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p1	Ngayi nganam fital awa I was brought up

p2	nan nide, by the nuns,

p3	minde kala ngayi ngatya ngayi nide. not by my mum n dad,

p4	Wurweti ninggi ngaganim wirr When I was a young woman, I went into

p5	dormitory. the dormitory,

p6	Apuderri bakuty ngaddi wirrir tye. there were lots of us girls in there.

p7	Nganam fital, As I grew up

p8	wurkerre ngagadi tye. and became an older girl,

p9	Anemuni ngeben derridu, I found a partner,

p10	e membirr kana. and had kids.

p11	Membirr ngayi My daughter

p12	six dem baty membirr. has six kids,

p13	Wayedi im got my son has

p14	errike nawa, how many?

p15	four. four.

p16	Wuryeyi five, wurlaswan. And the other one has five, my last daughter.

p17	Kide? Where was I,

p18	Mesyity ngayi nimbi ngawirr fime, well if I were to give them a message,

p19	kuri yaga wanning kukuduk yerrmakarri wannim fifi. it would be about drinking grog and smoking ganja

p20	Ep kide wulek wirrmu wa. - in the end it'll kill them too.

p21	Ep misyin nide werrtye, They might end up hooked up to a machine,

p22	ngani ngayi gimin ngime ngagadi misyin nyin peke nimbi ngagadi fifi too much, in the same way that I was hooked up to a machine for smoking too much,

p23	ngan kuri nimbi wupungngi meta dege. and for grog ruining my guts.

p24	Ki wulek kana ngaganim mirrityin ngaganin lalirr bakuty, Now I'm unwell and have to take lots of medication,

p25	ngirkirk wulek. and I'm short of breath.

p26	Kuri nimbi, minbe tyagani nimbi, It's from the grog, not from anything else.

p27	kuri wupungngi meta It's the grog that ruined me,

p28	e payp nimbi. and from smoking a pipe.

p29	Mesyity awapurrpurrk ngayi, So here is my message to my kids,

p30	kawu ngayi, mengge ngayi and to my grandchildren,

p31	kinyi. here.

p32	Awayeyi ninggi warrakma wakekerre membirrwerri kana, And my three kids have their own children now,

p33	kawu ngayi. my grandchildren.

p34	Wayedi minde membirr. But my grandchild doesn't have his own child.

p35	E ngan'gi ngani nyinnin warrini werrtyeri, They should listen to this message,

p36	ngambiwirr tyeri to what we tell them.

p37	’Yu, yu' wirrmi, ‘Ngarrani pirr, 'Yes yes', they should say, 'We'll quit drinking',

p38	ngani nyinyi gimin wulek yirim’. 'We don't want to become sick like you are',

p39	Minde wirringngindi nating, but they don't say that to me - nothing.

p40	minmi napa. Just no response.

p41	Membirr ngayi wurkerre, wurkurimenytyi napa, My oldest daughter, she's an alcoholic,

p42	wulek yenim. she hopeless.

p43	Nguddupun tyerrpalat nguddupun tyerrpalat 'Ya ngani pirr ngini!,’ Whenever I tell her to stop, she just says 'Yeah yeah, I'll give it up',

p44	e deti mem. but it's all lies.

p45	Kide nimbi dagany yerri kuri napa menggin wa, Wherever she goes, she just buys grog,

p46	kuru pulng. those stubbies.

p47	'Ngani ngayi gimin kana yani ngini, Carol' ngimnge, 'You'll end up like me, Carol' I tell her,

p48	membirr ngayi nyinda wurfangu. my oldest one.

p49	Ep awapurrpurrk wariwirr tyeri, Well let her tell her own kids

p50	detyengi nimbi. from now on.

p51

Ba. Well,

p52	wuni ngaddi wappup dormitory. back to when we were living in the dormitory,

p53	Yerrminde yerryubu, Everything was pretty poor quality,

p54	yerrkinyi ka, the clothes and stuff.

p55	minde yerryubu ngani fi tye ngarrini wulek, It was very inferior material we wore,

p56	kuwul nyin ngaddi wirrir kinyi. while we were going to school.

p57	Epiwan ngaddi leli, We were happy enough,

p58	ep ewerrtyi, as young girls,

p59	yerrsport play ngirrme, basketball, we played sport, basketball,

p60	racing, racing

p61	sack race. and sack races.

p62	Miyi yaga tyagani win ngirrme like And if we won,

p63	tinbully, baked bean, stuff like tin bully, baked beans

p64	spaghetti miyi anyin ngaddi lalirr. and spaghetti, we'd get to eat that.

p65	Miyi nyin win ngirrme sport nimbi When we won we'd get

p66	lawa, tyuga, damper, sugar,

p67	tibeg, teabags,

p68	ba minde tibeg, oops not teabags

p69	tilif yerrpeket werri ngunu?, I mean loose-leaf tea, you know that kind in the packet?,

p70	old fashioned tilif. the old-fashioned kind.

p71	Gagu tinbuli ayaga fenggugarri. And that tinned meat in the longer can (Spam)

p72	Angani nyinnin ngaddi lalirr. We ate stuff like that.

