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Country: Gupanga Language: Burarra Skin: Belinyjan Number of children: 6 Albert, Andrew, Lucy, Stewart, Kerry and Virginia. |
Molly’s father went hunting for fish and when he came home he said to Molly’s mother ‘I had a dream for you that maybe you will get a little boy or a little girl’. When Molly was born she had four little marks on her tummy and these were the ‘fish mark’ from when her father caught her. Those marks are still on Molly’s tummy today. This story was explained to Molly by her grandmother.
When I was seven I went into the Leprosarium. I used to get lonely in there and after a while I forgot my lingo (Burarra was Molly’s language). In the Leprosarium I was speaking Kuninjku, Tiwi Lingo, some Mawu (Millingimbi) and languages from Oenpelli side (these are languages from other areas and many are very different to Burarra). There was that old man who spoke Burarra, Tall Frank, he used to have Leprosy too, but he finished up (finished up means passed away or died). Old Margaret who had no hands, he was her son in law, but she is finished up too now, and gone back to her country near Jabaru. But there were not many Burarra speakers in the Leprosarium, my brother Michael, him and me, we forgot everything. So did Monica (Rose and Charlie’s sister), and even Mundridj’s sister, we all forgot that lingo. First there was Mabel and Margaret, they gave them that name when they baptized them[1], then Veronica and Monica (they belong to Francis Marrar the one eye one). We all went in at different times, and Jumbo too, but he died. We went to school and learnt English and that was it. When we came back from school the old man taught us Kuninjku lingo, he would talk to us in that lingo[2].
I came back to Maningrida when I was 16[3] but I didn’t know my family, though I did know old lady Mary, who had been in the Leprosarium earlier. I couldn’t speak my lingo and my father said that I should teach them English, and they would teach me Burarra. There was a woman (Betty Meehan) living in Maningrida who was teaching the people English. She spoke Burarra and this was how I started to learn my language again. While I was learning my own language I started to work with the Balanda (non-Aboriginal) people. It was easy for me because I could understand English. There was no health clinic in Maningrida then, just a little paperbark hut. Dr Hargrave asked me to help with the leprosy patients and that was really how I started to be a Health Worker.
I had a chosen husband but I didn’t like him so I told my father I would choose my own husband. The husband I chose was the right skin husband for me. I only had one husband and he had a promised wife but she died. She was my sister and belonged to old Nellie. My mother was working at the kitchen where she was doing the cooking for all the working ladies, the whole community was working on building an airport then. It was very hard work and all the people did it: men, women and children. The children used to go to school in the morning and then at 1pm they would go to the airport. They used axes and shovels to cut down all the trees and then they burned the stumps away.
Then in 1958 I had a baby starting to come up. When it was big I had a sort of pain and I told my husband ‘I’ve got lots of pain’ and he went down and told my mother, he said ‘Molly’s got pains starting’. So then they took me down to a bush near the waters edge. My mother was there; my auntie, old lady Mary; my grandmother, my fathers mother her name was Mary too but I call her ‘maka’; and Barbara, that old lady who used to belong to tall Frank, his mother. My father had three wives, but only two came. I said to them I’ve got lots of pain you know and they said to me: ‘you look, that tree over there, that bending one tree, you go there and you have a little swing up and down, up and down’. No I said to them I couldn’t understand the Burarra but Ingrid [4] and Mary were interpreting for me so I did. Then I was sitting on my feet, all the women were sitting beside me, at my back and some in the front. They were saying, put your feet together, open your legs so the baby can listen and feel the fresh air[5]. They were telling me to open my legs but I was too shamed, I would close them and they would open them again. Then, when the pain was really bad, my grandmother said I had to break the waters to make the baby come out easy. If you push when it is not broken it is sort of no good, everything might come out, your guts and all. They used to tell us that story, you've got to pinch that water bag, like a balloon, if you don’t you will push and push and push and you and the baby will die. They said to me, push and I said to her (old lady Mary), what are they saying and she was telling me to hold my bum together really tight and holding the ground really hard to stop the tearing inside. They were pushing on my back and I was crying and crying and next minute the baby went plop. I was lucky, I didn’t tear.
I shocked myself, I tell you. I said to them ‘this baby is too skinny’ he was sort of like a premature baby and you could see a lot of veins showing like red one, blue one, like a little wallaby. I got a shock. He was too early that baby. The next minute my mother said to me the baby bag was coming out. Then my ‘maka’, she dug that hole and put that ant pit, the red one in. The women were moving and I was worried and said 'hey don’t abandon me' but they didn't. They covered me with a a really heavy blanket for the smoking.
I didn’t feed my baby (Albert) with my milk, my real mother fed my baby, and auntie did too. He was too small for me, I was too scared to feed that one. After a while when I saw he was looking around, smiling and starting to build up his body, covering the veins up and looking around maybe eight or nine weeks old then I said, I better try to feed him. I had to pinch my nipples to make them small, rolling them like a cigarette, and I had to sit on top of the ant pit to help the milk come. I needed to do this three times. When the milk has stopped if you get on the ant pit you will get the milk to start again. They said to me ‘you are going to feed him all day’. And after that I took that baby to work and Ingrid used to do our babysitting. I used to call that lady grandmother. So I kept working with the leprosy patients kept going all through the years. But now if the girls have problems they use a titty bottle (formula feeding via a bottle) yuk. I tell them in the card games it isn’t good for their baby they should be breast feeding, they are not white woman, I talk to the young mothers like that all the time.
