Titjikala

Hi my name is Roger Wilyuka. I come from Titjikala community south of Alice Springs. Titjikala is Arrernte Land and different language groups live there, Arrernte and Yankunytjatjara. I like to go hunting with my dad so that I can learn a lot from him. Also he would teach me how to cook a kangaroo and all other bush foods. Before we go hunting we need to check our Toyota if it’s fine. Check the radiator and the tyres. It’s a bit old that Toyota. Also we take our rifle with us, it’s a 22 Hornet, because that’s how we find food. Without our rifle we would get nothing. We go across the new railway line, about half an hour. Its got a lot of sand dunes, the sand dunes are orange. And the scrub, its desert oak trees and witchetty grub trees. Sometimes we go to the dams for a swim when it is hot weather. So we all inside the Land Cruiser, me, my mum, my dad, my big brother, aunty and uncle. Driving slow. If the dam is full we will be happy. When we see malu we chase it. We all have a rough ride. We run over the kangaroo. Sometimes we shoot it. It takes three or four people to put it in the car. Then we go back to the dam and cook it. We dig a hole and light a fire, wait for the fire to die down for the coals. We cut the belly open and take the guts out, sharpen a stick and poke it where we cut it. That’s how we close it up and then we chuck it on the fire to burn the hair off, then wait for the fire to go down. We put the kangaroo in the hole and cover it up with hot coals. Maybe about half an hour its cooked. Pull it off the fire, cut it up. Put the meat on the back of the car. We all go back home. *malu is aboriginal word for kangaroo