p73	'Sport' wirrmengirr. Gagu amatyi akerre ngerrme baty tye, 'Sport!' they call to us, and we had this big kangaroo

p74	kuwul nide, angagurrta apuderri. at the school, as a pet for us girls,

p75	Yaga ngirrmeni kal ngaddi, and as we were racing,

p76	nem syirre meyingirr kal wudiningirr batbit kana. it would chase along behind us and knock us all down.

p77	Yu dapurr ninggi wuningngirr ta, ep tyality meyingirr ne. It would hit us with its tail - maybe it was jealous of us!

p78	A kala ngayi yedi wuni dormitory nide, yerrgi merrepen dingim pal yedi. My mum used to come to the dormitory, and bring pandanus and sand palm fibre.

p79	Tityim kana meyingindi wirringe patykit, She'd teach me how to make baskets

p80	met ngirringe wurrir. and mats.

p81	Bakuty apuderri daningirr fimityatit tye, epe She taught lots of us girls, but

p82	minmi kana. noone knows these days.

p83	Ep ngayim nawa ne, kinyi yenim wurrir. Except maybe her over there, she still weaves.

p84	Nick: When you were in the dormitory, you were there all week, like Monday to Friday? Nick: When you were in the dormitory, you were there all week, like Monday to Friday?

p85	On the weekend, On the weekend

p86	that man used to cut That man used to cut

p87	angelin minde yerrgatgat, yerr rope one fishing line, not proper fishing line, just rope,

p88	angalin, for fishing with.

p89	they karrim wirrme afaf, They cut it up into smaller bits,

p90	wurnyinnin wurnyinnin wurnyinnin e gagu uk wanningngirr fimeleli damuy, hand them out one for each woman, and they gave each of us a hook

p91	gagu angini e ngaddi karrbu peyita landing, dormitory, and some bait, and we went down to the landing, below the dormitory,

p92	nganawapurrpurrk yaga tina wannin lalirr nyinda ne. Yu ngaddi karrbu, nyinda ngaddi gatit dirrpederr. over near where the children's kitchen is. Yeah we'd go down and fish there in the river.

p93	Gagu adityi, awiny, ngunni gat ngaddi, We'd get small barramundi and bream,

p94	dayi. and catfish.

p95	Saturday Sunday ngaddi engelin. We'd fish on Saturdays and Sundays,

p96	Or sometime yenytyingirr leli wuni murriga ninggi yerrkerre, or sometimes he'd take us in the big truck

p97	tyutyurr Blackfella Creek, to swim at Blackfella Creek,

p98	waterfall peyi ngaddi tyutyurr nyinda. we'd swim at the waterfall there.

p99	Wurgunugunu wukume ngerrme babaty ngaddi miyi lawa We used to take one older lady who

p100	daningirr fimityatit yedi nyinda taught us,

p101	lawa mibulbul to cook damper,

p102	ti, and make tea,

p103	gagu tyenga nimbi ngunnu gat yi nguddini bul, and cook whatever fish we caught,

p104	mengagurr. by ourselves.

p105	Wurnyin wulgumen, That old woman

p106	wurguniguni nyinnin yuri ka wuningirr tyuk, minde nimbi tyagani ngerrmenge bubu kuri baket. used to hit us with a stick, if we didn't go and fetch water for her in a bucket.

p107	Daningirr tyeribirrbirr When she kept getting ignored by us,

p108	yuri kana wuningirr tyuk wirringe. she'd keep hitting us.

p109	Dapurr kinyi syinggi napa ngaddi. We'd all have welts on our bums.

p110	Nganni derridudu kana ngayim wurnyinnin. We had to tell on her (to the nuns).

p111	Wulgumen wurru anti, Wurriyel yedi tye. That was that old woman, you know, auntie, she was Wurriyel

p112	Ngayimta. - her now.

p113	Yipe ngayi deti ulgumen ngimenge ngagadi, She was my aunt

p114	yipe ngingnge. - I called her auntie.

p115	Yeyi ninggi miyi minde naf nimbi, ngaty ngaddi purity wunu pagu kinyi dedanggurr. Also, whenever there wasn't enough food, we'd slip off over there to our camps.

p116	Miyi lawa kana ngaddiwirr mewawu, We'd collect damper

p117	kalakala ngagurr ngatya ngagurr, from our parents

p118	nguddeni wul piliken werri ti. and bring it back with tea in a billycan.

p119	Nganingiyi kana sneak back ngirrme dormitory Under the cover of dark, we'd slip back into the dormitory ,

p120	ti werri, with the tea,

p121	mi nyinda litpala ngittinge lalirr. and enjoy a midnight snack.

p122	They never used to letim mifela, They didn't let us,

p123	nating, Never!

p124	English. just English.

p125	Tyinigin ngaddi tyerrakul dormitory nide. We used to talk surreptitiously in the dormitory.

p126	Tundumuy? Nick: Like in secret?

