Violet Lawson's Wurrgeng Cultural Walk

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Violet Lawson is one of Kakadu's senior Aboriginal traditional owners. Her parents lived a traditional life, moving around the park on foot and on horseback. (They did, however, also ensure that she did her school work.) Violet decided that she wanted to share her culture with some of the visitors to Kakadu and began offering short cultural walks in 2006. She named her tours "Wurrgeng" -- the name of her favourite season, the cool, dry time when the park is at its most comfortable for most visitors. We began including Violet's walks in some of our tours in 2007. Those who took part enjoyed them so much that we have now included them in most of our tours which spend a night at Cooinda. The photos on this page were taken on three different trips in 2007 and 2008

We meet Violet at the start of the Gun-gardun walk near the Mardugal camp ground and set off, stopping again and again to learn something new about the land through which we are passing. The two photos below show the start of the walk and Violet explaining some of the uses for termite mounds.
The pandanus provides the raw material for traditional Aboriginal basket work. Violet shows us how it's done and soon has some of the group giving it a go. It's not easy.
No matter how experienced you are, it's a slow job, easier if you are sitting down. Once the string is made, the roots of local plants provide dyes for the final colours.

In the two photos at right, Violet shows us a bundle of dyed pandanus string and a partially completed mat.

Anyone who has done a long walk in Kakadu has encountered green ants. Many know of them as a source of vitamin C. Fewer know that they can be used to treat colds. In the two photos at right, Violet shows us how it's done.

As the tour progresses, we learn that certain trees contain water which can be obtained in an emergency. Others provide bush tucker. Still others provide medicines.
As we walk, Violet gives us stories from her own life. By the time we finish, we have a much ggreater appreciation of what traditional Aboriginal life was ... and is today. We begin to understand what the park really means to those who live there. To see which trips include Violet's walk, see our Kakadu and Top End trip list and look for those dry season trips which include a Yellow Waters cruise. These are marked with the symbol Y.