Next I had Andrew, he was born in Darwin hospital in 1960. My husband had said ‘when I die I want my son to know how to walk to Darwin’. We had walked all the way to Darwin when I was pregnant. When we crossed the South Alligator river we made a bamboo raft to put Albert on it, all wrapped up in a blanket. It was the size of a single bed and we also put the billy can, all our blankets and a cooked wallaby on it too. My husband was going first, then me and then Jumbo at the side, all pushing it across the fast running water. Then the tide pushed the raft and Albert slippped into the water - I dived in and grabbed him by his long hair and pulled him out and he was alright. That was lucky as my husband said he would have killed himself if Albert had died.
Then I had Lucy in 1962 in the medicine room in the old clinic, it was really small that room. Shirley was there and she told me to stop pushing. I was on the small skinny bed. I was too scared, I told them I should have gone down on the floor. Shirley was also worried I would fall off the bed. Always in the clinic the women would get on the bed, Balanda way, but in the bush they would sit on their legs sort of squatting, that is the Aboriginal way to have their babies. Neither Albert nor Andrew kept drinking breast milk till they were five or six like many other young boys did, they would drink when they are big and when they are small. I had Kerry and Stewart at home and I had the old ladies with me, and then I had Virginia in the Maningrida Clinic.
After my own birth, the next baby I saw born was the first baby to be born in the new paperbark clinic. This was a small shelter made of wood and paperbark. It was built down near the beach and had a sandy floor. There was a nurse midwife living in Maningrida, Sister Helen Miller. Sister Helen and I were there and the pregnant woman had her second sister and auntie with her too. I was helping her, watching her hands to see what she did. I was young then maybe only 16 yrs old or something. So I was watching her, how the baby was coming out, and how the babies head was the wrong way and they used to twist and turn the baby around by massaging and rubbing the tummy, to turn the head straight so he could come straight out. Then she was feeling around the baby’s head for the cord, then the baby was born the normal way. She used those two forceps to cut that cord and stop the bleeding and, I couldn’t believe how she had done it, and I said to myself, ‘one day I’m going to do it like that’, and I did!
Then some of the husbands would come and get me when their wife was going to have a baby. In the bush they would sit Aboriginal way with the relatives there to help. But if I was helping them in the clinic they would have a shower and put on a nightie, and have the baby up on the bed. I would wash them with savlon too. Some would ask to have the mattress on the floor and that was OK. Most still had relatives with them. Most times it was easy but one time I had to cut the cord because it was really tight around that babies neck and I told them to put the forceps on so I could cut and untie the cord. That baby didn't breathe when she was born but I held her upside down and smacked her bottom to make her cry. She now has a baby of her own that girl.
When Margaret and I went to Darwin to do our Midwifery training we went in for 12 weeks, though Margaret could only stay for 6 weeks and had to return the next year to do the other 6 weeks. We spent the first week in lectures and then we were sent to the antenatal ward, we couldn't believe it. All the women were lined up in beds in a row and they gave us a bowl and razors to go and shave them all, we had never heard of doing that thing before.
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Country: Jibena Language: Burarra Skin: Ngarrichan Number of children: 5 |
Interpreted by Molly Wardaguga
Elizabeth remembers that she was carrying that baby inside and when she felt the pain her mother came to sit behind her back. She was holding her to help with the pain.
The baby was born by itself and the cord was cut, there was no calico or anything to tie the cord. The baby was wiped dry with paperbark and paperbark was used to wrap the baby and to keep it warm at night, the babies didn't wear any clothes. The baby would lie in the paperbark and a mat like a dome would sit over the top of the baby to protect it from mosquitoes, flies and sandflies. The babies and children would not wear any clothes, sometime the women would wear a little bit of calico with a bit of string around their waist. They took that paperbark away when the baby was a little bit bigger, when they were starting to sit up on their laps.
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Country: Gupanga Language: Burarra Skin: Gamanyjan Number of children: 2 boys and 2 girls: Horace, Jeanie, Rex and Cindy |
Interpreted by Molly Wardaguga
Mary had her first 2 babies out bush and she had her grandmother to look after her. The next two were in the clinic with the health workers Molly and Margaret and Sister Maia.
When Mary had her first baby she was by herself until the very end. She was rubbing her tummy by herself. Her mother had told her when she had a lot of pain she could make the baby come out quickly by going to a tree in the bush. She should get a branch of the tree and pull down on it and swing on it, swinging up and down, not backwards and forwards, but up and down. She was only a young girl, only 12 or 14 years old and she was crying from the pain when she was swinging on that branch. When she was really paining her mother told her to put her finger inside to make her waters break. Then she started to push. When the baby was born they measured the cord down the leg and cut it using a mussel shell. After the baby was born she felt tired from all of the pushing. She wanted to have a rest and a sleep and let someone else look after the baby. When the cord dries up and falls off itself they will get a piece of string and carry it around their neck till the baby starts walking. Then they will give the cord to a special man in the family and when that child is about 12 or 14 the special man will come for him. They will explain to him and give him the cord back. Grandmother and mother will tell him those men will come for you and will have something special for you and they will be dancing.
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Country: Mumeka Language: Kuninjku Skin: Kamanj Number of children: 3 - Elias, Pam, Goliath |
My husband was not a promised husband but he was the right skin for me. When I had the pain with my first baby I was on the outstation, so I told my grandmother the pain was starting. I was a young girl and had a heart problem so they were worried for me as the pain was too strong. They bought me to Maningrida in the tucker truck and then I went into Darwin with old lady Mary. I had two needles for that pain and it helped a little bit but not much. When I came home my grandmother said I had to do things the culture way. I had to sit on the fire and they covered me and the baby up. I only did this with the first one, not for the others. I had all of my babies in Darwin but now I am going to have another one and I don't want to go. I want to do it the bush way. But you have to make sure you are away from your brother as you can't let him hear you crying. I haven't got any family in Darwin and there is too much humbug from the drunks who want to take your money. They send you in too early. I had to go in and have a check up as the baby bag was too low but now it is alright.
