September – 2009 – The Northern Myth

The Northern Myth

Monthly Archives: September 2009

Good light, and birds, in Broome…

September 16, 2009 – 9:24 pm

After spending a long time in the desert’s too-harsh-between-10am-and-3pm light it is a relief on the eyes to get into some comparatively soft northern lights, though of course the heat and humidity of a September build-up does always take some getting used to.

By Bob Gosford | Posted in Birds, Fun stuff, Photography, Some places I've been | Tagged Australian White Ibis, Broome Bird Observatory, Brown Goshawk, Derby Wetlands, Good light in Broome, Little Friarbird, Neil Murray, Peaceful Dove, Royal Spoonbill, The Wondering Kind, Torresian Crow | Comments (1)

Roadkill of the week – Yinkardakurdaku, Spotted Nightjar

September 16, 2009 – 8:45 am

To me the call of the Yinkardakurdaku sounds like water flowing out of a narrow-necked bottle, a beautiful succession of fluid sounds ending in an almost joyous, crazy climax.

By Bob Gosford | Posted in Aboriginal & Islander Art, Birds, Birds and people, Roadkill, Some places I've been | Tagged Eurostopodus argus, Spotted Nightjar, Tanami Track, Warlukurlangu Artists, Yinkardakurdaku, Yinkardakurdaku Jukurrpa, Yuendumu | Comments (1)

Song poetry about birds from the Pilbara

September 8, 2009 – 10:22 pm

I’m sitting here in the “Balgo Hilton” waiting for someone to come back from where I’ve just been.
We most likely passed each other on the road sometime yesterday as I struggled up the 530 kilometres of the torture that is known as the Tanami Track from Yuendumu up here to Wirrimanu – formerly known as [...]

By Bob Gosford | Posted in Animals, Birds, Birds and people, The Arts, Writing and writers | Tagged A. P. Thomas, Balgo, C. G. Brandenstein, Tanami Track, Taruru : Aboriginal Song Poetry From the Pilbara, the Balgo Hilton, Wangka Maya Pilbara Aboriginal Language Centre, Wirrimanu, Yuendumu | Comments (2)

What is a homeland? One White insider’s view – a guest post from John Greatorex

September 8, 2009 – 11:26 am

What is it that is so important and special about homelands for their traditional custodians and that underpins the successful outcomes of living in their small communities?

By Bob Gosford | Posted in Art, NT local government, Northern Territory politics, Some places I've been, The Law, The NT Intervention | Tagged Arnhem Weavers, Black Territorians, east Arnhemland, John Greatorex, NT National Emergency Response, Richard Downs, The ABC, the Alyawarra people, Yingiya Guyula, Yolngu peoples | Comments (7)

Sniffing around at the shit-pits: watching birds at the Alice Springs Waste Stabilisation Ponds

September 6, 2009 – 6:22 am

Birds, and birders, love shit. Or more particularly in Alice Springs, they both love the fact that in the driest part of the driest continent that the average daily household use of water is a profligate 1,500 litres a day.

By Bob Gosford | Posted in Animals, Birds, Birds and people | Tagged Alice Springs Waste Stabilisation Ponds, Birds Australia, Birdwatchers Map and Guide, Broome Bird Observatory, East Asian-Australian Flyway, Power and Water Authority, The Gap, Yuendumu | Comments (4)

Life and art in the sky, Part 3 – more thoughts on Aboriginal astronomy

September 5, 2009 – 4:59 pm

It may just be because 2009 is the International Year of Astronomy, but to me there seems to be a greater willingness to engage or a broader interest in Indigenous Astronomical Knowledge among the mainstream astronomical science community than there is in many other scientific disciplines.

By Bob Gosford | Posted in Aboriginal & Islander Art, Animals, Birds and people, Religion, The Arts | Tagged Aboriginal Astronomy, Adele Pring, Alma Nungarrayi Granites, Astronomy and Australian Indigenous People, Barnimbir (Venus) the Morning Star, Bill Harney, Dark Sparklers, Elvina Track, Guringai people, Ilgarijiri - things belonging to the sky, International Year of Astronomy, Kuringai National Park, Macquarie University Adjunct Professor Ray Norris, Questacon, South Australian Education Department, the ABC's Big Aussie Starhunt, The Emu in the Sky, Wajarri Yamatji language group, Wardaman language group | Comments (4)

Life and art in the sky, Part 2: “Ilgarijiri – Things Belonging to the Sky”

September 5, 2009 – 5:59 am

The focus of “Ilgarijiri – things belonging to the sky” is a collaborative project between artists associated with the Wajarri Yamatji region and radio astronomers from the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR), based in Perth, Western Australia.

By Bob Gosford | Posted in Aboriginal & Islander Art, Art, The Arts | Tagged Alma Nungarrayi Granite, Australian SKA Pathfinder (ASKAP), by Gemma Merritt, by Sonya Edney, Emu Egg time, Ilgarijiri - things belonging to the sky, International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR), International Year of Astronomy, Murchison Radioastronomy Observatory (MRO), Murchison Widefield Array (MWA), Seven Sisters, Seven Sisters by Margaret Danishewsky, Square Kilometre Array (SKA), Wajarri Yamatji people, Warlukurlangu Artists, Yuendumu | Comments (2)

Life and art in the sky, Part 1 – the Napaljarri-warnu Jukurrpa of Alma Nungarrayi Granites

September 4, 2009 – 6:29 pm

If you are in Alice Springs this weekend you can do a lot worse than go along to the Aralauen Arts Centre and catch the Desert Mob show that will be opening there Sunday – you might be lucky and see one of Nungarrayi’s paintings in the exhibition.

By Bob Gosford | Posted in Aboriginal & Islander Art, Art, Birds, The Arts, Yuendumu | Tagged Alma Nungarrayi Granites, Araluen Arts centre, Bessie Nakamarra Sims, daughter, Desart, Desert Mob, grandaughter, Kingfisher Gallery, Mother, Napaljarri-warnu Jukurrpa (Seven Sisters dreaming), Paddy Japaljarri Sims, Paul Kelly, Warlukurlangu Artists, Yanjirlpirri Jukurrpa (Star dreaming), Yiwarra - Milky Way Dreaming, Yuendumu | Comments (0)

Death on the Stuart Highway – the killing of Ron Marks

September 4, 2009 – 9:58 am

This was the first of the many hundreds of roadside memorials that I’ve seen over the years that concerned a death by misadventure at the hands of another other than by motor-vehicle accident.

By Bob Gosford | Posted in Crime, Some places I've been, The Law | Tagged Alison Spendlove, Coober Pedy, Dale Francis Harris, Dr Jenny Clark, Justice Millhouse, New England University, Professor Majella Franzman, Rohypnol, Ron Marks | Comments (4)

From Ampilatwatja to Warren Mundine: focus on the big picture!

September 3, 2009 – 10:36 am

Late last week Warren Mundine, billed as an “Aboriginal leader”, gave Samantha Hawley of the ABC Radio’s PM program his views of the report by UN’s Special Rapporteur on Indigenous Human Rights, Professor James Anaya and his findings that give a damning assessment of the Federal Government’s Intervention in the Northern Territory.
Mundine didn’t hold back [...]

By Bob Gosford | Posted in Australian politics, Northern Territory politics, The NT Intervention | Tagged ABC radio, Alyawarra, Ampilatwatja, Professor James Anaya, Richard Downs, Samantha Hawley, UN Special Rapporteur on Indigenous Human Rights, Warren Mundine | Comments (5)

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