Ngamanpurru (Conkerberry), 2024
$1,600.00
(Carissa lanceolata) There is a Ngamanpurru Dreaming running through Daguragu. At Daguragu itself there is a Dreaming rock. If you cover it with white ochre and brush it with branches, then conkerberries will spring up everywhere. Similarly, conkerberry trees at a Dreaming site near Lawi, on Wattie Creek, will produce a good crop if you hit the water and splash it everywhere. In the old days, the bushes were also used to make mangkaya, which is a type of shelter. The branches were pulled down and grass such as warrwa (soft spinifex) or parkali (paperbark) was plaited through the branches to create a house.
In the season of big rain, yipu, the fruit of the ngamanpurru ripen. They are sweet and very tasty. The firefly, called pinyjiwunarra, blinks at night to tell us that the ngamanpurru are ready for eating. The best way to collect the berries is to stretch a groundsheet under the shrub and hit it with a stick. Many different birds eat the fruit.
Smoke from the leaves of ngamanpurru and marlarn (river red gum) can be used to treat stomach pains. The roots are also used to treat toothache. The root is dug up and bright orange shavings are scraped off. The shavings are placed in the hole in the tooth to ease the pain.
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