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p1	Wurrkama ngayi kinyi nimbi ngagadi wurrkama tye It used to be the case that I was working here,

p2	kuwul nide. at the school.

p3	E aladay mem, And when it was time for the holidays,

p4	kak wurru ngagadi tye kinyi nimbi Amungal ngaganim wap. I used to leave here and go to Adelaide River and stay there.

p5	Ngini tye nyinnin, So one time I'm there,

p6	wait ngime tye ngini, waiting there,

p7	kala ngayi kana yedi tye pinul ngini ngerrin tum wulmen nyinda Amungal. until my mother came for this funeral, we buried this old man there at Adelaide River.

p8	Pinul wakay kana nyinnin, When the funeral was over,

p9	ngarin tipek kala ngayi dede wuni pefi kana dede, I went with my mother to that country over thataway,

p10	awa Gegityu nem, belonging to the Gagadju,

p11	pipul. those people.

p12	Aladay ngini ngagadi tye nyinda pefi, I went there for a holiday,

p13	christmas aladay. the Christmas holiday.

p14	A awa And those peo...

p15	watypala peyi, those white people there,

p16	wanningi tyatyarrpu kana, they used to make me offers,

p17	'Derrgidi yerim wurrkama' wirrmengindi. 'Do you want a job?' they asked me.

p18	'Yu wurrkama ngini ngupun fifili ngaganim' ngimbirr. 'Yes I am looking for work', I told them.

p19	Kuwul mene ngini tye ngani wurrkama, minde derrgidi ngemi tye. There was some work at the school there, but I didn't really want that.

p20	A awaCDP mob kana warringngi tyerrpu, secretary ngini, And then the CDP (community development program) people asked me about being a secretary,

p21	e warringindi du kana office nyinnin tyanggul nyide, and pointed me to an office which was surrounded by jungle,

p22	aya minmi minde ngani wurrkama ngini nyinnin ngim. and I thought to myself 'No way, I'm not working there'.

p23	Awatourism kana, Next were the tourism people,

p24	awacountrymen peyi ka awa Malarrk, there were some countrymen there, Malarrk mob,

p25	Mayili mob, and amongst the Mayali mob,

p26	wanniwirr tyatyarrpu tye awa young people, they were asking around among the young people,

p27	dum yirrmi ngini treyning kinyi hospitality wirrim, whether they'd like to undergo training in a hospitality course,

p28	meyiwirr tye yedi. they were asking around.

p29	E werrbengi derridu ngayi kana wurrungmen, 'Yu' ngimbirr. And they found me, even though I'm the wrong person for that area, and I said 'OK'.

p30	Trayim ngimi ngini yerrnyin job wurrkama nyin wityi ngini. 'I'm willing to give that kind of work a try for a bit'.

p31	Well enrol'em wirringindi wakay. And so they enrolled me in it.

p32	Ngagadi wurrkama tye peyi ngan, So there I was working away,

p33	trayin ngirrme tye ngaddi we were doing this training,

p34	Aladay In. at the Holiday Inn.

p35	Det gagu nyinnin bilding ngani gagu awarrapun gimin. The building there was made in the shape of a crocodile.

p36	For ngani wan manty,tu manty We were working there maybe for one month, or two months,

p37	til warringirr tyarrpu Tyagani derrgidi yerim, til they asked us what we'd like to speciaslise in,

p38	wurrkama' workwise.

p39	'Yiya' ngimbirr 'Kuguk, think ngimi wityi ngini. 'Gee, I don't know' I said 'Hang on, let me think about it.

p40	Minde nana ngani wurrkama bar nyirre or, I don't want to work in a bar,

p41	waitressing or do waitressing.

p42	Dat already deme nyinnin ngime tye ngagadi wuni yirre, I have already been doing that sort of work when I was back there,

p43	Daly River. at Daly River.

p44	Tyagani wurrkama yeyi deti derrgidi ngerim. Wha... I would prefer another kind of job'.

p45	So wirringindi 'Dede nyinyi kide yirim kinyi ngan Jabiru' So they asked me 'Whereabouts are you staying here at Jabiru?'.