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| Deborah's picture
This is a diagram of two Kuninjku daluk (women) who are in a paperbark hut, which was used for shelter for Kuninjku people in the old days. The baby is sleeping in a paperbark cradle. They have a fire to keep them warm and a palm frond that has been made into a water container. They did this for a long time because they had no billy can and no cup. |
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Country: Jibena Language: Burarra Skin: Ngarrichan Number of children: 4 boys |
Interpreted by Molly Wardaguga
When Dixie was a young girl she had leprosy. It started with patches on her face, numb feet and one numb finger. She had a claw hand and foot drop too. She had to have three fingers and one thumb straightened with the metal rods inserted into them. She had to spend three years in the leprosarium and do many exercises to make her hands strong after the rods had fallen out. She was lucky because she healed completely, some people had it much worse. To test and strengthen her hands she would go and dig for yams.
Dixie had a promised husband and they had 3 boys who all looked like their father. Then Dixie left her husband, they were both happy for that, and they still looked after the boys together. Then Dixie met another husband and had another boy with him. All the boys were born in the clinic at Maningrida except for her second one. She had her mother with her as well as two health workers, Molly and Margaret.
The second baby was too big and wasn't coming so they called the plane. They gave her an anaesthetic in the drip to make her sleep. But when she was half way to Darwin she felt the pains really strong. She told them she needed to push and she had the baby on the plane. But everything went OK. With her third and fourth babies she had Molly and Margaret with her again but not any Balanda midwives.
When Dixie's granddaughter was going to have a baby Dixie explained everything that was going to happen. Her granddaughter went to Darwin to have the baby and Dixie helped her and stayed with her for the birth, explaining everything along the way.
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Country: Mulmalaadjerra near Gupunga Language: Burarra Skin: Ngarrichan Number of children: 9 |
Interpreted by Molly Wardaguga and Mary Mason
Theresa had one baby in the paperbark clinic, three in the old clinic and five were born in Darwin. Back in those days she didn’t wear many clothes, just a little mat at the front and back of her bottom. It was sometimes made from paperbark or pandanus and other times it was calico, which they got by trading with the Japanese pearl boats. She would wear this material for about two months after the baby was born. Theresa said that you did not usually start to watch births till you were around 14-16 years.
Theresa didn’t know she was pregnant, she was just getting big, big, big. Then she had that pain at home and they rushed her to the old clinic to see the family nurse. She was sitting on her legs on a mattress on the floor. She had two Aboriginal midwives with her, Molly and Margaret. They were telling her how to breathe, in and out, in and out. She was told not to push but to go very slowly and pant at the end, like a dog - you know. When the baby comes out then they rub the tummy and make the baby bag come out. Then, like her grandmother told her, Molly wrapped the cord around her finger and pulled on it to make the baby bag come out. Then Theresa's grandmother took her home. They had to take all the baby bag bits home with them so they could do the right thing. They put the baby bag beside the green ants and the ant pit and covered it in paperbark.
The smoking ceremony was done using special leaves and Theresa's second mother had to collect the ant pits and dig the hole for the fire. They made a fire, and then put the ant pits in the fire. When they started to go red hot and look like coals Theresa had to sit over the hole and was covered with a blanket. She was told to pass urine to make the steam and the smoke came up and go in and then out of her. She was really hot. Like when Balanda put the light (ray lamp) on for them to make them hot inside. The fire does the same thing. You listen, that Balanda light is not enough, this ceremony is very important. It helps to stop the bleeding and made her full of milk. It also stops more babies from coming. But these days the young girls just have the one that goes into the skin to stop the babies from coming (contraceptive implant).
The first time for the ceremony is on the second day after the baby was born. You make a little fire. Then the second time you will make a big fire. The second time it was done for Theresa was when her baby was older, maybe one or two years old, and the fire was much bigger this time. The baby was not a part of either of these smoking ceremonies.
Unfortunately for Theresa giving the baby bag to the green ants didn’t work properly. Her grandmother said 'this girl’s not getting better, she is sore inside'. By now the baby was about six months old and the ants had eaten it the baby bag. But they knew where it was left and to make her better they had to go and stamp the ground, walking and walking backwards and forwards where the baby bag had been. Till her grandmother said to her 'do you feel OK' and she said 'I’m all right grandmother'.
When Theresa had her second baby she wanted to stay in Maningrida but she was bleeding and had to go in on the plane. Margaret went with her to give her the anaesthetic to help with the flight.
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Country: Wurdeja Language: Burarra Skin: Ngarrichan Number of children: 2 + 1 adopted, Lizabeth, Julius and Lachlan. Margaret has 5 grandchildren Delton, Isiah, Kellie, Roscoe and Mickala (Delton and Roscoe are learning to be traditional healers) |
Margaret became a Health Worker in 1967 and in 1968 she had her first child. Margaret retired in October, 2002 and is now weaving beautiful mats and string bags.
