AustLit

'My research focus is the song cycle (manikay) of the wind called Bulunu. The structure of manikay is like patterns of mathematics that relate kinship (gurrutu) systems: plants, lands, people, birds, seafoods, - that is, the environment around us. The outline is important in kinship systems (example: like the Yolrju kinship system is tied into the song cycle). This includes the marriage system, paintings, and the laws (rom) of Yolrju Aboriginal culture. The pattern of kinship is the sets of people, and the units of land which have their foundation in djalkiri (our roots or footprints). How things were long ago is still important, for Yolrju to live by the kinship rules. Yolrju laws are very important and complicated to understand. ...' (Abstract)