p46	ngimbirr 'Aya kala ngayi dim wuni Putangga Airstrip, So I told them 'My mother is living at Putunga airstrip,

p47	ep wurrkama, so for work,

p48	more klusyap ngini, if there were something a bit closer,

p49	ngiwi, where I could be,

p50	yaga ngani wurrkama ngini dede nyin yerre kana, working in that general vicinity,

p51	Gegityu lodge Kuwinda. like maybe Gagadju Lodge Cooinda?'.

p52	E shop nyirre kana warringngi fityat ngagadi wurrkama tye kultya senta nyin. So they put me in the shop at the culture centre and I worked there.

p53	Awatourist nem ka, And all the tourists,

p54	waddi peyi waddi wirrir bilding nyinnin they'd come into that building.

p55	Bilt mem ngani syeyp ngani gagu yirrng gimin. It was built in the shape of a pig-nose turtle.

p56	Ngagadi wurrkama tye bout tu years. So I was working there for two years.

p57	Watypala werri pagu waddi wanningi tyetyerrpu waddi, The white people would ask me all sorts of stuff,

p58	deme yaga nginni ka old pipul ngin like, like about our traditional culture and how our ancestors were,

p59	ngani nayin nime gimin. about people like ourselves.

p60	Wirrim 'Kuguk wannin lali dede puty wuni?. They'd ask 'Are they still living out bush?'.

p61	Ngimbirr 'Minmi wakay kana, And I'd explain 'No, that's no longer the case.

p62	wembem werri kana ngerrim baty outstation ngagurr, Now we have houses on our outstations,

p63	murriga, and cars,

p64	minda hunt ngirrim ngannim olden days time gimin, and we don't go out hunting the same way we did in the olden days',

p65	ngimbirr. I'd explain to them.

p66	Ngudam wulerri wuni boss ngayi ngine tyenytyim ngimi ngini job kinnimbi Anyway I went back to see my boss and told him I wanted to change my job,

p67	shop nide nimbi, from working in the shop,

p68	tour guide kana ngini ani triyim, ngimbirr. and I told them I'd like to try working as a tour guide.

p69	Wirringindi 'OK, dum yimi ngini fu tu, tu years'. And they said to me 'OK, you can do it for two, two years'.

p70	Yerrboat kana nyin tityim wirrmengindi tye waddi driybim ngini, tyarrakul tyen, nganniwirr dudu watypala waddi madiwap boat nyin nide. They then taught me how to drive a boat, what to say, how to point out things to all the whitefellas in the boat.

p71	Elifala nyinnin ngarram fitit Next morning we got up very early,

p72	ngani mirri minde tye wara fitit deti nganingiyi madi. even before the sun came up, it was still dark.

p73	Tour ngayi nyinnin first wan, And I did my first tour,

p74	ngagatyinbirr tye awa tourist watypala. of me taking the whitefella tourists out.

p75	Ngannim fili nyin nimbi ngerrmenggem ngannim ngaddi tye We went set off and headed to a point,

p76	ngan South Alligator River kana upstream, upstream heading towards the South Alligator river.

p77	Ngirrbeny tyeribaty kayki kana. And we heard this shouting.

p78	Watypala fagarri wittingegu tye kuri milwadi And I saw two white fellows standing up to their waists in the water,

p79	kuri nyirre. like right in the river!

p80	Elp kana ngini wittingegu kaykiy tye. They were calling out for help.

p81	Ngayi kana turn em around boat nyinnin ngudam wulerri ngan wirrike So I turned the boat around and went back to where the two of them were,

p82	'Tyagan nimbi' ngirrimbirrki. and I asked them 'What happened?'.

p83	'Aya boat ngagarri tip tip ngirringgu wurru, 'Our boat tipped over on us,

p84	gagu wunu awarrapun, and there's a crocodile over there,

p85	fright ngirringgu a nyinda ngini kuru kurungngirr kusungngirr waty nana' wirringgu. and we were frightened and thought maybe our number was up!' they said.

p86	Wirrim awanyin tourist they been, The other tourists there, they were ...

p87	pitya kana wanniwirrki wawu tye, awanyin wirrike ngudupun gi ... kide, they were taking photographs of them, I then threw them a ... what's it? ... ,

p88	rope kana ngaganimbirrki kuli, wanninggu madiwap, wittingegu syisyi tye kana. I threw a rope out to them, and they got on and both of them were shivering.

