Meet Robert Grant, Coastal Jirrbal Elder and learn about his totem and its significance in Jirrbal culture, highlighting the vital role totems play in storytelling and community identity.
Video transcript
Robert Grant (Jirrbal Elder)
“My name is Robert Grant. I’m a Jirrbal man and today we’re on Jirrbal Country. Cultural name or name is Ulmabarri (ool-ma-barri).
The story of it, there was two of us, Ulmabarri (ool-ma-barri) and there was a little brother. We were walking the Country to look for food. Everybody was hungry, they had nothing to eat so they told all the dogs you better go and hunt something down, you know.
There’s a lot of kangaroo down this way right down to the beach they use to roam. Come down and get a couple of kangaroo we’re hungry! Away they went they come from the north Cooktown way.
They come from the west out west and then, then some come from Townsville way all into the Wet Tropics. Chased them all off the beach, I think we got a couple there for a feed. They chased another one south into Townsville. That’s the dingo that’s, that is Castle Hill is still there today.
The story about where I am is that we went up this creek which is Davidson Creek. We sat down there, we went to sleep and to this day that rock is still there on the side of the bank. Me and him never moved, we stayed there and all the kangaroo they were all chased off the coast.
So when you go from Ingham right to Daintree or maybe a bit further north, Bloomfield. There is no kangaroo along the coast in the Wet Tropics.”