I had a promised husband and we had 2 children together. Then he left me with the children in 1973 when he passed away from asthma. I have been a widow for 30 years. When I had my first pregnancy I didn't notice at first but Molly's mother noticed that I was pregnant. She was my spiritual guardian and she looked after me. She would tell me not to eat the fresh catfish and fish from the sea, throughout the pregnancy. I said to her 'Why?', and she said to me 'if you do the baby might get runny ears and a scaly head or the baby might get itchy on the head'. She said to me one day 'we will go down to the clinic to check you up to make sure if you are pregnant, or if you are at work tomorrow you tell Sister Helen Miller'. I went to work on Monday and during the lunch I told Helen to check me up, then we were both shocked because I was pregnant. Nine months passed and I had my baby at the clinic. I felt the pain, I felt really sharp pain at the back and the front. I asked Molly's mother 'when you had your baby what sort of pain did you have?' She told me and then she left me at home while she went down to get my mother and then they both went down to tell Sister Miller.
At first we didn't have a truck here and then the Department of Aboriginal Affairs brought two trucks in. So Sister Miller got on that truck and came up to my house. She checked me at home and she took me down to the old clinic with Molly's mother while my mother went to look after the kids. Molly's mother stayed with me at the clinic all the time and the pain came stronger and stronger, but I stayed quiet, I didn't want others to hear if I screamed. Sister Helen was rubbing my tummy and my back and she asked me if I wanted to sit up or lie down, I stayed up till the pain got really strong. My face was sweating and Molly's mother noticed I was shaking so she told me to get on the bed as the baby was coming. She called the sister and she came and checked me and the baby was coming she could see the babies hair, she wanted to know why I wasn't screaming. Then she told me I could push, I only had to push 3 times and the baby came out. I could hear the baby crying and I went back to sleep, but they woke me up for the placenta to come out. Molly's mother took that placenta home and she gave it to the green ants. Two days later I went home. Some women used to stay for about a week or until all the bleeding had stopped.
When the baby was two days old my grandmother and my spiritual guardian went down to collect some ant pits and firewood and they came back and lit the fire. They put the ant pit on top of the fire. When it was really very hot (looked like red hot coals), then my spiritual guardian told me to come closer with my child. She told me to sit down while they made a hole and carefully they used ironwood to move the ant pits one at a time. Three ant pits were put in the hole and they told me to sit over the hole and to wee on it. They covered me with a blanket and they told me to make a special sound to make the baby go to sleep.
I had one year maternity leave and then I went back to the clinic and started training as a leprosy assistant as well as working in the clinic. In the morning I would work with the leprosy and in the afternoon in the clinic.
Then in 1971 I had my second son. I had him at the health centre with that same woman with me. Everything went well and I had more maternity leave for another year. I got 12 pounds every week. I remember we had pounds and shillings back then, before it changed to dollars and cents. I returned to work and left my 2 children with my spiritual guardian, their cousins.
I went to Darwin to do my midwifery training in the old Darwin hospital. I went with Molly for 12 weeks but I had to come home to the kids after six weeks so after 1 year I went back for another 6 weeks, by myself that time. First they gave us a lecture and the book to see the pictures about how to deliver the babies and things like that. Then we went to the antenatal clinic first and then together we both went to the delivery suite for one week. One day a lady was having baby pains. One of us could go in to see the doctors and midwives to see how they deliver the baby. The next day we both went down to the delivery suite and they called us to see because two ladies were having baby pains. I went to the right room and Molly took the left room. Molly's patient delivered the baby first and then my patient delivered second. She had stronger and stronger pain. I had to help her, I rubbed her belly and her back and put a towel on her head. The doctor told me to look and see if the baby was coming, to look for the hair. The first time I couldn't see and then after a while the doctor told me how to do a vaginal examination and I could feel the babies head. He checked and said the baby will be here any minute, so I put on the gown and apron. I had to keep checking for the babies head. Then I could see black hair coming out, she was pushing, pushing, a little bit more and when I saw the little white face I could feel the vomit starting. I said 'you take over' and I rushed away and I was vomiting in the corner. I went to the sink and then I came back and he asked me if I was OK and I was. So he said to come and help measure and cut the cord. They waited for me to take out the placenta and check up if there were any tears. It was all fine. That was my first baby and first delivery. The woman hadn't noticed anything poor thing. About 4 o'clock I went back home and I was OK and the next day I was better and no more vomiting.
They showed us how to deliver the twins and breeches. The doctors asked us if we wanted to deliver the twins but we said no way but we can watch. Jeannie Gadumbua, Pat Gumananga and one other health worker all did some midwifery training too. But it was Molly and I who did most of the midwifery work. Molly did some of the deliveries in the community but I worked mainly in the clinic. We had sisters to deliver the babies with us. A lot of the time we did the deliveries ourselves but if it was breech we would ask the sisters to do the delivery. Nearly always the grandmother and aunties were with the woman. These days they don't come in so much, I don't know why, maybe the sisters are working there and not as many health workers.
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Country: Blyth River Language: Burarra Skin: Belinyjan Number of children: 11 - all born out bush except one was born in the old clinic |
Marie's mother and aunties were with her when she was out bush for her babies and Balanda midwives were with her when she had her babies in the clinic.
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Country: Blyth River Language: Burarra Skin: Belinyjan Number of children: 5 - two were born out bush and three in Darwin Hospital |
Nancy was having trouble with her health and this was why she needed to have her baby in Darwin hospital.
Marie and Nancy are sisters and their story is told together, interpreted by Mary Mason
This is a story about the old days, way back before there was a doctor, midwives or nurses here. When the young girl has pains she has two special women who hold her at her sides and hold her at the front of the tummy. They massage her to make the baby straight. They rub her back when the young girl is in a lot of pain. She had to move round and round she had all these pains from the hair, the babies hair was burning inside her. She was paining and crying and they had to massage her with the water to try and stop the pain. When daybreak came the baby was born. When they massage that young girl the baby bag will just burst and they wait for the head to come. They have to push more and more but if she has to wait for another five minutes then push, then five minutes, then push.
