Book Review- D'harawal, Seasons and Climatic Cycles

D'Harawal- Seasons and Climatic Cycles

Frances Bodkin

Kurnell Coastline (Danny Kennedy)

When Captain Cook arrived at Kurnell he began a process of the Europeanisation of Australia that involved not only bringing European plant and animal species, but also ways of relating to place. On to the Australian climate was imposed the terms Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. And ever since, Australians have been confused by periods of drought and unexpected storms that don’t seem to fit into the calendar.

Frances Bodkin’s book, D’harawal Seasons and Climate Cycles, reminds us that before Cook arrived, the local people had their own seasonal calendar that was in tune with the Australian landscape and weather patterns. Her book is about the weather and times of the year as they were known to the original inhabitants of the Southern Sydney region. 

Most residents of Kurnell today begin their day with an alarm clock, shortly followed by the roar of airplanes overhead and the rumble of trucks beginning their commute down Captain Cook drive. As the sun sets over the Western rim of Botany Bay the factories are still humming as the night workers arrive for their shift.

Kurnell oil refinery (Emma)

Reading Bodkin’s book gives a glimpse into a different Sydney and a far more sophisticated culture than many people realise. As she writes in her introduction: “We were intelligent, observing people, who had a complex system of protecting knowledge from being lost.”

In the climate framework detailed in Bodkin’s book the day begins with the Time of the Kookaburra Laughing (Gugagara’djanaba) and ends with the Silence of the Night (Nguwing’kapo).

The annual cycle begins with Ngoonungi – the September-October of the European calender – and is the time of ‘cool, getting warmer’ (Murrai’yunggory). From October to January is Parra’dowee, a time of warm and wet (Gooray’murrai).

January and February is Gadulung Marool – hot and dry – the time of the kangaroo (Burran). The time of the kangaroo may be the peak of the modern Australian bbq season but in traditional times, Bodkin writes, the people were forbidden to eat meat or fish because this was the breeding season for kangaroos and wallabies, and cooking fires could spark bushfires.

March, April and May was Bana’marrai’yung – wet becoming colder. This was the time to move from the highlands and plains to the coastal areas. The season is named after the Spotted Quoll (Marrai’gang) because during this time the quoll’s raucous cries can be heard through the bushland as it calls for its mate.

The beginning of Tugarah Tuli, the cold, frosty, short days, are signaled by the flowering of the Burringoa (Eucalyptus tereticornis)and corresponds to May and June in the European calendar.

The final season is Tugarah Gunya’marri – cold and windy. With the blooming of the Marrai’uo (Acacia Floribunda) come the cold, south-westerly winds, and the days begin to get longer.

Overlaid on top of this annual cycle was another cycle (Mudong) which ran over around a dozen years. This cycle commences with the appearance of the Southern Aurora in the skies over Dharawal lands, and governs larger climactic trends, including periods of drought.

For all of these little and big cycles – the seasons and shifts – there were natural indicators that signaled longer-term changes in the weather. These included things like the flowering of certain Eucalypts and the behaviour of particular animals.

Frances’ book brings together the knowledge of 106 D’harawal descendents. She notes that in gathering this knowledge she discovered a “pattern of information protection” in which “each family has knowledge about a particular season or cycle, but each family member has different knowledge about that season or cycle.” Tracing the knowledge became a search for the Dudbaya’ora – the hidden ones – those who had ‘disappeared’ after children had been taken from them or from friends or relatives.

The writing of this book is a step towards protecting that knowledge again before it disappears forever. Yet this is only one of hundreds or possibly thousands of permutations of these calendars across the various Australian Aboriginal nations.

(Frances can be contacted and books obtained from dharawal@tpg.com.au)

- Reviewed by Else Kennedy