Gurka’wuy

The spirit man, Wuyal, was looking for a gaḏayka tree containing honey, and when he found one he chopped it down. It fell into the saltwater named Guṯaltja, and a wave took it as far as destiny allowed until it crashed onto the rock. And from there, the honey children were born. When we see the flowers blossoming, we sing and it reminds us of all the spirits of the people who have gone before us and will bloom again. Djuluwa, Gatjinydji, Dhaltaŋu: these are the sacred names called in the songlines. I am speaking about the events at the place called Gurka’wuy. Gurka’wuy is a sacred place.

— WUKUṈ WAṈAMBI

Gurka’wuy is the Marrakulu saltwater homeland, located on the northern shores of Trial Bay near a set of hills and forests of stringybark trees (eucalpytus tetradonta). It is associated with a fish called wawurritjpal, who later became the Marparrarr ancestral beings, the original inhabitants of the lands around Gurka’wuy. At this location there is a large rock called Bamurruŋu, and the bubbles that rise to the surface from beneath the rock are the life force of these ancestral beings.

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