For the Ngarluma-Yaburara people at what will become the WA’s Pilbara Coast, the emu is part of their dreamtime.
It was a giant emu that once lived on the land before going up into the heavens and flying above, forming what will become known as the milky way.
The big emu tells people what the little emus are doing.
Emus are a seasonal food source and the stars are a seasonal calendar — it tells them when the emus are laying, nesting and when it’s time to go hunting for emus.
An emu can provide a lot of meat for families but because of its sacredness, they’ve got to be strict with following the seasonal calendar to protect them.
The eggs are laid at the start of winter, around may June.
If they want to have eggs they have to take them around that time, otherwise they form into chicks.
But they can’t take too many, because they want the animal to have more of its kind.
Come July/August they start hatching.
By October the chicks are big enough to be walking around with the adult male.
Once they reach a year or so old they go out on their own.
When they’re about two they’re considered fully grown.
That’s when the adult male stops worrying about them and they start the cycle again.
The emu in the sky is depicted on rock art throughout the country here..
This knowledge is passed down by elders from generation to generation.
There is punishment for not doing the right thing.
Someone can get speared in the leg for being greedy, taking too many eggs or hunting at the wrong time.