Kangaroos: Western definition: cute marsupials with babies in pouches.
Kangaroos: Aborigine definition: dinner.
Cattle ranches are a European innovation in Australia. Before Europeans arrived, Outback Aborigine didn’t have cows. They hunted kangaroos. Yet kangaroos make only 30% of the Aboriginal diet; the rest is goanna, vegetation and insects. (insects???) Honey ants are a favorite treat ; their honey sacs provide nourishment for the rest of the nest, or a sweet treat for a hungry Aborigine. (ok, sounds like bee honey, I guess….?) Grubs aren’t a treat as much as they are basic fare. (Grubs??). Especially witchetty grubs. (grubs!!??) The witchetty grub is a large, white, moth larva. Our guide has one handy. (oh goody!)
My guide and his witchetty grub.
He gives it to me to hold. You remember how I feel about bugs?
See Dawny. See Dawny hold a witchetty grub. See a grub the size of her hand.
The smile on my face is not joy. It is hysteria. Seriously.
Then my guide offers to roast the witchetty grub.
So I can taste it.
Me taste a witchetty grub. Me???
I stay to the edge of the gathering group, avoiding the fire (and the grub). I watch a few people taste the grub and I hear them say things like ‘tastes like peanut butter’. (At least they didn’t say ‘chicken’.)
I finally cave and take a tiny bit that is barely visible on the tip of my finger. I’m still hearing ‘peanut butter’ from people as I put it on my tongue.
Pffffft ppffffft. I begin to spit, and even after the morsel is long gone I keep spitting, spitting and mumbling, “ Bug! Bug! It tastes like BUG!!!!”
For a short video from Australian Screen showing some Walpiri women in search of honey ants (and expressing some of their concerns about modernization), go to http://tinyurl.com/honeyants
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Next: The Ancient Ways
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