p89	Well awanyin tourist madiwirri kana wunniwirrki madi tye, tyaga?, The other tourist were laughing at them, and we turned round, was it?,

p90	ep nguddupinbirr miwul eb we took them back up

p91	boat ramp, to the boat ramp,

p92	E kak wurru ngagaditye down stream kana. and then I headed back downstream.

p93	Wayeyi kana Another person there,

p94	tour guide awanyinnin mengginbirrki bawa, one of the tour guides, escorted those two men back,be doing this kind of thing themselves,

p95	resort nyirre ala ala Gegityu Luty Guwinda. to the resort at ... at ... Gagadju Lodge Cooinda.because white people have a real hunger for our culture,

p96	Nyin kana werrenegu yilil wadde tye story nyinnin, They were telling their story,to know how to identify bush tucker and how we hunt for food.

p97	yityi wirringgu boat werri nyinnin. about what happened with them and their boat.Well they could have that kind of tourism here,

p98	Seyfem ngimbirrki gagu nyin nimbi awarrapun. I saved them from that crocodile.and be trained to be like tour guides.

p99	Yerr detyirri ngini wurru wani tye watypala wawukume, What happened was one of the guys wanted to take a pee,And we wouldn't be doing it in isolation,

p100	en wa yeyi ninggi menne, and his mate said to him,but we could work in cooperation with places along the river, like Mango Farm,

p101	'Well kinyi ngani tyerr ngini bank kinyirre yani karrbu ngini nyinda. 'I'll drop you over at the bank and you can get off there'.and Banyan Farm.

p102	'Aya' minmi menne. Gagu awarrapun yaga gibem wani karrbu imani wake up too� menne. 'No way', he said. 'There is a crocodile lying there, that might wake it up', he told him.What else?

p103	'Well tyepe nyinda pefi boat nyirre nimbi pefi kana yiwi yiwi sya. 'Well you'll just have to pee from in the boat then'.If those people who were to get trained here,

p104	Nem damuy wundeti pefi gagu nyin nyi ngini wirringene menyminy. Well while doing that he was keeping at eye on it, watching it closely.let's say they had their own outstation on their country,

p105	Nek minit fil memmuy gagu nyin slide meyi tye kuri nyirre kana, Next minute he sees it sliding into the water,then perhaps they could go back, oops! I mean take them out there,

p106	fright mem jump mem! and he freaked out!perhaps they could make a booking,

p107	Fright im menne wawuni wadesyi nyirre dini papup tye, And he frightened the other guy who was sitting up on the nose of the boat,go out on a half a day tour and they could meet,

p108	e rock em wirringgu boat nyin wakay himin jus tipum that boat from tuwala. and they were rocking the boat until they just tipped that boat over from their movement.meet those people living on their outstations.

p109	Loose em wirringgu gagu nyin atyalmerr esky werri, kuri biya wirrike. They lost their esky with the barramundi and their beer.And those people could tell them stories about anything,

p110	Boat nyin aptyayd dawun kana wirrke wuni tyingk wirrim, Their boat was upside down, and they were thinking,like the dreaming places for that country.

p111	�Kide pefi swim ngimbimi ngini?. 'Which way should we to swim to?'.And others from further afield like Wadeye,

p112	'Aya' wa yeyi pagu wimine 'Dirr wunninggu ngambani ngini, 'Hang on' one said to the other, 'We should head for the farside bank,they could do that training too,

p113	minde kinyi pefi gagu nyinnin ninggi kana gusunin waty' wirrmenggu. not the nearside one, because that thing might eat us!', they said to each other.they could spread it round and help each other.

p114	Nyinda nimbi kana endap wirringgu, That was why they ended up where they did,And people from Pepiminati,

p115	dirr wuninggi kuri ngan milwadi gimin wittingegu. on the other side standing waist deep in the water.and from Pulampa.

p116	Coz minde tye len nyirre wittimgu tye, They weren't even standing on the dry land,The current dynamic is like they're always fighting,

p117	gagu fright wirringgu gagu dingo deti ngini. because they were just as frightened of the dingos!they forget to consider the advantages for our culture,

p118	Minde detyerri werri ngagadi tye deme nyinnin ngini, I'd never heard of this thing they have,of sharing it out with the white people too.

