga like now there’s lot of problem at Galiwin’ku, ga he was right, he could see that. Kava, yeast, marijuana, people fighting about the land, children don’t know who the real landowner is for Galiwin’ku, so that’s what happening here, if we start teaching the kids early age so they can get dhäwu, true dhäwu, at here and Naŋinyburra. When they grow up and these things, if it comes, they won’t have any problem because they already have that dhäwu inside them.

20:00

Dhäwu – story,

20:30

Yo

S

Thank you

J

I think that might be enough for today, unless you might like to say some more Gutharra.

G

Bäyŋun, unless they ask ŋarrany question bulu.

21:00 No unless they have another question to ask me….

J

Liŋgun?

Finish??

G

Yow

J

(to the two Yolŋu students) – Nhuma dhu bulu waŋa?

Will you same something more?

G

Yo, manymak,  Thank you students, see you next time.

S

Yow manymak…. Manymak!

G

Yow manymak….

J

(to the two Yolŋu students) – Waŋa nhuma dhu? Hello’yun?

21:30
Do you want to talk and say hello?

Gam

Yol Linyu ŋathil yolŋu?

Do you mean us two?

J

Waŋa waŋa, ŋanyany (to other students) I’m just saying, why don’t you two…

Say something…

Gam

Gotha, Gotha

J

I’ll turn on the video for you.

Gam

Gotha, Bäthu ga Liŋirri godarr’nha do’yu, godarr’ nhumalŋ do’yu

Gotha, Baltha and ? will arrive there tomorrow, to meet you.

G

Nhä

What?

Gam

Bäthu, ga Liŋirri do’yu

Baltha and I will becoming.

G

Yolma?  (suddenly sees the Yolŋu students on the screen) Yow yuwalk marrkapmirr manda---a ma---a’, Yä---y!!  Ŋalaŋa, djinalaya wo Galiwin’ku?

Who is it?
Yes, true, beloved ones!
22:00 Oh hey!
Where, there or Galiwin’ku

Gam

Djinal.

Here.

G

Ma’  Nhuma yol dhaŋu, Gämiritj?

Okay. Who’s there with you Gämiritj?

Gam

Yow…

Yes (I’m here)

G

Ga yol waripum?

And how else?

Mil

Milminydjarrk ŋarra, linyu ga nhina

I am Milminydjarrk we are both here.

Gam

Milminydjarrk!

Milminydjarrk

G

Yol

Who

Gam

Milminydjarrk!

Milminydjarrk

G

Ŋarraku Garrawurra! Nyoka dämba. Yow yow, marrkapmirr manda… Yow.

22:30 My own Garrawurra (clan name). Fresh crab! Beloved ones!

J

Ma.  Liŋgu. Yow gutharra!

Okay, finish, thanks grandchild.

All

Yow, thankyou…