p127	Ngaddi tyerrakul Ngan'gikurunggurr, We'd be talking in Ngan'gikurunggurr,

p128	yedi pagu wurnyinnin wurnan, and then when a nun came around,

p129	tyet ngirrme ge ngerrbini litit blenkit mene ngirrngirr mene ep nyin ngerrtyini menyminy. we'd stop talking, hide under the blankets and pretend to be asleep, but really we'd be wide awake.

p130	Eke ulmen, peyi yenggi beyi gen'gegerrgirr yedi, (Aside to Patricia) That's your uncle, who used to chop wood

p131	ye ngatya nyinyita. … your dad (’s brother).

p132	Kulmunggu? Patricia: Kulmunggu?

p133

Yu. Yeah.

p134	Peke ngaddine kay. I used to ask him for tobacco.

p135	Eke peke yerrweti yangi fime?', 'Uncle, give me a bit of tobacco?'.

p136	'Tyagani ngini?', 'Aya tyigirrit ngini fi ngimi'. 'What for?', 'Oh I just want a puff of a cigarette'.

p137	Ngeme fityi tyamirri ngirringe fifi kana wuni, And I'd roll a cigarette and enjoy a puff

p138	dormitory intyat. there inside the dormitory.

p139	When you were a dormitory girl, did you used to smoke cigarettes or chew tobacco? Nick: When you were a dormitory girl, did you used to smoke cigarettes or chew tobacco?

p140	Cigarettes. Cigarettes.

p141	Wurnyinnin nan dangingi tyerrpu, 'Kide nimbi peke yaga yeben derridu?'. That nun would ask me 'Where'd you find that tobacco?'.

p142	Aya ngeben derridu peyipa werri kene nawa dem palak'. Epe nyin ulmen nimbi daningngi fime ekeyi. 'Oh,I just found it with the papers, someone must have dropped it'. But it was him, uncle, who used to give it to me.

p143	Awabakuty ngaddine kayki daningirr fimeleli. A lot of us used to humbug him for it, and he used to give it out to us.

p144	What was the last thing you were saying there, when the plane came? Nick: What was the last thing you were saying there, when the plane came?

p145	Ba peke, Oh yeah the tobacco...

p146	nyinda dangingi tyerrpu wurnyinda ninggi nan, 'peke yaga kide nimbi yeben derridu?' mengngindi. 'Aya, That nun would ask me 'Where'd you find that tobacco?', 'Oh,

p147	kene nawa dem palak, ngiminggin wa, ngeme fityi tye test'im out ngim'. someone must have dropped it, I just picked it up and thought I'd try it out'.

p148	Epe But actually,

p149	ulmen ninggi daningngi fime. it was uncle giving it to me,

p150	Minde nana nga derridu, ngim. and I realised I couldn't dob him in.

p151	A yuri kana wunningi tyuk tye waddi, They used to hit me,

p152	hose ninggi. with the hose.

p153	Wurnyinda nan im used to kurulimbat mifela One nun used to really abuse me,

p154	kinyi dagarri, dapurr, here on the shins, on my bum,

p155	dederri, and on my back,

p156	wuningi tyuk tye yedi. she really used to lay into me.

p157	Nginni man tye kana intyat wunu dormitory. I was curled up in pain there inside the dormitory.

p158	Wuryeyi wurngani mengendi wupunngi ta. 'Aya syinggi kana ngaganim' ngim. Ngiminggin mewa yerrnyinnin There was another nun who used to hit me in the same way. 'Oo I'm in pain here' I said to her, then one time I took that

p159	hose, nguddenge madiwul ngupun genket ngayin kana dederri. hose from her hand, and I turned the tables on her, and I belted her across the back.

p160	'Yu nyinyi nimbi wurru yupunngi ta' ngim. 'Yeah, that's in return for you hitting me!' I told her.

p161	Wurnan deti? Patricia: she was a nun too?

p162

Yu Yeah,

p163	Ngupun ta wakay ngayim di kana dini di tye, ngayi minde tye ngani di lali. I hit her hard and it was her turn to cry then, but I wasn't crying.

p164

Wawamu father wadde tye pagu ngimbirrki, 'Aya ngayimta ninggi wuningi tyuk. Yinyirri ngayi scar bakuty, ngayim mindeyewirr yaga, yerrwukume nyinda' The policeman and the priest came, and I told them 'Hey, to was her who beat me up. Look at all the scars I've got and she's got none - well just that one!',

p165	ngimbirrki wamumu. I explained that to the two of them.

p166	Nyinnimbi pagu wuddiningirr tyuk kuwul wakay, ngani kinyi ki kana wurrkama help ngirrmewirr airstrip After that, they sent us all away from the school, up to close by here where we worked on the airstrip,

p167	ngerrbe pul ngaddi, helping to clear land for it.

p168	kuwulgel kuwulbuy yedi werrbe gerrgirr waddi yewirr. All us schoolgirls and boys … the men chopped down the trees,

p169	Ngagurr syirre nganni gatit ngaddi ngerrme pidudu yewirr, and we followed behind picking up and stacking all the timber into piles.

p170	ngaddi wurrkama. That’s how we worked.