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Wantili

“My ngurra (home Country), Wantili area. [Points to linear forms] Sandhill, sandhill, sandhill everywhere. Claypan there, in the middle. Good place for swimming and drinking, for hunting little kangaroo. When no water [we would] go to Well, when there rain we stay there at Wantili. Everywhere, we been walking everywhere.

Near to Wantili [there’s a] road going Kayili (North). Long time [ago] only horses and cattle [travelled along that road], going Meekatharra and back in the cold time, gone right up to Jijai Bore. Half way, when he see water at Wantili, that mob would camp one night, bullock eating all the grass and mens drinking water. One Martu been working with that mob, droving bullock. Every time he been give us meat, all the pujiman (nomadic bush dwellers).”

Wantili is dominated by claypans surrounded by tuwa (sandhills). Following rain the claypans are filled with water, with the overflow from nearby waterholes flowing to Wantili. At that time, Wantili becomes an important place for obtaining fresh water for drinking and bathing. Wantili is significant for the fact that at this site Kartujarra, Manyjilyjarra, Putujarra and Warnman people would all come together for ceremonies. Many jiwa (stones used by women for grinding seeds) from these times can still be found there today.

Wantili is an incredibly important cultural site, ‘‘where the creation started.’ The jukurrpa related to the creation at Wantili are just for Martu, but the site is open and anyone can go there. Wantili is one of the many sites featured in the epic Minyipuru (Seven Sisters) jukurrpa (dreamtime) narrative. The story follows the movement of seven sisters travelling all the way across the desert, beginning at Roebourne on the coast of Western Australia, as they are pursued by a lustful old man, Yurla. As the women travel they stop to rest at many sites to eat, dance, rest and sing, on the way leaving behind an assortment of articles that become formations in the land. The Seven Sisters rested at Wantili before throwing seeds, then continuing their journey on to Tiwa, Juntujuntu, and then onward to Pangkapini, where they finally escaped Yurla by flying into the sky to become the Pleaides constellation of stars.

Categories: Shire of East Pilbara (Martumili Artists)

Name: Ngamaru Bidu

Language: Manyjilyjarra

Community: Parnngurr

Biography:

“I been born [around] Karanyal and Martilirri (Canning Stock Route Well 22) in the parna (ground, earth), only claypan. My jamu (grandfather) [was also] Jakayu [Biljabu's] father, my father's daddy. My mummy born long way, near to Wikirri (Midway Well) area. My father born Pitu (Separation Well). I’m biggest one [I was the eldest of five siblings]; me, Neil, Ivy, Gladys, then Caroline. My sister Gladys been born Wantili, Ivy born Georgia Bore (Pitarny), Caroline been born in Jigalong [Mission]. We walked around together [as we were] growing up.”

[As a child, Ngamaru walked around with her family, living a pujiman (traditional, desert dwelling) lifestyle. In 1963 Ngamaru saw a whitefella for the first time near Wiirnukurrujunu rockhole; surveyor Len Beadell grading a road across the desert as part of a military weapons testing program. Shortly after this meeting Ngamaru, along with the other 28 Martu she had been travelling with, was tracked and pursued up by the Native Welfare Department. The group was eventually persuaded to move to Jigalong mission to join their relatives that had already moved in from the desert.] 

“They been chase us, long way - me, Ivy, and Kuru [Gladys] ran away with Mitchell and Teddy Biljabu. Kumpaya, Bugai and my mother ran away quick too. Landrover he been pick us up for Parngurr, all the lot, [driving on the] track for Jigalong. Family all coming in. I been come for first time [it was my first time in a vehicle]. I was naked one, put a blanket for kurnta (shame). I been living there in Jigalong with my mummy and family. I been working in the dining hall, making bread for kid. I been meet my nyupa (spouse), Mr Booth, and had a son, Ned Booth.” 

 - Ngamaru Bidu

 

Ngamaru was born at Martilirri (Well 22 on the Canning Stock Route), the eldest of four siblings. Her mother came from the area around Wikirri and her father from Pitu. As a child Ngamaru lived a pujiman lifestyle, and walked around with her family, moving from water source to water source dependent on the seasonal rain cycles. They often travelled with their extended relatives, Bugai Whyoulter and Jakayu Biljabu’s families. 

When Ngamaru was a teenager, her family and their travelling companions were tracked by Native Patrol Officers and staff from the Jigalong Mission. The group was persuaded to move to Jigalong Mission, where they rejoined the many family members that had already moved in from the desert. At the mission, Ngamaru’s sister and some of the Biljabu family were sent to school, but Ngamaru went to work making bread. 

From Jigalong Ngamaru moved to Strelley Community, where she met her husband, Joshua Booth. Together with their children they later moved to Warralong and then Punmu Aboriginal Communities before settling in Parnngurr Aboriginal community (Cotton Creek), where Ngamaru continues to live today. 

Ngamaru has painted with Martumili since its inception in 2006. She has frequently painted with senior artists and relatives Mitutu Mabel Wakarta (dec.) and Kumpaya Girgaba. Ngamaru is known for the beautifully complex compositional structures and intricate patterning in her work, through which she very often explores the practice of fire burning in her Country and its related Martu cyclical seasonal changes. Ngamaru’s work has been exhibited in galleries internationally and throughout Australia, and acquired by the National Museum of Australia. She was selected in 2019 for the prestigious John Stringer Art Prize exhibition.

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