‘Fair bit I’d say.’
‘I don’t care what we do with the rest of it, but you know what the first thing we’re doing is?’
‘Tell me.’
‘Buying you a saxophone.’
Andy’s body starts to shudder. Dancer thinks he is about to burst into tears, but it is the beginning of a laugh, a great convulsion that contains more than a hint of tears. He puts his arm around his son’s shoulders.
‘That was another time, son.’
‘This is another time, Dad. Starting now. That’s what it feels like to me. And I don’t give a bugger if you never play a note on it. I’m getting you a sax!’
Andy ruffles Dancer’s hair fiercely, pulls him close so their heads touch for a moment, then lets his arm drop.
‘Feel that?’ Dancer asks.
A swirl in the air; an eddy that sweeps through the cave, and blows warm against their backs for a few seconds.
‘Mmm,’ Andy murmurs.
Riley and Rosa come into view, picking their way across the valley floor towards the campsite on the other side. After a bit, Two Bob also emerges. The old man pauses, stretches, feeling at his back. He turns and looks up towards the cave.
Andy extends an arm.
Two Bob sees the movement, straightens.
Andy puts two fingers to his forehead in salute, then lifts his hand, and waves in a big arc.
The valley floor is a long way down, but Dancer is sure that he can see Two Bob repeat Andy’s gesture.
They sit with their feet dangling over the ledge, watching the play of light and shadow in the valley as clouds scud across the sun.
Glossary
Blachan
Malay
A very hot sauce of Malay origin commonly homemade in Broome and the Kimberley.
Bogey
Colloquial
A wash, be it in the river or under the shower.
Bullamon
Kimberley Kriol
Bullock.
Bush (v)
Colloquial
Dismiss / send away / fire.
CDEP
Acronym
Community Development Employment Program; a work for the dole program providing top-up payments for work undertaken within the community. Used in many Aboriginal communities up until about 2010.
Coachers
Colloquial
Quiet cattle, used to handling, that can be used at mustering time to lure and lead wilder feral cattle.
Countryman
Colloquial
Used amongst the Kimberley mob to describe Indigenous people.
Cudja cudja
Broome colloquial
Gambling game played in old Broome, similar to mahjong; also called ‘sticks’.
Floodgate
A fence at a creek or river crossing that usually needs to be replaced or repaired after each wet season.
Gudia
Kimberley Kriol
White person. (Numerous spellings: gardia, kartiya, etc.)
Jalgangurru
Ngarinyin/Bunuba
Healer, medicine man.
Jaminyi
Bunuba
Reciprocal term. A boy or young man calls his mother’s father jaminyi. An older man calls his daughter’s son the same.
Janga
Bunuba
The pith of the boab nut.
Jiir
Yawuru
Sea eagle.
Junba
Ngarinyin/Bunuba
Story song.
Lambara
Bunuba
Father-in-law.
Malayi
Bunuba
An area of country that is acknowledged as being shared with another group.
Manburr
Yawuru
Ghost crab.
Milli milli
Kimberley Kriol
Generic term for papers, documents.
Mimi
Yawuru
Grandmother, or equivalent, e.g. great-aunt.
Munjon
Colloquial
Term used in the 1800s and first half of the 1900s to describe Aboriginal people still living in the bush, i.e. not under the control of the stations.
Narrugu
Bunuba
Someone with the same name.
Nicki nicki
Kimberley Kriol
Chewing tobacco.
Nyami
Yawuru
Grandfather, or equivalent, e.g. great-uncle. (In the case of Dancer and Buster, grandmother’s brother.)
Poddy dodger
Colloquial
A small-time station operator who thieves unbranded calves (‘poddies’) from neighbouring stations.
Ringer
Colloquial
Stockman.
Sugarbag
Colloquial
Honey from native bees.
Unggurr
Bunuba
The place where a person’s spirit lived before s/he was born.
Wadu
Bunuba
Brother-in-law.
Wajarri
Bunuba
Boab nut.
Wandjina
Bunuba and others
Spirit beings often depicted in Kimberley rock art.
Wangga
Ngarinyin/Bunuba
Dancing song.
Wida
Bunuba
Native bee.
Yuwai
Kimberley Kriol
Yes. Often shortened to ‘Yuw’.
Acknowledgements
Alan and Stephen Pigram. It could be said that this is all your fault, and I thank you for it.
Grants from the Western Australian Department of Culture and the Arts and the Australia Council supported me during the research and initial writing phase of work on this book.
Sharon and Tony Gavranich for their generosity and hospitality in the early days of this journey.
The Bunuba mob. As the author’s note explains, this is on my head, not yours. But I would like to thank you for the privilege of getting to know you and your beautiful country. For those who read it, I hope it does not disappoint.
For help along the way. Lesley Corbett, my editor of first resort, amongst other things. Sam and Kel Corbett for their intelligent readings and feedback. My agent Clive Newman, always dependable. Ray Coffey for important input at the time it was most needed. And my official editor Naama Grey-Smith, a wonderful collaborator; it’s always good to work with someone who’s on the same page.
The lyrics from ‘Roadtrain’ on the Pigram Brothers’ Saltwater Country album are reproduced with permission, courtesy of Pigram Music.
The Valley Page 21
