Big Country Puppets - Jilji the SKINK in Kadjina with with Ngurrara Rangers October 2025

Following a 2024 cancellation, Big Country Puppets finally rescheduled a second collaboration with Ngurrara Rangers to re-tell the story of Jilji the Skink, originally developed in 2022 with the rangers, Walmajarri elders and Yakanarra Community School. Artists Bernadette Trench-Thiedeman, Jacob Gregory and Jerilee Jeffery traveled to Wulungarra Community School, working first with school staff to prepare them for the project.

Rangers presented a fire management workshop to the school as a foundation for the story. Afterwards the ranger/artist team taught students Jilji’s story, an important lesson about right-way/wrong-way burning. Hip hop artist, Jacob Gregory (aka Lyrical Instinct), taught the students a related rap. The adult-sized Jilji puppet came out of storage for the show, alongside new props and puppets made by students, artists and rangers. The show was a great success for the tiny community, with elders suggesting that future performances take place in other nearby communities.