that munanga linguist

I mentioned in the last entry that lots of kids from Hodgson Downs had gone to a nearby community for a big festival. Well, the community is called Barunga and is home to the ‘Barunga Sports and Cultural Festival’. I spent the weekend there and had a good time. People went there from all over… heaps of people from communities all over the region, people from Katherine, lots of tourists… it really is one giant get together. It’s fun for me seeing people I know from Ngukurr or Hodgson Downs in a different place, especially when they’re happy and having fun. The Barunga festival has lotsa sport. The girls’ big sport is the basketball (the Ngukurr girls won) and the boys are all involved in the footy carnival. I watched keenly as the Ngurralindji Tigers (from Hodgson Downs) competed but sadly were wiped off the field by the home team. Poor things. At sunset, on both days I was there, the Red Flag dancers from Numbulwar performed. They are so good. They perform traditional dances a...

DN's Clearance kick Originally uploaded by bump77 . Action shot! DN's clearance kick during the game between Minyerri Tigers community team and the team from Belyuen community.

Brolga at Mataranka Shell Originally uploaded by bump77 . On the way back from Barunga we pulled up at the Shell servo at Mataranka and there was this brolga hanging out in the driveway, unfazed.

Bigibigi on the footy field Originally uploaded by bump77 . While the Tigers were playing the Crows, a pig ran on to the field. Haha. Stupid pig.

Ngurralindji Tigers v Arnhem Crows Originally uploaded by bump77 . At Barunga Festival. The Tigers are in yellow and black of course. They lost.

Red Flag dancers Originally uploaded by bump77 . Red Flag dancers from Numbulwar at Barunga Festival 2005

I’ve had a big and interesting week. The biggest thing that happened was that S arrived to take over my post at Ngukurr Language Centre for the next three months. That means that time is swiftly approaching for me to be out of here, have my holiday and re-enter white society for a while. It’s been good having S here. It’s kinda re-invigorated me a bit. Having S take over also means that I can have my holiday with a clear conscience. There’s no way I could easily leave this place if it meant everything I’ve been doing this year was about to fall over. We had a good week at work. The Ngukurr language program went really well this week. We had all 5 languages going and we had a bunch of new people join in this time. One guy in particular was rather enthusiastic about getting involved in the language program which was lovely. I call him brother and he’s only about 35 or so. He’s a Ritharrngu speaker and it’s just so good to have young people keen to teach their language. S and me...

this week you could feel the season change. It's proper dry season now. It's cold now and you feel the air is just dry. It's had some kind of effect on me and everyone else too... most people I work with feel a bit sick or off colour and everyone is lacking energy and motivation. It's weird. so yeah, i've been a bit sick this week. The dumbuyumbu i had might've helped a bit, but not a lot. And I later found out that I made it way too strong and that's why it tasted so gross! haha... stupid munanga. This week was actually my last week in Ngukurr going solo. My contract finishes up in a month and I'm not coming back just yet. I need a good break from here. And I don't have to worry because I've got a good replacement coming next week. Her name is S and she's the one I took over from last October, so she already knows all about this job. She's had a good break now and is ready to come back. She comes next week and then we'l...