Nawarlah (stingrays, Dasyatis sp.) can be found in saltwater, or in big estuarine rivers. Nawarlah is one of the animals which we Kunwinjku people eat. When we cook nawarlah, we cut it up and cook it in a drum. We pound the flesh and separate the meat and the fat, which we cook in different drums. Then when we eat it, we take the meat and fat and mix them together. Traditionally, and still sometimes today, nawarlah are hunted in shallow water with djalakirradj (three-pronged fishing spears). The liver is also prized eating. The name literally means “wide one”.
Nawu Nawarlah kare kore kurrula yika kare kore mankabokimuk kore kubowinjku. Nawarlah nakka mayh ngadberre bu ngarringun. Bu ngarrikinje ngarridadjdadjke wanjh ngarrikinje kore nakimuk banikin [drum] wanjh ngarrikanjbun ngarrikanjdurnme ngarrikurrme dja kunbalem ngarrikinje kore nabuyika banikin wanjh ngarrimang manbu kunkanj dja kunbalem ngarrirawon wanjh ngarringun.
(Text: Andrew Manakgu)
