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Yirrajarra

“Yirrajarra, it’s a yinta (permanent spring) in Warman Country. That’s my camp, that’s my place, that’s my Country. Home there,”

–  Mitutu Mabel Wakarta (dec.)

Yirrajarra comprises of two soaks situated near Lake Auld, and north of Tiwa (Canning Stock Route Well 26). As the site of a continuous source of good fresh water, surrounded by plentiful puri (shade), Yirrajarra was an important semi-permanent camping ground during the pujiman (traditional, desert dwelling) era. 

Yirrajarra is Mabel Mitutu’s birthplace, and as such an integral part of her ngurra (home Country, camp). Having walked all of this country with her family in her youth, Mabel Mitutu here depicts her knowledge of the region and its features in detail. Physical characteristics of the land and the location of its resources are portrayed alongside the Jukurrpa (Dreaming) narratives associated with this area.

During the pujiman period, Martu would traverse very large distances annually in small family groups, moving seasonally from water source to water source, and hunting and gathering bush tucker as they went. At this time knowledge of water sources was critical for survival, and today Martu Country is still defined in terms of the location and type of water. Each of the hundreds of claypans, rockholes, waterholes, soaks and springs found in the Martu desert homelands is known by name, location, quality and seasonal availability through real life experience and the recounting of Jukurrpa (dreaming) narratives.

Categories: Shire of East Pilbara (Martumili Artists)

Name: Mabel Mitutu Wakarta

Language: Warnman

Community: Parnngurr

Biography:

Mitutu was a Warnman woman born in the 1920s at Yirrajarra soak, located close to Lake Auld and just north of Tiwa (Canning Stock Route Well 26). Her Country encompassed the Karlamily (Rudall River) region and surrounding water sources from Tarl to Nyajarra and Juntu-juntu. Mitutu lived a pujiman (desert dwelling) lifestyle until, following a severe and prolonged drought, her parents, her brother and her sister all passed away in close succession. Mitutu, her husband and extended family then decided to begin the long journey on foot to Jigalong Mission, where many other desert families had already relocated. They walked for over 200 kilometres through the Karlamilyi (Rudall River) and Talawana areas to arrive at the mission.

Mitutu was an adult when she arrived at Jigalong and went to work cooking, washing and cleaning houses. After leaving Jigalong she worked for many years on Roy Hill, Ethel Creek and Bonney Downs Stations, as well as several stations to the south of Martu Country. 

Mitutu was one of Martumili’s most senior and pioneering artists for many years, and embraced painting as a means of transferring cultural knowledge to younger Martu generations. A prolific artist, she developed a uniquely bold geometrical style, tending toward palettes of highly contrasting colours to portray her ngurra (home Country, camp) and its associated Jukurrpa (Dreaming) narratives. When Mitutu first started painting she was living in Irrungadji Aboriginal community, adjacent to Nullagine, with fellow Martumili Artists Jatarr Lily Long and Wurta Amy French. Later Mitutu moved to Parnngurr Aboriginal community to be closer to her family and home Country, where she remained until her passing in 2019.

 

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