p119	Northern Territory Brolga Award kana ngini nyin yedi tye pagu. the Northern Territory Brolga Award, which came up soon afterwards.Nick: Do you think um, is sharing culture with whitefellas,

p120	Wirringindi kana 'Ya!, Anyway, they said to me, 'Hey!'.do you think that's always a good thing?

p121	Ngarrinyi fityat nyinyita award nyin yimi wa ngini, 'We have nominated you for that award,Like when you were with the Gagadju mob, they have a lot of tourists come there,

p122	yani win bla dat tying na where saybum yimbirrki awanyin watypala fagarri�. you might win it for saving those two whitefellas'.and that brings in money and that creates jobs, but is there a,

p123	E mi ... mim ... miyaga tyenmi yaga mingani kebity gimin, There's this pla... some plant ... kind of like a cabbage,is there a bad side to tourism,

p124	minyin yeyi ngeben derridu float meyi tye yedi la, anyway I found one of them floating along in,like from the Gagadju people's perspective do you think,

p125	dat swamp eria where ngan boat nyin driybim wirrim wannim. the swamp area where they run the tour boats.do they lose something by having

p126	Misalvinia ka. It's Salvina.hundreds of thousands of people come through their country every year?

p127	Like a cabbage, is it? Nick: Like a cabbage is it?Agnes: Um.

p128	Yu. Yeah.Generally it's good, but some complain,

p129	A Salvinia. Oh Salvinia! (Salvinia Molesta sp.)that they don't see enough proper black people,

p130	Salvinia yu. Salvinia, yeah.working in the jobs, they're only seeing, like 'half-caste' people.

p131	Detyeri werri ngaganim. Nick: Oh yeah, I've heard of it.People from overseas come and they say,

p132	Mi yin kana ukimap ngim. So I hooked it up out of the water.'We want to see those real ones, those ...

p133	Ngudupunne miwul boss ngayi nyin, And took it back to my boss and said,'proper black people' working here, the real traditional owners of this place.

p134	�Miyi kinyi ngeben derridu wuni nganswamp eria nganboat ngannin leli, 'I found this in the swamp area where we take our boats,But what we keep seeing are not, like

p135	through dat miwulngini side, nginne. Ye'. over on the side where the lotus lilies are' I said to him'.'Oh really'?full Aboriginals but mixed descent people'.

p136	A ranger mob kana waddi tye, So the rangers then went out,And,

p137	wunnu syusyu tye minyinnin, and they sprayed those plants,When they see such people, they tend to think that, well ...

p138	pubuy kabarap minyinnin ngunu, kill em dat eria frum. before those plants covered everything up, and destroyed the area.'His mother or her mother might have been a black person,

p139	A wen yerrnyinnin ngaddi tye kana, When it was time for us to go up for that thing,but the father? ... so they'll have limited knowledge,

p140	award nyin ngini, for the award ceremony,about stuff like hunting, only just know a little bit ...'

p141	awaranger mob awaJabiru nimbi peyi deti winni tye. there were other rangers from Jabiru who were there too.That's the way those foreigner whitefellas seem to think,

p142	Ngayi gat awaputy wannim bla dat international Int ... Intercontinental andit?, I went all the bosses from the International ... Int ... Intercontinental, aint it?and they assume they're just making things up.

p143	Aladeyin mob. the crew from the Holiday Inn.But if it's us really black people they see there,

p144	Wayeyi Dawun nimbi, en waKuwinda nimbi, en Jabiru nimbi. And one bloke from Darwin, one from Cooinda, and from Jabiru.then they come away with the impression 'Oh these women are the real deal,

p145	A ku ..., en dem awanyinnin weya ngagadiwirr wurrkama tye, awaOldersen femili, And tho.. those people that I was working for,the Oldersen family,and they're sharing their stories with us,

p146	peyi deti winni tye taybul nganngayi nyine. they were sitting with me at the same table.this is really authentic!'.

p147	Ngayi ngiminggin wa a nyin, statue got gagu brolga werri, Anyway I received that award, a trophy with a brolga on it,

p148	an wuryeyi, wayeyi deti, win mem same time. and another woman ... no another man, won it at the same time.

