lien | State Library of Queensland “Word of the Week” Week Fourteen

As part of State Library’s commitment to the 2019 International Year of Indigenous Languages, we will be promoting a ‘word of the week’ from one of the 125+ Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages and dialects from across Queensland.
This week’s word is woodoobra [pronounced woon-doo-bra], from the Yirandali language of North-West Queensland, particularly the region around Hughenden – it means ‘lotus flower’ and is believed to refer to the Blue Water Lily. The different species of water lilies were a source of food for many Aboriginal groups, as the stalks were chewed and seeds were edible.