Yaadha Buwadjarr-gu (Father's Day)

Some wildlife we have used the dhinawan (emu) as a symbol of Father's Day,

  • Dhinawan (emu) males sit on the eggs until they are hatched, and then raise the emu chicks.
  • Guduu (Murray cod) fathers guard the eggs on the nest in the river until they are hatched, and then look after the baby fish until they are ready to leave.
  • Nguunguu (barn owl) fathers help build the nest,  incubate the gawu (eggs), bring food for their mate, feed the chicks, and protect their dhiiyaan (family).  

Notes:
1. Modern uses of family terms are different from the complex traditional uses.
2. We have also included some resources for Dhaadhaa 'Pop' and garruu 'uncle'.
3. Word order is less important in Gamilaraay because there is a lot of grammatical information in the suffixes. However, in order to avoid confusion we are now using the same pattern for Father's Day, Mother's Day, Children's Day, etc.
4. The word for 'father' is buwadjarr, although we can use Bubaa, 'Dad'.

Card

This is a card for children to colour in and write for an important father figure:

Download the pdf file: Yaadha-Bubaa-gu-2025-card.pdf

Craft templates

These are designed to be used as templates for paper craft and collage such as here for dhinawan and here for guduu.

Guduu (Murray cod)

Download the pdf with templates for Bubaa (Dad), Dhaadhaa (Grandad, Pop), and Garruu (Uncle): Yaadha-Buwadjarr-gu_Guduu.pdf

Dhinawan (emu)



Download the pdf with templates for Bubaa (Dad), Dhaadhaa (Grandad, Pop), and Garruu (Uncle): Yaadha-Buwadjarr-gu_Dhinawan.pdf


Artwork by Sharon (Dawnie) Wortley

Colouring in: Bubaa (Dad), Dhaadhaa (Pop), garruu (uncle)

Download pdfs:

Artwork by Sharon (Dawnie) Wortley


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