p149	En wanyinnin Mary Riv... He was from Mary Riv...

p150	Mary River nimbi, from Mary River,

p151	bla dat tourism igen fram deya gat dat boat. also to do with tourism with boats.

p152	Wuniyirre puty ngaganim pirr Anguty Girim. I've left that trophy back out bush, at Anguty Girim.

p153	Trayning nyinnin ngani hospitality gimin yaga blanga dum ngimbimi The training we did covered all the things you do in hospitality,

p154	bla wurrkama ngan hotel nyirre. about working in hotels,

p155	Ngani room attendent gimin, Things like being a room attendant,

p156	yu bat ngini room klinim yimi room you make up the rooms, you clean the rooms,

p157	nyinnin wukumeny. all of that.

p158	Yeyi ngani receptionist gimin, weya awatourist wannim bukum wirrim wannim ngunu And also how to be a receptionist, like when the tourists have to book in,

p159	an yerrmenifest yaga yemi wurity wurrkama yeyi nyinnin. how to fill out the manifest and stuff like that.

p160	Ngani retail gimin nyin work yimi ngan like lili shop peyi gerrim baty. And then there was retail work which we did in a little shop which they have there.

p161	Awa yeyi batenda, Some learned how to bartenders,

p162	ngani serve em wirrimbirr wanning kuri yaga ba nyirre. all that stuff about serving alcohol at a bar.

p163	Awayeyi kityin nyirre syef, Others were in the kitchens to become chefs,

p164	miyi wannim bulbul. cooking up meals.

p165	En awayeyi like waitressing, And others did stuff like waitressing,

p166	miyi nyin wuddupun maditadarr servem wirrimbirr wannim. where they learned how to serve out food.

p167	Wal nyin gimi ngagadi wurkama the shop ni ..., Culture Centre nyinnin, Well I ended up working in the shop at the ... the Culture Centre,

p168	watypala awangani yaga minda English wanniny tyarrakul, and there were times when some whitefellas who didn't speak English,

p169	detyerr wirrim ga hard mouth warriningi fimebat, ngayi I yustu stop em, well they would give me a hard time, and I would stop them,

p170	wuluf ngaty ngimewirr tyap, 'What's your Problem' ngimewirr. and I would say to them 'What's your problem'?

p171	'I'm only one person here serving all lot of you mob yu na' ngimewirr. I'm only one person here and serving all of you mob, you know?' I would say to them.

p172	Wel awayaga key card werre one side nganiwirr fityuk, All the ones with creditcards I would tell them to go on the one side,

p173	awa kesy wunninggi one side. and the ones with cash on the other side.

p174	Awayeyi yubu napa waddingindi, minde ... Most were good to me, they didn't ...

p175	coz wurwukume wurngayi napa, because I was the only woman there,

p176	wurtyikmembi ngagadi wurrkama tye peyi, I was the sole black woman working there,and that's the way ... that's the look that they wanted to see,

p177	ngani nyinda ngini de ... winnyirri derrgidi dem wirrim blanga luk.

p178	Bla yirimbat dat kultya frum ngan deme nayin yaga weya wi duwumbat. because they wanted some experience of our culture, of how we do things our way.

p179	Ye, ep awanyin ngaddi ... ngara ... ngagadiwirr wurrkama tye, Yeah, so the people we were..., I was working with,

p180	ninggi awaGegityu pipul, some were Gagadju people,

p181	awanyinda tribe bat clan wirrim well that's their tribe name but their clan,

p182	them Murrubul clan, they were the Murrubul clan,

p183	nyin awakinyi pagu, an den hafabit him like Jawoyn den frum which is coming this way, and the rest of them were Jawoyn who are from,

p184	Mary River back towards Edith Fall. Mary River back towards Edith Falls.

p185	Yu dey bin supportive langa mi bla peyi wurrkama ka ngagadiwirr wurrkama tye. They were really very supportive of me while I was working there,

p186	Epi wirrim, ngayi nganiwirr tyatyarrpu awayang pipul peyi, they were happy times, and I use to quiz the young people there and say to them,

p187	'Yarrini wurrkama nagurr kana kinyi, ngayi wurwrongmanngi wurru!'. 'You should all take over this job now, because I'm not really the right person for it'.

