ABSTRACT Ith,Tch Can Be Learned Fron the Aboz,Igines About Flora. To
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WESTERNAUSTMLIAN HERBARIUMRESEARCH NOTES No.3. 1980:59-64 PRELIMINARY NOTESON THE ETHNO.BOTANYOF THE GUGADJA ABORIGINESAT BALGO, WESTERNAUSTRALIA. By Anthony R, Peile Bal.goMission, via Ha11s Creek, W.A, 6770 ABSTRACT Ith,tchcan be Learned fron the Aboz,igines about flora. To gain this krnuledge, ue should inqti,t'e about a pLanbts habitat and about hou it is used foy fabrication, food, traditionaL medicine and anLmal diet, ete. The knouledge the Aborigines haue of botanA and the difficulties inuol,Led in gaining knouLedgeis illustrated by material from the GugaQjaAborigines at Balgo in Llesteyn Ausl,raLia, In February, 1979, when sone Aboriginal women and children were swirnrn_ ing in a lagoon south of Billiluna in the East Kimberley. one wonan told rne as -she-was picklng flowers of Ngnphaea gigantea ftook.l and Nymphoid.es hgdrochat'oides (F. Mue1l.) Kuntze that the two plants were r!i!1"tr" (tjututa:rTa in Gugadja (see Appendix 1), the language she was speaking). This remark illustrates the close knowledge of plants the Aborigine. huv", as these are both water-plants that share the sane habitat, billabongs and Iagoons. Much can be learned in the field of botanical research fron triba 11y-ori ent ed Aborigines because they live very close to their environ_ ment and very close to nature. I am engaged in a study of the Gugadja language at Balgo Mission, which is situated 270 kn south of Halls Creek in the East Kinberley. As part of this study, I an researching their knotledge of botany. Besides generic terns for tree or shrub (r,uta), grass (yipnrfi, spinifex (mankalpa) and prickly plants like Tz,tbulus spp, (tjilka-tjilka), they havelpeiific narnes for very nany trees, shrubs, grasses and even fungi. Besides ihese narnes, the Gugadja Aborigines have nany terms that have reference to plants. The following are just a few of these terms chosen at random from lny files. ki,r,rklnpa - a tree with 1ow branches kurnpunytungu- namegiven to nounds of seeds heaped up by ants 1. The superscript letters after the taxonomicterns refer to the Herbaria where voucher specimensof the plants cited are held. a - Arid Zone ResearchInstitutde, Alice Springs, N.T. b - Herbariun Australiense, Canberra, A.C.T. c - WesternAustralian Herbariinn, South perth, W,A. 60 A.R. Pei1e No. 3 Lwnutt tu - a closed bud migiriruLt'tz - refers to nuch sugary secretion fron the nectal.y in a flower ngilanpa - brown pulp inside the ga1l of the coccid bug, Apiomoz,pLa, on Eucalgptus termiynlis F. Mue1t. This gal .[ is frequently parasitized by the Catneronella wasp and is tunnelled by the larvae of PaLaeotoma stgphelarn Meyr. (CSIRO, 1973 921, 800). ngunAarrma - three-pointed thorn, as on Tribulus tet restz,is pulkutpa - a large, shady tree tjunmilgi-niLyi - tefet:s to the presence of a large quantity of yans, edible bulbs, etc. in a certain area. Full details of these botanical terms together viith the Gugadja te ns for the flora in the Gugadja tribal country with European scientific equivalents wil l be published 1ater. Not only an I endeavourj-ngto research the Gugadja tetms foT Flora, but also to learn frorn the Aborigines sonething about each plant. To obtain such inflormation, I tTy to obtain answers to a nurnber of questions. Obvj,ously each question ls not applicable to every p1ant. The following texts give examples of the answers and corunents about a nurnber of plant; _ these are given in Gugadja with a literal translation in order to express Aboriginal botany in their ov,inwords, Question 1: Where is the plant found? Hibiscus sfuntii Hook.b - putju-putjulgulgu Yanga mankaL-panL-ng\ta, that sPrrrJ-r v,il! -ll(J L -Itl - That is growing where there is no spinifex. Pawicum aust"aLi en$e Domina - gi.takatjt, ua.TupunAu- - Found in burnt countr).. Question 2: Is the plant eaten? If so, r,rhatpart is eaten? Are the seeds, etc,, eaten as they are? 0r, are they ground up and eaten? Are they ground up and nade into a darnper? CLez,oderdrumfLaz,ibundun R.Br,a - aitipi - drought food, roots roasted in a fire, The burnt endodernis is peeled off and the.cooked phloen and xylen is eaten, but not the pith. Ez,agz,ostisLeptocarpa Benth.a - aaryal-tnz.yeZpa - seeds-nade into danper, Eucalgptus gdmophAlLaF. Muell. - uaranpa - nectar sucked from the flower, edible seed with a nutty taste. GyeuiLLeavickLnmii Meisn.a - yintinga, yinnginga - exudate eaten, PisoLitLwe tirrctorius --.n?ti?