Day 9 - Manyallaluk (near Katherine)

I believe today was one of the highlights for many of our group. We spent the entire day at Manyallaluk with the Jawoyn aborigines who have lived there for ... well, Tim said they've probably always lived there.

We started off by dividing into two groups...mostly male and females, but since we had only 11 males, some females joined their group to start. The women sat with Jenifer and she taught us - or she TRIED to teach us - how to split pandanus leaves. She made it look so easy - it wasn't. After they're split, they are dried, then some are dyed. This is what they use to make their baskets.
Jenifer shows Nicole how to split pandanus leaves.
Sarah and Caitlin attempt the pandanus leaves.

Stacy loved the basket-making process. She tried her hand at actually making it. She and I both were determined to buy a basket here...until we saw the average of about $160 for a small basket! Never mind...

While one group was learning about baskets, the other group learned about painting. We had seen quite a bit of aboriginal art, but here we learned how they made their paint and actually got to try our hand at it.
Kyle and Samir
Robbie, Sara, Chad, and Peter
We were in the basket group first. Once we finished there, we came and Wayne was showing us some painting techniques. See that rock in the middle? There are smaller rocks on it...well, you would take the red ochre, for example, and rub it on the larger rock, add a little water, and then you had paint! Wayne picked some reeds from near the water, shredded one end, and that was our paintbrush. Here Jacquelyn, me, and Emily get some lessons from Wayne.
Ok, I CANNOT remember this little guys name. I keep wanting to call him Dewayne, but I know that's not right. If anyone reading this remembers, please leave me a comment at the end and let me know. He was precious...almost 4 years old...and loved for us to carry him around. Here he is with Peter. Note: Thank you to Caitlin...his name is Desmond!
Wayne took us out on a bushwalk and taught us how they used the plants. Here Wayne is picking off a clump of leaves that have GREEN ANTS. He crushed it and said it is great for curing colds, coughs, etc. Stephanie, how did it smell?

Brittany and Desmond. He liked to make the peace sign when he had his picture taken.
Desmond and Sarah.

Wayne talked to us about spear throwing and demonstrated before we each got to try it.

Robbie tried his hand at spear throwing.

Here goes Chad with his spear.
Caitlin sat with Desmond while we were busy with the spears.
I wish I could remember how far Kyle's spear went. It looks like he had a lot of power behind his throw.
Garrett...He's definitely got his eye on his target.

Alex was ready to spear an animal!
Darren throws...
If I remember right, Peter's spear went the farthest.
Sara F was ready to throw.
Kayla concentrated on her aim.
Tia got a running start to throw her spear.
They showed us how to make fire...it was a little windy so they told us all to scoot in closer. Wayne had the fire going pretty quick.
Alex was one of the first ones to get his face painted.
Wayne paints Peter's face.
I had to add this sign that was on the ladies bathroom door. I wish I had taken one of the men's to compare.
Amber and Christine show us their painted faces...I also love the Melaleuca trees in the background reflecting on the pond.
Lynne and I posed with our painted faces and our Manyallaluk cups.
What are friends for? My iPod was broken (until my hero, Chad, fixed it! Thank you again, Chad!) so Lynne gave me one of her ear pieces so I could listen to the WAIFS with her.

What a grand way to end Day 9!