When the baby is out they go and get one of the mud muscles, like in the clinic here they used to use scissors, but out bush they used to get one of the mud muscles to cut that string part. First the baby comes out and they cut the string then after that the placenta. They didn’t tie that string they just left it and the blood could drain out of it, but the blood didn’t drain out of the baby. They didn’t need to put anything on the end of the cord to stop the bleeding it just stopped. After the baby was born they would use breast milk to put on the cord to heal it up.
Then they had to dig a hole and make a fire and put the ant pit in the hole. The young girl has to cover herself up with the pandanus. She has to pass the urine and the same time she has to open her legs so the smoke will just go into her then it comes out. In the old days they used to use a mat, not a sheet. This woman used to use one of those pandanus mats so when they knew that a woman was going to have a baby the grandmother or auntie would start to weave to prepare for her. It’s a mat, like a little humpy it has 2 patterns on it, it can be different sizes. This woman used to weave one of those for the woman’s labour when they were out bush, she used to use the mat instead of a blanket.
They would not let that baby suck straight away, first she had to have the smoking to make her milk strong. This helps the baby too, then she can feed it. Her mother can go and bury the placenta. Women need to have their babies at home so they can rest and the placenta can be buried there. You should bury that placenta where she had her labour, where she had her baby. She has the baby away from the main camp and she does not go back for two days, till the bleeding stops.
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Country: Maningrida Language: Ndjébbana Skin: Mjangila Number of children: 4 |
Rosie had four boys and they were all born in Maningrida. Her mother was a special midwife and she had her husband and her sisters with her for her births. She had them right here near the creek, she didn’t have any problems with bleeding or anything. She had two babies in the old clinic. But she had that first one, and it died when he was a little boy. Then she had the second one and that one was a healthy one, born on the beach. She had all her babies here with her aunties and her grandmother. One time she had problems with gallstones. She had to have an operation, but before that, she used to smash windows with the billycan because she was in so much pain.
| Country: Bululkarduru Language: Kuninjku / Kune Skin: Kalidjan Number of children: 4 girls and 2 boys - all born in the bush at Bululkarduru |
Nellie had family members with her when she had her babies, her grandmother, her aunty and another lady. She had her babies when she was sitting on the ground on the paperbark, they used paperbark to birth their babies on. Nellie had one old lady sitting behind her and they used to hold her back and they rubbed her back and her tummy to make the baby come out. When she was ready to have her babies they told her to break her waters herself, she did that for all her babies.
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Country: Mumeka Language: Kuninjku Skin: Kalidjan Number of children: 5 |
Interpreted by Charlie (Mara Mira's son), Margo (Charlie's wife) and Deborah Wurrikdj (one of the researchers on the project)
Mara Mira was know as a 'traditional midwife'. Charlie is a very respected traditional healer who learnt many of his skills from his father, who was also a bush doctor. Charlie has enormous respect and authority within the community and had been taught about childbirth practices by his mother, Mara Mira. Perhaps this enabled his presence as a man to be acceptable when discussing these stories.
Mara Mira's husband had a dream and told her that she was going to have a son. Her first baby was Charlie and she had five babies in total, all born out bush. Her husband was present for all of her births. He saw those babies being born, it was OK for the husbands only, not for any other men to be present. Other women were present also. She would tell them when she felt that pain coming and then she sat down in the one place. They were sitting behind her, holding her and pushing her back as well as pushing down on her stomach. Always sitting down, never using that tree branch to swing on. So when the baby is starting to come out another lady will be there to help that baby. She will use a fresh water shell to cut the cord, anywhere, there was no special place to cut the cord. She cuts it before the baby bag comes out and then she lies the baby down on the paper bark. While the mother is still sleepy she has to lie down. Another lady is standing up and she uses her foot to push down on the stomach to bring the baby bag out. They always did that to get the baby bag out, pushing with the foot. They never had any problems with it, they never tried to put their hand up inside and pull that baby bag out, they didn't need to. They usually bleed a lot for one day but then the bleeding stops. The bleeding always stops they never had problems with women bleeding too much, always they could stop the bleeding.
So if a woman didn’t want any more babies they put the baby bag nearby and the ants will eat it. Then no more babies come. If she wants to have more babies they put it in another place, somewhere else. But it is up to the men how many more babies she has, he decides. Then they use paperbark to make like a little bag to put the baby in and carry it on their side. They get string from the bark of the lime bush, the same string they use to make the dilly bags, and that will hold the paperbark, it is very strong. Same like they do in Africa. But Mara Mira didn’t carry Charlie like that because he didn’t like it, so they had to carry him on their shoulders.
Mara Mira and Elizabeth (see below Margot's) have been there to help many women have their babies.
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Country: Marrkolidjban Language: Kuninjku Skin: Kalidjan Number of children: 6 Margot's husband: Charlie Nanguwerr (Traditional Healer) Country: Marrkolidjban Language: Kuninjku Skin: Kela |
Interpreted by Charlie (Margot's husband) and Deborah Wurrkidj
Margot had two of her babies out bush and four in Maningrida. Margot didn’t want to go to Darwin to have her babies, she believes it is still safe to have babies here in Maningrida. She likes it here. Charlie was with her for the birth of all of her babies. When Margot was pregnant Charlie's mother, explained to him what to do. She said he needed to know what to do as Margot and Charlie were often out bush together without any one else there. He might be the only one who was with her.