*, natj aputi,- puli-puti, tututu, Younger specimenswith white and brown appearance inslde are eaten, raw or cooked, not the older ones with the dirty brown powderins id e, Questj-on3: Is the plant used as a traditional renedy, as a bush-nedicine? Doesit causeany il1-effects? Euphorbio dywrmondii Boissiera - yipn-yipi," gipikuyu-kuyu. Mothers rub their breasts with wet Euphoz,bialeaves to promote the flow of nilk, It is also rubbed on itchy sores. The Euplnz,bia spp, have nilky latex which contains lacton euphorbon,a strong loial stinulant (Schoenfelder-Fischer, L974 : 130) No. 3 Et hno-butany of thc Gugadjr b1 Melotlnia maderaspantazta (L.) Cogn.a - unnta-l,,api -Azpz - This vine rs wrapped aror[rd the head as a renedy against headaches. Ngnphaea gigantea Hook. - mangkn-ngungu, pinnnyi - Leaves are rubbed aI1 over the body to prevent leech-bites. Question 4: Is the plant used for fabricating i strunents? Acacict aneura F. Mue1l. ex Benth.a - palatta - wood used for making boonerangs and other inp lenents. VentLlago uininali s llook.a - aalakari - wood usecl for makinp boomerangs. Question 5: Has the plant other uses? Dicrastylis eraLLccose(F. Muel.l.) Drucea - ti.e:a - used for naking fire and for decorative purposes. Didymotheca tepperi F. Nluell. (GlJltastenon tepperi)a - k.ungkungu used for poisoning uater where ernusdrink, Ergthrinn uespertilio Benth.c - lampupanu -Beads are strung together as a necklace, sonetines alternately wtth nyitu seeds (fron Stglohtsiun spathulatum Desf.a) and worn by rnen or wornenduring cerenonies. At other times womennight wear this necklace so that they wilI becornepregnant. Questlon 6: Is the plant eaten by anirnals or birds: Which? Acacia ancistTacarpa Nlaiden E Btakely - Lnatal.ur.:tu - eaten by turkeys (Eupodotis austral.Ls) Acacia uictot i,ae Benth.a - pufuil p.L * eaten by goannas. Cassi.a,oLigoS;hlJLLa F. Muell.a - punti - eaten by caterpiJ.lars. Keraudrenia nephrosperma (F. Muell.) F. Muel1. ex J.M. Black _ puti- puti - eaten by birds. Trtctnthema orycalgptra F. Mue11.a - unnknti - eaten by kangaroos. Question 7: Have aninals any otherc relationship to the plant? Depending on the t)?e of tree, one might ask such questions as:_ Do certain anirnals specrally rest in its shade? Are caterpillars found in its roots? Acac'ta kempea;naF, - -Muell.a kanrukura, ngalkuri,, gilkat;ara _ Witcherry grubs (Cnenoplates edul.Ls Newrnan)are found in its roots. Capparus umbonata Lindl .a - tjukutru, gitirringkL - "enu_canp',, I'kangaroo-canp". c _ Ergthrirn uesperti,Li.o. Bent h. kunpupanu _ The frog, Li.mnod.gnastes spencez.i parker is found near its roots, (peile, 1978b; 11). Question 8: Is the plant sacred? Has it any dreantine siqnificance? The dreamtine het:oes (ti.ngarz) used both the Acacict iit ral/dua F. Muelt. ex Benth. and A. Lgsiphloia F. Mue11. in their journlys around the desert country. Acacia ancistTacarpa Maiden & ifut"tyu i, considered secret and saa:ed (taruku) when it is used durins sacred cerernonies. The newly_initiated young nan (naLulu) wears a bunch of th.is Acacia species in front of his privatelarts _ it is held in place by a hair_be1t around the waist. In laboratory experinents Dr. W. Griffen of the pharrnacyDepartment of B.i.bun" University has found A. ancistrocarpa leaves have a positive reactaon to Staphylococcus(1979: pers. comm.]. The neuly_circum_'_ cised penis would be very tender and prone to infection Acacia night have a role in its prevention, though the Aporigines certainly would not have known this. In ethno-botanicar research, there are rnany difficurties invorved. one nust be wary of generic nanes or descriptions that are given to a certain 62 A.R. Peile No, 3 group of plants. For exanple, gutalg-gutalyba refers to a plant with woolly or hairy stens such-as Corchorus sidoides F. Muell,a, Lachnostachlls cliftonii F. Muell.a o'r Nancastelia cht"gsotricLn F. Mue1l.a The Aboriglnes might also nake sone corunent about a partj-cular plant and this could be taken by sonebody not particularly fluent in the particular language to be taken to be the name of the plant. For exanple, an infornant night nake the conment, rftunkutj atu - pienty of nectar ot: gwsalagi - srnall flowers. In ny first botanical field-notes I have written pukanTa as the tern for Catttri.c micz'ophy1.laA. Cunn.a This terrn refers to a plant which is not used for anything or to a I'bad'' tree as the Gugadja say in English. The correct tenn for this woody plant is kuntili-kuntili. Thonson (1975: 102) gtves molbu as the Pintupi term for the truffle, Elderia sp. The tern, nuQ;u, refers to a plant or fungus breaking through the soil or to a girlrs prepubescent breasts. Thornsonunderstood his infornantsr connnents as the nane for the fungus. Even the o1d people who know the bush intimately do not know the narneof every plant. They witrl readily adnit this and ask sornebody else. In 1976, one nan in his early fifties told ne that he did not know the nane of a certain plant (Borwmia rosea (F. lvfuell.) Hall.a - pilAarr- pilgar:z:pa). His friend innediately told hin in Gugadja: ,rYou should know that, it is good enu tucker.r' Sone plants do not have specific names, for example, even the conmon SaLsoLa knLi L.^ is just refer ed to as tjilkn- tjilga, which neans thorny or prickly.