The Bilby Warrikirti is like a bandicoot. They dig a burrow deep downwards, where they avoid the sun heat. Then the bilby goes out at night, looking for food during the night. Some of the poor things are eaten by cats, dingoes, and dogs. Warrikirti, whitefellas call them Bilbies, they eat leaves and small animals. Bilbies dig for grubs and eat grass seed. Burnt grass patches are good for them, where they look for and find food.
Bilbies used to be widespread in other areas, these days a few, there are a few now. Cats and dingoes have killed a lot of bilbies, and they have made the country different with other leaves and plants. If we make them [? If [we do? Whitefellas are keeping other bilbies. The whitefellas saw the country east [of Karlumpurlpa] across north Karlantijpa Aboriginal Land Trust is good for them.
To give some background about this translated text — In , this text was developed in English by Nic Gambold and Gladys Brown. Gladys translated the text to Warlmanpa see Gambold, Walsh and Brown In preparing for the Bilby Festival, Gladys wanted to read this text in Warlmanpa.
Nura Ward was a Ninu woman. She was a senior Pitjantjatjarra stateswoman, teacher and philosopher too. Nura passed away in late At the Festival, Fiona asked a Pitjantjatjara man who was family for Nura if it was OK for the audience to see these photos. He asked older women family members there. They are very proud of her as a strong woman. She wanted a book to be made of her life and teachings; it is being published soon. Ngayulu Minyma Ninu.
Ngayulu pakalpai Inma Minyma Ninu. Ngayuku ngunytjuku nguratja tjukurpa. Ilturta itingka, palu ini miilmiilpa, ngayulu putu wangkapai.
Minyma Ninu ankunytja. Minymaku tjitji tjunkunytja. Watiku minymaku kutju kulintjaku. Paluru kanyiningi tjitji mankurpa: kutjara tjanangka munu kutju ampungka. Munu kutju tjuningka. Palumpa kuri anu Mintupaiku, inmaku, ka Minyma Ninu tjitji mankurpa tjara anu, kuri nyakunytjaku, Mintupaila. Palumpa kuri pitjangu, kuri pitjangu munu nyangu palumpa wife, munu paluru pukularingu.
I am Minyma Ninu. I am Rabbit Eared Bandicoot Woman. I dance Inma Minyma Ninu. I cannot say the name of the place because it is too sacred to utter out aloud. The place is connected to the journeys of Malu, Ninu and Mingkiri. They travel from near Iltur all the way over to Mintupai.
Minyma Ninu herself makes this journey in order to give birth to her babies there. She walks there to be reunited with her husband. The details of this story are for senior men and women only. Minyma Ninu has two children with her: one she carries on her back and one she carries in her arms.
One more is not yet born. This baby was born south of Walalkara. Her husband has gone to Mintupai for ceremonies, so Minyma Ninu travels there to be with him. When her husband comes out of the ceremonies to greet his wife, he is filled with joy and happiness. Over thousands of years, Aboriginal people have said many things about Ninu. Whitefellas have recorded a few. In the s, some scientists took the skins of rare or extinct animals on a tour to learn from desert people.
Many Aboriginal people cried when they saw the old animals. Maybe there would be a burrow there. We used to leave the two big ones in the burrow. We used to hit the little ones in the burrow. We hit them as we were digging along. He blocked his burrow. We used to dig along. We choked him. Only bilbies block off their burrows. For colds. We used to cook them and cover them in the cooking trench kilyirrpa.
They bind it a little around a stick after threading it through, before the ceremony. Bilbies are in my country. Around Yankirrikirlangu. Many used to live there long ago. Warlpiri Kuyu yumurru-kurlu, n. These are held by Central Land Council. One day someone should write up and share these records. The Bilby has always been like that. He was created with big ears; he listens with those two big ears.
Bilbies used to eat grass, tarvine, aylperleny, bush onions … the root from the tarvine … The plant called aylperleny has disappeared. That animal has disappeared. Green M. Turpin at Stirling, They dig down deep with a wooden dish [to hunt Bilby]… When I was a girl I always used to sit on the heap of dirt at the side of the hole.
On the ground, that the wooden dish had scooped out and thrown aside. I used to sit on the top. The white tail was cut off and the animal killed and eaten, and the tail cut off to make alpeyt. The apetyt was made into headdresses. Turpin and J. Green Stirling, Tape no. What happened? Maybe they went away. Maybe the bosses for Bilbies finished up, and they [the animals] finished up.
The bosses for Possum finished up too. The bosses died out and the meat animals died out. Ninu have other uses and values beyond their meat or the Tjukurrpa stories they hold. Ninu have long tails. They carry their tails as they move. The end of their tail flicks up like the shape of a crescent moon.
The tail is black along two thirds of its length with longer looser white hairs at the end third. The white tail tips are very distinct and very valuable. People used to separate and divide Ninu tail ends into tassels. The tail tassels were used in various ornamental ways and had deep symbolism. For some groups, the tails were associated with flirting, courtship, love, marriage, sexuality, procreation and related rituals.
Some uses depended on the life stage of a person. Women twisted tail tassels were twisted into their hair to make themselves more beautiful and attractive. Occasionally tails were tucked in the rim of a cowboy hat Doonday Women could be gifted a necklace of Ninu tails. Maybe tails had a symbolism like diamond rings. In some places, Ninu tails were so valuable they were like money for some desert people. Daisy Bates who lived at Ooldea, noted in that:.
There is only one object that can be called money — the soft white tail-tip of the rabbit bandicoot. Milbu is the central Australian term for this money, and every milbu has big purchasing power. Evidently the rabbit bandicoot has never been numerous in central areas, and so its tail-tip becomes the only money of the interior. The milbu will buy many spears, a big bundle of hair of fur string; or even a wife. A new population will soon be established at Newhaven Wildlife Sanctuary.
Threats to Species The Bilby population continues to decline, primarily due to predation by feral cats and foxes.
Ecology Using their strong forelimbs, Bilbies dig burrows up to three metres long to live in. Range and abundance Bilbies live in a variety of habitats including grasslands, stony downs country, and desert sandplains and dunefields.
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