Alice Springs 08/2022 Part 2

Alice Springs 08/22 Part 2

August 2022

On Wednesday, we were picked up by Emu Tours at 6 am for our day and evening trip to Uluru. Heading west, we passed the West Macdonnell Ranges which we had wandered, or rather climbed, the day before. 

Uluru

After breakfast at Erlunda, we drove to Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, where we stopped at the Olgas for a walk into Walpa Gorge. The domes at Kata Tjuta rise out of the surrounding open plains in amazing manner. 

This ancient and awesome landscape needs no commentary, its visual splendour is evident.

original splendour, as if untouched

Mutitjulu cave

The Kulpi Mutitjulu cave is a family cave. For many generations Anangu families camped here. The men hunted for kuka (meat) and the women and children collected mai (bush foods). The food was brought back here to share. 

drawings in Kulpi Mutitjulu cave

The colours used in the cave come from a variety of materials. Tutu (red ochre) and untanu (yellow ochre) are iron-stained clays that were very valuable and traded across the land. The attentive reader will remember the Ochre Pits from our trip the day before. Burnt kurkara (desert oak) provides purku (black charcoal), and tjunpa/unu (white ash). The dry materials are placed on a flat stone, crushed and mixed with kapi (water). 

open to interpretation

At night around the campfire, generations of Anangu families told stories, teaching children about this place and the paintings on the rock. Today these stories are still kept and handed down to the children. Paddy Uluru remembers painting here as a young boy around the 1930s.

In Paddy's words: 'This is a good place to stay and rest. We were always travelling, travelling. It is a good place to tell stories, to learn about this country. This is the Tjukurpa country.'

Kulpi Minymaku

'Women, girls and small children camped in Kulpi Minymaku. Women went out into the bush to collect mai (bush foods) and returned to the cave to process them. The minymas (women) taught the kungkas (girls) this knowledge so they could teach their children. This knowledge is still passed down today.'

the kitchen cave

Advice from the Mala people: 

'Be careful where you stand! Look closely at the cave floor and you will find smooth areas where seeds were pounded with round stones. The flour was then mixed with water and the dough cooked in hot coals to produce nyuma (flat bread).'

'Our ancestors, the Mala people, brought their food here to share. For generations our people continued this tradition. Men would bring kuka (meat) and the women nyuma, fruit and other mai. People would collect their share, delivering it to their family camps and the old people's cave. Food would also be sent to the nyiinka (bush boys) around the corner.'

Our guide took us to the Mala men's cave, Kulpi Watiku. The Mala people came from the north and could see Uluru. It looked like a good place to stay a while and make inma (ceremony). Men raised Ngaltawata (ceremonial pole) - the inma had begun.

This is the senior Mala men's cave. The spirits of these men are still here in this cave. Time ago, they made their fires here and camped, busily preparing for inma. They fixed their tools with malu pulku (kangaroo sinew) and kiti (spinifex resin). From here the men could keep an eye on the nyiinka (bush boys) in the cave around the corner and watch out for men coming back from a hunt with food.

Can you see the old men's faces?

It is interesting to learn about the background of these cave images. According to the Mala story, while being in the middle of preparations, two Wintalka men from the west approached and invited the Mala people to join their inma in their country. The Mala people said no, explaining their ceremony had begun and could not be stopped. 

Can you see the old men at the back wall?

The disappointed Wintalka men went back and told their people. They summoned up an evil spirit, a huge devil-dog called Kurpany, to destroy the Mala inma. As  Kurpany travelled towards Uluru, he changed into many forms, from mikara (bark) to tjulpa (bird) and different grasses. He was a mamu, a ghost. Luurnpa  (kingfisher woman) was the first to spot him. She warned the Mala people but they didn't listen. Kurpany arrived and attacked the men in this cave. Some were killed and they turned to stone. The remaining Mala people fled to the south with Kurpany chasing them. So there you see their images now set in stone. 

Their white hair and beards? 

The next cave was the Teaching cave. For many generations, Anangu elders taught nyiinka (bush boys) in this cave how to travel in this country and survive. Generations of grandfathers painted these pictures, like a teacher uses a school blackboard, to teach nyiinka how to track and hunt kuka (food animals). Nyiinka would then be taken into the bush to learn about country - where the waterholes are, where to find the animals, where to source materials for their tools and weapons. 

if you look closely you can make out the drawings

The cultural heritage states that in the very beginning when the Mala ancestors arrived at Uluru, nyiinka camped in the above cave. A nyiinka is a boy at the important stage in life where he is ready to learn to become a wati (man). Nyiinka are taught by their grandfathers and separated from the rest of their families for this period. Traditionally this stage could last several years until a boy proved his hunting skills, self-reliance and discipline. 

close up you can marvel at the drawings

When they weren't out hunting, nyiinka stayed in this cave. This period has the same objective as high school: students learn a variety of skills and subjects to enable them to survive on their own as adults. 

looking back in awe

Leaving the teaching cave we trotted back to the bus for a supposed sunset drink and dinner with a final opportunity for photo shoots. Alas, what never happens, according to the guides, and you know how reliable they are, happened during our visit; it started to rain. We rushed to huddle under a roofed area, toasting bubbles, partaking in a meal and making new friends for the night. My friend Anke recalled the ad of an image depicting a white table-clothed dinner, beautiful lightly-clad people with sparkling champagne flutes backgrounded by a red-ochre Uluru. Well, not this time, may on our next visit. I am not complaining, we had an absolutely fabulous day, so rich, so soul-nourishing, so enlightening and oh so enjoyable.

just before the downpour