Big Lizard Hunting and More

Justin spent the week at Pigeon Hole. He was driving along with an older woman (B) in the passenger seat when she spotted a goanna stuck in a tree about 20 meters off the road in the bush. Justin stopped and B and three younger women (probably teenagers) went to capture it. Although it was somehow trapped, it was still alive and goannas have nasty claws that help them climb trees. This goanna was about five feet long, perhaps a bit longer. They caught it and eventually killed it by bashing its head, then roasted it.


Much of Justin’s time was spent driving around to various culturally significant sites (Dreaming sites), while some of the younger women documented them with camera and video camera. The younger women and little kids with them were then learning language related to the stories from the older women. Justin took written notes. Here’s a photo of him working out there.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great photo! Have you heard of the hare-brained idea to create a 'Linguists in the Field' Glamour calendar? Get a speaker and a microphone in the frame in a similarly-exoctic location and you could enter for your favourite month!

Catalin said...

Actually, I cropped the speaker out of the photo for her privacy. Justin feels pretty stronglyl that the photos taken in the community really don't belong to us or the world in general (especially in relation to publishing on the web where one instantly loses control of the image).

However, I think a "linguists in the field" calendar could be really fun. Are you heading it up?