p188	Bat ay bin, ngayi yerraydiya napa deti len ngim. But I, I had developed an idea.

p189	Ngudam wulerri kinyi pagu, I came back here,

p190	ngariny tyerrpu Anggan, and I talked with Anggan,

p191	'Yerrkinyi tourism startimup ngimi ngini, 'I want to start up tourism here,

p192	kinda awapurrpurrk nayin nime ngini kinyi tityim ngimbimiwirr ngini. all these kids here of ours, we can teach them.

p193	So wen ngayin nime misi ngamban nime ngini, wirrim kana So when we have all passed away, they can then,

p194	deme nyinnin wirrmiwirr warranni,

p195	coz watypala hungry one wannim deme nayin ngini,

p196	ep miyi tyenmi gagu hunt ngindim nime ngangginim.

p197	Wel yerrnyin nimbi werrmi baty kinyi tourism,

p198	en wirrim awatrayn wirrim bi ngani tour guide gimin.

p199	Minda kinyi napa dum wirrmi warrani ngani,

p200	awakinyi ka river side, Mango Farm gimin elpum wirrmiwirr,

p201	Banyan Farm.

p202	Tyagani yeyi?

p203	Wal awa, awakinyi nimbi trayn wirrmi kinyi,

p204	en awanyinnin merriny homeland country deti werrim baty dede wirrim,

p205	merriny wudda wulerri ba! wawa ... warrwambirr awa,

p206	awayeyi buk wirrmi merriny,

p207	half a day tours la country det en dey kin mirrim,

p208	mirrim wirrmiwirr awanyin pipul peyi ngan outstation ngan girrim.

p209	E wirrim ninggi kana werrewirr yilil warrani ngan'gi tyagani,

p210	gagu putymeyime tye yedi dede nyinnin nide.

p211	E awawuni pagu Wadeye nimbi

p212	ngani nyin deti trayn wirrmi,

p213	predimawut yuna elpim wuliya.

p214	Awayeyi Peppiminati nimbi,

p215	Pulampa nimbi.

p216	Deme kinyi ngani yuri gimi wirrem bulbul warrini,

p217	tyip wirrmi tyeri kana tyinkimbat wirrmi kultya nyin kana bla,

p218	syerimawut gat watypala, or awabuymenggarri.

p219	Do you think um, is sharing culture with whitefellas,

p220	do you think that's always a good thing?

p221	Like when you were with the Gagadju mob, they have a lot of tourists come there,

p222	and that brings in money and that creates jobs, but is there a,

p223	is there a bad side to tourism,

p224	like from the Gagadju people's perspective do you think,

p225	do they lose something by having

p226	hundreds of thousands of people come through their country every year?

p227

Um.

p228	Deme yubu, epe awayeyi wirrim like,

p229	minde maty winnyingginbirr awatyikmembi,

p230	wannim wurrkama, only ngani awa apkaty gimin.

p231	Wel awawuni pagu nimbi oversea gimin wirrim kana.

p232	�Derrgidi ngerrim nginyirriwirr awayaga really awa

p233	tyikmembi nginifiny warrini wurrkama, traditional owner ngunu dede kinyi.

p234	Epe ngimbinyinggibirr nganni ... ngannim ngani awa,

p235	full aboriginal apkaty apkaty gimin.

p236

En,

p237	winnyingginbirr awangani nyinnin wel tyink wirrim kana e wel

p238	kala nem kinyi or kala ngayim wurtyikmembi,

p239	e ngatya wa merriny danimusy minde detyerri werri maty wannim,

p240	gagu yaga tyanga merriny only lilibit des..

p241	Ngani nyinda tyink wirrim wannim awayeyi watypala ngunu,

p242	en wirrim mene wirrim mene meygim up wirrim wannim.

p243	Bat if winnyirringirr ngagurr awatyikmembi nginifiny,

p244	dengini wirrim wuni kana filim wirrmi 'Yu wurnginifiny kinyi,

p245	ngan'gi nyinnin syerim wirrimninnime wannim,

p246	tyatma deti.