The babies were born in the bush. She had all the girls with her to help her and her grandmother too. When they have too much pain they can use that bush medicine. They put leaves in the fire and then when it’s burnt up they put the hot ash on their backs and on their tummies too. When she was having one of her babies Sister Hellen was driving that old truck to try and take them to Maningrida. Margot was really, really paining and they were driving really fast. But they had to stop at Mumeka (an outstation) and he was born over there.
But some of the younger girls they like to go to Darwin as it is more quick to have those babies and they can have an operation.
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Country: Marrkolidjban Language: Kuninjku Skin: Kalidjan Number of children: 1 |
Elizabeth only had one baby but he was finished up, he passed away a long time ago. When he was born he had already passed away. So she had no more babies after that. She had that problem with the rainbow touching the baby and so that was it, finish. You can smell it when that happens, same for white people but now they check with x-ray, and they can see that baby has finished up. No more breathing, you know. That baby didn’t come out because it was crossway inside. It happened when he was still a little one, same size as a little crocodile (when crocodiles hatch they are approximately 16cm long). She didn’t have any bleeding and the baby didn’t come out, it just stayed inside. When that happens it means you can’t have any more babies, even though Elizabeth still had a husband she had no more babies. Elizabeth has been present to help many women have their babies out bush. In this photo Elizabeth shows how the women used to carry their babies at their side. They used paperbark and woven plant material to hold the baby in.
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| Elizabeth's picture
This Kuninjku family are looking for pandanus to make the fire. The husband is holding a djalakiradj (fish wire) and a karlbbu which is used to throw far away for catching animals. The daluk (woman) is holding the baby. They make a water holder with string going through the palm frond, which has got hard and can carry water. The cross on the body is called rarrk. This is done for ceremony, culture way, like with the mimih. |
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Country: Jinawinga (Gupunga) Language: Burarra Skin: Galijan Number of children: 5 - Elizabeth 1952, Margaret 1954, Julie 1956, Trudy 1974 and Loyd 1962 |
Mabel had five children but one has since passed away. She had most of her babies at her outstation. When she had that first baby she didn’t know she was pregnant, she was full in her stomach and she thought it was food. Her mother told her to hold on to a branch of a tree and swing to help stop the pains. She was standing up and suddenly that baby girl was born straight onto the soft sand while she was standing up. She had her mother and grandmother with her when it happened. The baby bag came out not long after the baby was born, just by itself. They weren’t rubbing her back or tummy or anything. Then that baby bag was given to the green ants. They used fresh water from the water hole to wash the baby with. Then her husband used the sweat from under his arm and he put the sweat on the babies’ body. This makes sure the baby grows up strong and will do the right thing culturally.
Mabel had one of her babies in Darwin. She was walking there and when she got there it was time to have that baby. So she had it in the bush in Darwin, with an old lady there to help her. This time she was sitting down and someone was rubbing her back and tummy for her. Her next baby was the same, she had it in Darwin in the bush. She never had any problems with bleeding too much or anything. She had the smoking ceremony for all of her babies. They used to make plenty of fire to keep the baby warm. They would warm their hands on the fire and then warm the baby with their hands to settle the baby and stop them crying. They don’t do that much any more. Then they dug a big hole and put the ant pit in the fire to make it go red. Then they place a mat over the mother and the baby, like an umbrella, and the mother does a little bit of wee to make the steam come up, but they don’t do that much anymore either. Mabel’s husband had three wives.
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Country: Nidulmuk Language: Ndjébbana / Nakarra Skin: Njabangarda Number of children: 3 |
Barbara had three babies and all were born in the bush, either in the outstation or in Maningrida. But none of her children are alive anymore. With her first baby she was sitting down at home at Berraja. She told her husband and her mother about the pains starting. She had both her husband and her mother with her when she had that baby. She was sitting down and they were rubbing her back and it was hurting a lot. They made a fire for her and they kept the baby warm. That baby grew up to be a grown man but he passed away not long ago. The second baby was a boy too. This time she knew when he was ready to come and she said to her mummy, baby is ready now. So she said push and she did. This one was born on the beach at Maningrida. She had her mother and her husband there for this one too. Some husbands will stay together with their wife and some will want to sit by themselves or go hunting. Some will see the birth with their own eyes.
Barbara didn’t have any problems with the babies coming out or the baby bag, it just comes out by itself. They do it there own way those old ladies, and they have no problems. They know how to do it all. The fire would help to stop the bleeding quickly. They would use bush plums and put them all over them as well as eat them (bush plums are very rich in Vitamin C). They would always do that when they were sick or if they had problems. Barbara has helped some of her relatives to have their babies too, helping them rub their tummy and their back.
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Country: Jinuwinga Language: Burarra Skin: Galijan Number of children: 5 - Gary 1974, Dempsey 1976, Julie-Anne 1978, Fabian 1980, Lisa 1982 |
Gary was my first baby and I had him at he old Darwin hospital. I had never seen a baby being born but I wasn’t frightened. I was staying there near the beach so when the pains started I just walked down to the hospital. I could speak English and I understood everything that was happening. There was an Aboriginal woman working there and she stayed with me. She was a black woman but she was a midwife, she didn’t make me push, it was OK.
