BUGARRIGARA
Newsletter of the Yawuru People
For the Yawuru Community and Friends
March 2028 | Issue 47 | Gala Mabu (Autumn)
From the Chair
Nyamba buru Yawuru.
As we move into Gala Mabu, the season of cooling seas and abundant fish, I am pleased to report on significant developments in our cultural heritage work.
The visit by Dr. Maya Voss and her research team from Oxford University has concluded. Their work on quantum consciousness at our Cable Beach facility has raised important questions about the intersection of Western science and Yawuru knowledge. I want to address community concerns directly.
Aunty Ngaire, Cultural Liaison, writes:
“Some have asked why we permitted Western scientists to conduct experiments on Yawuru country. The answer is simple: we did not permit experiments. We offered guidance.
Dr. Voss came seeking understanding of the Bugarrigarra—the eternal Dreamtime that exists always, not just in the past. This is not something that can be measured with machines. But we recognized in her something we have seen before: the curiosity of someone seeking to reconnect with knowledge they have lost.
The facility at Cable Beach has been closed. The equipment has been removed. What remains is relationship. Dr. Voss has become family—not through science, but through listening. Through ceremony. Through the patience to understand that not all knowledge is for taking.
*We have much to teach the world about how to live in relationship with country, with each other, with the patterns that connect all things. But we will only teach those who come with respect.” *
The Staircase to the Moon ceremony this year (September 2-4) will include special recognition of the relationship between Yawuru knowledge and contemporary science. All community members are invited to participate.
Patrick Dodson, Chair
Staircase to the Moon 2028
Dates Announced: September 2-4
The Staircase to the Moon—Minyirr in Yawuru language—is one of the most spectacular natural phenomena of the Kimberley region. For three nights each month from March to October, when conditions align, the full moon rises over the exposed tidal flats of Roebuck Bay, creating the illusion of a golden staircase reaching across the water.
2028 Dates:
- September 2 - 6:32 PM (primary viewing)
- September 3 - 7:15 PM (secondary viewing)
- September 4 - 8:02 PM (final viewing)
Best Viewing: Town Beach, Broome
Ceremony: Community gathering begins 5:00 PM each evening
The Meaning of Minyirr
Elder Aunty Ngaire explains:
“The Staircase is not just light on water. It is a connection between worlds—the world above and the world below, the world of the living and the world of the ancestors.
In Yawuru cosmology, the moon represents cyclical time. Not the straight line of Western calendars, but the spiral of returning and becoming. When the Staircase appears, we remember that everything connects. The tides that shape our coast also shape our lives. The moon that pulls the ocean also pulls our blood, our dreams, our consciousness.
This year, we will share this understanding with visitors who come with respect. We will show them that science and Bugarrigarra are not enemies. They are different languages describing the same reality.
*But we will also be clear: some knowledge is not for sale. Some knowledge is not for publication. Some knowledge belongs to the Yawuru and will remain with the Yawuru.” *
Oxford Research: What Happened?
Summary for Community Members
Dr. Maya Voss, a neuroscientist from Oxford University, visited Broome between January and March 2028. Her research concerned “quantum consciousness”—the theory that human awareness may involve quantum mechanical processes.
Why Broome?
Dr. Voss’s mother, Dr. Helena Voss, conducted early research on quantum coherence in photosynthesis (plant energy transfer) in the 1980s. Dr. Maya Voss sought to extend this work to human consciousness. She came to Broome because of reports that Yawuru ceremonial practice seemed to produce measurable effects on group consciousness.
What Did We Do?
The Yawuru Corporation permitted limited use of a private facility at Cable Beach for scientific measurement. Under the strict supervision of Aunty Ngaire and cultural monitors, Dr. Voss’s team conducted experiments measuring brainwave synchrony among ceremony participants.
What Did We Learn?
The results surprised the Western scientists. During Yawuru ceremony, participants showed unprecedented levels of neural synchrony—not just similar brainwaves, but coordinated patterns that suggested something beyond individual consciousness. The scientists called this “quantum coherence in biological neural networks.”
We call it Bugarrigarra. The interconnectedness of all things.
What Happens Now?
The research has concluded. The Yawuru Corporation has retained all data rights. No publications may be released without community approval. Dr. Voss has returned to Oxford, but maintains relationship with Aunty Ngaire and the Yawuru community.
We are exploring how to share appropriate aspects of this knowledge through our own channels, on our own terms.
Cultural Protocols for Visitors
With increased interest in Yawuru knowledge following media reports of the Oxford research, we remind all visitors:
DO:
- Ask permission before entering sacred sites
- Participate in cultural tours led by Yawuru guides
- Respect photography restrictions
- Listen more than you speak
- Accept that some knowledge is not for sharing
DON’T:
- Assume Western science validates Yawuru knowledge
- Attempt to record or film ceremonies without permission
- Treat elders as informants rather than teachers
- Extract knowledge without reciprocity
- Assume money buys access
REMEMBER: Yawuru country is not a laboratory. Our knowledge is not data. Our ceremonies are not experiments.
Those who come with respect will find teachers. Those who come to extract will find closed doors.
Language Corner: Key Terms
Bugarrigarra (boo-gar-ree-gar-rah) The eternal Dreamtime; the timeless reality that underlies all manifestation; the pattern that connects
Minyirr (min-year) The Staircase to the Moon; the connection between worlds
Gala Mabu (gal-a ma-boo) The season of autumn; cooling seas, easterly winds, fish moving into deeper water
Liyan (lee-yan) The inner feeling/sense that guides right action; similar to conscience but embodied and relational
Mabu Liyan (ma-boo lee-yan) Good feeling; wellbeing; right relationship with country and community
Community Notices
Yawuru Corporation Annual General Meeting Date: April 15, 2028 Location: Broome Convention Centre Time: 10:00 AM
Language Classes Yawuru language classes for community members resume April 2. Contact Cultural Office for enrollment.
Country Visits Planning underway for mid-year country visits. Priority for elders and youth programs.
Staircase to the Moon Ceremony Volunteers Community members interested in supporting September ceremony coordination, please contact Aunty Ngaire’s office.
From the Archives
Excerpt from interview with Elder Jimmy Edgar (1994):
“The scientists come. They want to know how we find water in the desert, how we navigate without compass, how we know when the rains will come. We tell them: we listen to country. Country speaks. You have to be quiet enough to hear.
They don’t like this answer. They want coordinates. Algorithms. Something they can put in computers.
But country is not a computer. Country is alive. We are part of country. When you understand this, you don’t need coordinates. You know where you are because you are part of where you are.
Maybe one day the scientists will understand. Or maybe they will keep trying to pull the song apart to see how it works, and wonder why it stops singing.”
Closing Words
Nyamba buru Yawuru.
As we prepare for the coming Staircase to the Moon, we remember that our knowledge is not ancient in the sense of outdated. It is ancient in the sense of eternal—true in ways that transcend the fashions of Western science.
Dr. Voss’s visit reminded us that the world is hungry for what we know. This is both opportunity and risk. We must be wise in what we share, patient in our teaching, and fierce in our protection of what must remain ours.
The pattern continues. The song continues. We continue.
Mabu Liyan.
© 2028 Yawuru Corporation. All rights reserved.
Editor: Cultural Heritage Office Design: Yawuru Media Collective Print: Broome Printing Services
Bugarrigarra is published quarterly by the Yawuru Corporation for the Yawuru community and interested friends. Subscriptions available by request.