Hayley Coulthard Panangka

This one is my grandmother’s story. We all stay in Ntaria alturla (westside of Hermannsburg). On the weekend, my grandmother and my mum, my aunty and my cousin and my sisters, we go for a walk down alturla urlpaiya (westside creek) to look for inmurta (mustard grass).

My grandmother told all us girls “you go get firewood” and we put it on the nice red sand.

Then my grandmother told us “go look for flat round rocks, maybe 5 or 8, flat one, little one, bring it to me.” And then she said “go get another grass, yaya.”

When that sand is hot, after the fire, we move it with the gum tree stick and then we put all the flat rocks on the hot sand. Then we put that green grass, we call it yaya, on top of the rock. Then we tie it up, little string, that marna inmurta. My grandmother showed us to do that.

Then we put the inmurta and put another grass, yaya, on top of the inmurta. Then we put that hot sand on the top and we make a little round one that sand, with that inmurta.

Then my grandmother told us, “make foot prints, emu, on top of the red sand.”
Then my grandmother say “we go for a swim and come back and see that emu print”

We come back from swimming to see that marna, my grandmother is standing and all the grandchildren, my cousins, sisters are there.
My grandmother says, “what do you see that emu footprint?”
“It’s cracked” we all say.
“Well then, its ready to eat that inmurta, just put little bit salt.”

We love our grandmother, she show us all different bushtucker. We always sleep with grandmother.