Fabian was my forth, he was the worst. He was too rough, he couldn’t wait and was coming really quickly. I went to the toilet and I had strong pain, I got scared. Then that lady came and said 'now be a good girl and jump on the bed'. I said 'I want to sit on the ground I don’t want to sit on no bed'. But she wouldn’t let me, she gave me a pan to sit on but no wee came out, it was just the baby pushing down. So I had to jump on the bed and they gave me a needle. That needle made me sleep. I didn’t know that my baby was born, I was sleeping all day. She said 'push, push,' well I couldn’t push you know I wasn’t ready. I said 'I can’t do it'. 'Don’t be naughty like that, be a good girl' she said. 'No I don’t like no baby'. 'No well you’re going to have your baby'. I couldn’t stop what was happening after that.
I had Lisa, Gary and Fabian in Darwin but these two Julianne and Dempsey, I had them here at Maningrida clinic. I didn’t want to go to Darwin and leave Gary here by himself. When I was here at the clinic I had three health workers with me and I had the babies the normal way. They didn’t tell me to push you know they used to tell me when you have pain just sing out. They knew how to help me. When I had the pain I had to do it myself, just let it come. I was lying on the bed but it was good. The baby bag came by itself too. That last one, Lisa, was bad too. I was frightened with this one, I had a problem and I had too much bleeding. So they had to take all that baby bag out by an operation. I was in hospital for 11 days and I had lots of needles.
Then I took Julie-Anne in when she had her baby, she was frightened about having a baby, and thought it was going to hurt. But Trudy, she went by herself when she went into the hospital, she wasn’t frightened. They can get medicine in Darwin and they like that, they can use the gas there, and they can go shopping. They should have the gas machine here, but the girls would still like to go in for shopping, they don’t have any baby clothes here.
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Country: near Jibenna Language: Kuninjku Skin: Njakoyok / Wamuddjan Number of children: 3 - born 1968, 1972 and 1974 |
Nancy speaks four languages and has completed interpreter training.
I had first baby Samson here in Maningrida Clinic. I had two old ladies with me and the sister from the clinic, but there weren’t any health workers. When I had the first baby I had a big pain, I remember it, maybe for three or four days. My mother and my big sister looked after me in the Aboriginals way. My mother was digging a hole in the sand and putting in little bits of ant pits and paperbark. Then they threw out all that firewood so it was more like smoke than fire. The hot sand was good for the pain. When I got the baby pains I went straight into my second mother and then we went down to the clinic. The old women were telling me what was going to happen, I had never seen a baby being born but I wasn’t scared really. Then I had the smoking for my baby. They don’t do that much any more in Maningrida but they do over on Crocker and Goulburn Island, the proper way. I had my first two babies here in Maningrida and then for my third one I went into Darwin hospital, this one came with the legs first. It was OK, I didn’t have anyone with me but I wasn’t frightened, and I could understand English so I knew what they were saying to me.
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Country: Marrkolidjban Language: Kuninjku Skin: Wamuddjan Number of children: 3 |
Nancy (above) and Lena are sisters.
I had three babies who are all grown up now. I had them in the bush, not in the clinic. The first one was out towards Oenpelli way. I had my husband with me when I started to have that baby but then he went hunting and I had other women to stay with me. My sister and my step cousin’s aunty was there too, my husband had two wives. I didn’t get much pain, I had the hot sand on my stomach to stop the pain and one lady was sitting behind me and another one was in front, rubbing my back and my tummy. Then when the baby was born my sister was pushing on my stomach with her foot to help with all the things inside, they all came out and it stopped the bleeding too. They used a cockle shell to cut the cord from the baby and they used paperbark to keep the baby warm. Then they put that baby bag in the pandanus for the green ants to eat. They didn’t need to cut it up, they just put it in whole.
I had the second baby near the old barge landing, near the camp that we always used to stay at. This time I had my mother there to help me. I did walk a bit when I had the pains but we didn’t swing on the trees, that is the other side who used to do that. Then when I needed to push I would sit down to have that baby. Then after the baby was born we always did the smoking of the baby. We would dig a hole and put the wood and the ant pit in the hole and then we would cover the baby and the mother with the paperbark or the blankets and they would have that about two times. This stops the baby from crying and helps the baby to sleep quietly. It also helps with the mother’s milk and can help to stop the woman from having another baby for a long break. But now that the women are leaving that bag in Darwin they don’t get that break in between babies.
I had my third baby in the bush too, down near bottom camp this time. I didn’t need to go to the clinic, the other women would look after me in the bush. My sister was there too. This last baby, Timothy, he came out with his feet first. The older ladies had checked me and they knew that he was going to come out that way. It didn’t matter, he was crying when he came out. I sat the same way, sitting on my feet. The baby gets born onto paperbark and no-one needs to touch the babies till they are out. When they come feet first the birth is the same way, just nice and slowly that baby has to come out. Not like in hospital where it has to come out quick, here it has to be slow.
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Country: Maningrida Language: Ndjébbana Skin: Njangila Number of children: 8 |
I had seven kids in Darwin and I had one in Maningrida clinic, the second one. It was good to have a baby in Darwin as it is safer in Darwin, if you lose all that blood then they can put in the drip and everything. That’s what happened to me in Darwin with my last baby. Yeh, I was frightened. I thought I was going to loose all the blood, they had to give me water drips and blood drips, I was very sick. You loose all the blood and then you can’t really stop it, that’s why they take you to town.
The other problem they have when they have a baby here is, it’s really hard to run around and look for a truck. Looking for a midwife or a woman to help deliver the baby is a problem. When they have the baby pains they run for help. If she has those strong pains then that baby is coming out and it might be too late.
