b'OUR TRUNK OUR STRENGTHS AND SKILLSThe trunks of our tree help For Garrwa people, we still speaking us stand solid and grounded. language at home all the time. It is made up of the special skills we have learned for living andMy Grandmother taught me how togrowing strong. Sometimes wedance at Yanyuwa Camp. They would see these strengths in ourselvesdance when we had ceremony. I would watch them and then I began to dance with my or we might tell others whatGrandmother when they travelled to festivals. their strengths are. I still dance at festivals like Malandarri.Holding Onto Culture Cooking SkillsI can speak more than one language. I like to cook goanna, turtle and freshwater I spoke Maori and English growing up turtle. I remember the first time I caughtand then schools went total English. Theya freshwater turtle. I was nine. I was in my used to wash their mouths out with soap orGrandmothers homeland, Spring Creek.take the strap to them if they spoke language.I had seen my mothers sister catch turtle.My mother always was in trouble for speakingWe pick up waterlilies and eat the big seeds.Maori. So Maori language got lost when I I seen my mum put them big seeds in the was growing up; hardly anyone was speakingcoals and bury them; they come soft.Maori. We had to make a big effort to learn language. Since I came to Australia, I have noI use to go and cook for my sister and one to speak Maori with. Im having to learnAunty who learnt me to cook. My nephew to speak again. It takes a lot of work. Imcalls me when they get porcupine for me to starting to share with family. cook. To prepare the porcupine we burn it and slice it up; we have a special stick likea sickle- we scrape them to get rid of the spines. When you roast it in the ground it tastes like pork. My grandchildren watchme; they know how to do it now cause they seen me doing it. 6'