Caring for country

The place where the Dreaming changed shape

Featured in

  • Published 20170502
  • ISBN: 9781925498356
  • Extent: 264pp
  • Paperback (234 x 153mm), eBook

SMALL FIRES STREAK the savanna beneath me, as the land is worked and cleaned. The gentle smoke on the horizon is sign of a healthy country. In the distance, disappearing into a soft haze, lies the rugged stone country of the Arnhem Land Plateau. The plane wobbles over the mouth of the Liverpool River, where saltwater meets fresh, and descends towards a thin ribbon of grey on a cleared patch of thick, earthy red: the international airport. On one side of the airstrip, a few dozen houses cluster around a football oval; on the other, a neat grid delineates the newest suburb, called simply ‘New Sub’. Maningrida, as our destination is known, takes its name from the Kunibídji phrase Mane djang karirra: ‘the place where the Dreaming changed shape’.[i]

The town’s simple layout belies the immense cultural diversity of its inhabitants. On any given day, a visitor might hear the rippling sounds of Ndjébbana, Eastern Kunwinjku, Kune, Rembarrnga, Dangbon/Dalabon, Nakkára, Gurrgoni, Djinang, Wurlaki, Ganalpingu, Gupapuyngu, Kunbarlang, Gunnartpa, Burarra and English. In per capita terms, it is perhaps the most multilingual community in the world.

Already a subscriber? Sign in here

If you are an educator or student wishing to access content for study purposes please contact us at griffithreview@griffith.edu.au

Share article

More from author

More from this edition

An algorithm for altruism

GR OnlineIN 2013, FORMER US President Barack Obama identified inequality as the defining challenge of our time, and claimed it as a cornerstone motivator for...

Hey sweetheart, hey love

PoetryIam a night-time walker, Iprefer dark, dark publicparks,the sound of the bush splittinga grin, baked earth beneath mywalker’s feet. A night-time walker, Iprefer outskirts around...

Standing Rock

Picture Gallery

In August 2016, the seven bands of the Great Sioux Nation gathered at the confluence of the Missouri and Cannonball Rivers on unceded...

Stay up to date with the latest, news, articles and special offers from Griffith Review.