Clifton Bieundurry - traditional hand signs (Australia)

MAN (off-camera): We're gonna be showing hand signals that are used,

and who uses them.

CLIFTON: My name is Clifton Bieundurry, Jungurrayi, from Wangkatjungka.

These are some of the hand signs that we use today and that we used many years

in the past, and that we still use today.

This hand sign here in particular could mean what, could mean where, could mean when.

This hand sign could mean no, nothing,

or I don't know.

If you're going in a cave, or going to swim...

We're going swimming, or in the cave.

This here could mean that I'm gonna hit something.

I'm going to either go hunting to kill an animal,

or hit a person.

When you're pointing at the sun to predict what time you're gonna be at a certain place,

you point where the sun rises, to when you want to be -- when you want to come back.

Either that you're gonna come back at lunch time, or I will see you at lunch time,

when you're pointing where the sun is going to be, straight up.

Or if you're gonna come back -- if you're gonna see them tomorrow, or see something tomorrow,

or be somewhere tomorrow...

I'm coming back tomorrow.

Or you wave and say I'll come back around.

These are the hand signs that we use so that when there's silent communication,

when there's no need to talk, especially when you're hunting animals that are...

I guess -- that you need to be quiet when hunting them, like the goanna or the kangaroo.

When you spot a kangaroo, you could mean...

One kangaroo, here.

We're about to kill it.

Two kangaroo, here.

There are other signs to go to, I guess, when you need to go to the toilet.

This means "toilet".

And the desert people tend to use this one here for women.

This means women.

This means men.

Wati.

Kunga or Marnin.

Pundu.

These are the signs that we use to keep our voices down

when we're noticing people that are around.

MAN: Thank you.