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Country: Gorong Gorong Language: Burarra Skin: Belinyjan Number of children: 3 |
When I had my first baby I was staying out bush at Ndjudda Point. My waters had broken but I didn't understand. I went to tell the old woman and she said 'you are going to have a baby' and I said 'oh yeh, I can feel pain starting'. I came back into Maningrida and I had Erin in the small clinic here, Molly was my midwife. There were some nurses there too but it was Molly who did all that stuff. I wasn't frightened because Molly was there. My aunty had told me about it all, that babies pain, like really pain. My husband’s sister was helping me with the baby and washing nappies for me. They taught me about feeding that baby. My other two babies were born in Darwin. My husband and his family looked after my other baby when I was in Darwin. I wasn’t worried too much about them and I wasn't frightened, I knew what was going to happen. It's good to go to Darwin to have a baby because they have too many nurses and the machines. They can give you the drip and the gas, its good to breathe.
With Kelvin I had my waters break too early and they gave me a drip. He was a little bit small when he was born, but he was healthy. The last little one was in Darwin too and the nurse told me she was premature. They told me that 'if your little baby won’t drink breast milk we might have to take her to Ward Seven to give her a drip, and we might put her in a small glass (isolete)'. I was a bit frightened so I was praying and then I was taking my breast milk and she was drinking, I was so happy. Then they said to me, 'all right you can keep your little baby and you two can sleep in that bed together'.
When I came back I took them to my husband’s family in Goulburn Island to do all the things the Aboriginal way. I went down to the beach and we had a fire. You wait till it goes down to the coals and then you put sand on top of the coals and it makes the sand warm. Then the mothers can sit on that warm sand and it gets put on top of the baby. It makes you feel good inside and outside and you will get better quick. Sometimes, every afternoon we sit down and get our hands warm from the fire and then you put them on the baby’s face and body. It helps to make them grow quick and they get strong. It makes their legs straight. My grandmother will bite them you know, on the knee.
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Country: Maningrida Language: Ndjébbana Skin: Ngangila Number of children: 3 |
My grandmother talked to me about having babies. I had my first baby here in Maningrida and then the second and the third baby I had in Darwin. I went to town for 2 months when I was pregnant with Chantelle she had a problem but she was OK when she was born. I had pain when I was at the hostel. I had a lot of pain so I rang the ambulance and they came to the hostel and then I had the baby there. It is better to go to Darwin because they have the machine for the pain, the gas machine. Also there is much cheaper shopping in Darwin, it is too expensive here. Verity was sitting with some friends and some of the women had tried 'the needle' and said they thought it helped with the pain. None of the group knew anything about epidurals but they asked lots of questions about it. They all said it was important for the women to have her grandmother, mother or aunty with them, even if it was their second or third baby.
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Country: Gupunga Language: Burarra Skin: Bangardijan Number of children: 5 - Sophia 26, Harvey 19, Juan (Mesaik) 14, Keas 11 and Kylie 9 |
Mary is a trained Aboriginal Health Worker. I had my first baby when I was only 16 years. I didn't know I was pregnant when it happened. I felt different inside my body and my breasts were getting big. When I felt I was pregnant I felt real shame because it was my first pregnancy. So I stopped walking around and stopped hunting. I realised I was going to be a woman so the days went by and I started to get big. Then really big.
It was about 4 o'clock when I started to get the baby pains, I felt wet and I knew my waters had broken. They took me down to the clinic and they put me in the bed in the labour room. I had 2 aunties with me and they were telling me what to do. There was one Balanda midwife there too. I was forcing myself to push the baby down but my 2 aunts told me not to push, and they told me to pant. Then the baby came and I was happy to see my first child. It came out with the legs first. I hugged her and cried for her. In the afternoon they took us home and my great grandmother had to go and get the ant pit. It was in the evening. She came back with lots of ant pits and lots of firewood. She started digging a hole and then when the ant pit went red I had to sit in the hole. They got one of those sheets to cover me up and then I had to pass urine and open my legs and my mouth at the same time and I felt smoke coming out of my mouth. When I had done all that women's business, the next day, I felt real slim and skinny. I had my other four children in the western side - white people way. I had an asthma problem and they wanted me to go into Darwin. I wasn't frightened because I had relatives with me.
I was a midwife to my niece, they came and woke me up about 1 o’clock. I had a good nights sleep from working and finishing at 5 o'clock. My niece didn’t want to go to Darwin, she wanted to have her baby here. They said to me she’s in labour. I couldn't say no, I know what it is like to have a baby. We had to go and meet with the old lady Marie and we were both there for her. There were two young girls there in the clinic with her. She was on the bed saying hold me here, hold me there, hold me here, and we did. She had a rough day, I told her everything that was going to happen. She wanted to push but I told her to pant. When the baby was born she was too tired to hold that baby, we had to hold it for her. She did very well and the baby was OK. We still sent her into Darwin because the baby had a problem with his chest. So we waited for the Air Med plane to send her into Darwin and when I came back from the airport I was real tired.
1. Nearly everyone in Maningrida has been given a Balanda name, these are used in all official documents, though many people will not know who you are talking about when you use these names as they still use their bush names when referring to people.
2. Molly’s grasp of so many different languages made her an invaluable asset in the Health Centre.
3. There is some discrepancy in the documentation of Molly's date of birth and the year she returned to Maningrida. I have recorded that dates that Molly states are correct.
4. Ingrid Drysdale – was a non-Aboriginal woman who spent many years in Maningrida when it was being first established. She was involved in teaching English, assisting with a feeding program, and though not a nurse, she assisted in caring for Leprosy patients who were able to stay in the community.
5. Molly was whispering, often looking around to make sure no-one (men) was listening.