There are two things which we call “mako”. One meaning of mako is a didjiridu, which we blow when we sing songs and dance. The other meaning is “gun”. People go and look for didjiridus in the forest. They knock on trees and listen for hollow ones. Then they cut it down, and make a didjiridu for playing. To get that other type of mako, which we shoot, we have to go and buy it with money.

Painted on the Mako are Nawaran (Oenpelli Python) & Kalawan (Goanna)

The artist has painted nawaran, the Oenpelli Python (Morelia oenpelliensis). Nawaran is a rare snake that is only found in the Oenpelli region. Non-indigenous Australians first discovered it in the 1970’s. It is greyish in colour with distinctive marking making it easy to identify. The nawaran is a non-venomous snake that can grow to massive lengths. It is able to dislocate its jaws enabling it to swallow prey larger than themselves. These reptiles are nocturnal, feeding on a variety of animals as well as the eggs of brolga.

We use the name “Kalawan” for many kinds of goanna, who live in water, stone country or woodland. The are three kinds of goanna that live in water, we call them “burarr”( Merten’s Water Monitor), “durrbu” and the small one we call “djerlih”. And the stone country goanna we call “bongka”. And there is “djanay” and another one, “bikku” (a bit smaller, same size as djerlih) that live in the woodlands. But the true “Kalawan” (Gould’s Sand Goanna) we see on floodplains, woodland and on trees. In the old days we used to go to billabongs and see Kalawan (Gould’s Sand Monitor) standing up on his hind legs. Sometimes we would go bush, and we would see him on a tree. And the old people would take dogs with them, the dogs would smell Kalawan and the old people would catch him. But now we don’t see him. We don’t see him on the trees, we don’t see him crawl along the ground – never. The Cane Toad came, poisoned him, finished him off that Kalawan. But Burarr (Merten’s Water Monitor), he is still there, living in the freshwater streams. We don’t eat Bongka and Bikku, but maybe the old people used to eat them in the past.