I created this Marlingu (Oysters) design for Magpie Goose in August 2018. We get a lot of oysters at McGowan beach. The old people used to tell us that oysters are good medicine for when we have chest problems, like heavy colds and flus. We eat them raw, but sometimes we cook them on the coals; they’re more yummy this way! We get them straight off the rocks; we get a hammer or an axe and just chip it off the rocks. You can get them all along the coast; so if we get too much from McGowan, then we go to the next beach.
Marlingu (Oysters) by Nina Maraltadj
Our whole family goes out camping at the beach. Makes us feel good - to be out on country, and to feel the spirit of the bush. There’s no stress. Nothing stressed about the bush! Just peaceful there. My design also has the pearls that you can find in the oysters - but we don’t get them as big as the ones you see in Broome! Some people they just keep it when they find pearl; some people make necklaces out of it! I have found little black small pearls before. There’s a lot of pearl farming in Broome.
“We eat them raw, but sometimes we cook them on the coals; they’re more yummy this way! We get them straight off the rocks; we get a hammer or an axe and just chip it off the rocks.”
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We pay our deep respects to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, particularly those who we work and collaborate with.
Always was, always will be.