Seasons are all-powerful in the tropical west Kimberley, and they’re best interpreted by the gifted storytellers whose people have lived by them forever.
Feature by Carolyn Beasley
On the north-western coast of Western Australia, a proud Yawuru man stands on a red, rusty ridgeline. In front of him, ancient pindan sands drop into a belt of verdant mangroves. He stares out onto a milky tropical sea, as his ancestors may have done, and sees the first ripple of wind approaching. He knows the season of Marrul is here.
Bart Pigram was born in Broome / Rubibi, a place where the seasons have been dictating life for millennia. Through his tour company Narlijia Experiences Broome, Bart tells the whole story of Broome and its Indigenous roots.
Bart Pigram from Narlijia Experiences
Right now, Broome is in the Yawuru season of Marrul. It’s a time of transition, wedged between the wet season of Man-gala and the cooler, dry seasons. Marrul usually falls in March and April, but it’s unconstrained by calendars. Instead, Marrul reveals itself to the Yawuru through nature.
“The trees that will flower in Marrul are the Gadgur (bloodwood) tree,” Bart says. “You also start to see a lot of the spear grass tilting and dropping off seeds as well.”
“Marrul follows the wet season, so you've got lots of grasshoppers and frogs,” Bart says. “You'll find lizards everywhere, they’re out there eating frogs and grasshoppers, their favourite tucker.”
Bart Pigram Mangrove Tour from Narlijia Experiences
During Marrul, Bart welcomes the resumption of his Mangrove Discovery Tour. On the tour, Bart leads guests through the mangroves at low tide, revealing this vital ecosystem. The mangroves and mudflats are both feeding grounds and nurseries for fish, shellfish, turtles, and the occasional saltwater crocodile.
Visitors to the mangroves during Marrul can look forward to seeing the Gundurung, or white mangrove, laden with fruit.
“The fruit will pretty much populate all our creek beds and beaches,” Bart says. “That fruit is actually a toxic fruit, but has been detoxified in an old traditional way by burying them in the mud. It takes about five days, it’s the opposite of fast food.”
Mangrove Tour with Narlijia Experiences, Broome
Bart has other traditional food on his mind at this time, too.
“The most common thing we’ll do in Marrul is goanna hunting,” he says. “It’s the perfect time. They should be fat, so we’ve got to catch them before they go into hibernation when the air starts to cool down.”
The Kimberley has the largest tropical tides in the world, and Marrul, with its exaggerated equinox tides, reveals special cultural treasures. The extra low tides uncover more coastal rocks, making it the best time to spot the fossilised tracks of dinosaurs.
“Dinosaur tracks, like the three-toed therapod, have a very cultural significance, being related to the giant emu man,” Bart explains. “He was a creation spirit for the coastline people.”
Robbie Dann from Kimberley Cultural Experiences
For others, this transitional season has slightly different cultural significance and natural markers. Robert Dann is a Nyul Nyul man, born in Beagle Bay (Ngariun Burr) on the western Dampier Peninsula. He grew up in Broome, but Robert explains this Nyul Nyul season is Irralboo, and usually lasts from March to May.
Robert’s company is Kimberley Cultural Adventures, and from late March, he’ll once again be guiding visitors through the history, bush tucker, and diverse culture of Broome.
Robbie Dan showing bush remedies
Like Bart, Robert says one of the first things he notices is a change in the winds.
“The wind changes don't happen overnight,” Robert says. “They do actually happen in waves. We might have maybe two to three hours in the evening of that cold wind blowing through.”
There are signs on the land and in the ocean, too. Robert says that in the old days, people would see the wattle flowering and know it’s a great time to head down to the coast from their inland camp.
“Threadfin salmon are getting fat, and the oysters too, and even the stingrays are getting fat,” he says.
When Robert was child, Irralboo was the season when many cultural teachings would begin for the year, like learning to make spears to catch a stingray.
Importantly for Robert, Irralboo is Boab season. These mighty, bulbous trees, symbolic of the Kimberley produce a large fruit inside a nut-like shell.
Boab Tree on the Gibb River Road
“Going back to when I was a kid, we would actually eat the boab fruit” he says. “We would call that poor man food.” Now, the boab is recognised as a ‘superfood’, and Robert has launched a side business called Bindam Mie, centred around selling boab fruit products in a sustainable way.
Under Robert’s guidance, the seasonal boab fruit is made into a gluten-free flour with very modern uses.
“It's been used on MasterChef for the last three years,” Robert says. “You can even use it as a protein drink, for smoothies and everything.”
It might be just the tonic needed for these Broome guides, helping to boost them through a busy Marrul/Irralboo season of tours.
Published March 2023.