111581733963

Published by CompNet Systems on

80 Mile Tuwa

The traditional lands of the Martu people encompass the Great Sandy Desert and Rudall River regions of Western Australia, an enormous tract dominated by distinctive red tali, or tuwa (sandhills). These sandhills present an unforgiving landscape; sparse vegetation covers a seemingly never ending expanse of dunes, and yet these lands and the location of resources within them was known intimately by its pujiman (traditional, desert dwelling) inhabitants. At this time, Martu traversed very large distances annually in small family groups, moving from water source to water source through the harsh desert landscape with incredible stamina and resourcefulness. Travel was often undertaken at night, and when travelling during the day, Martu wore yakipiri (woven bark sandals) to protect their feet from the hot desert sand.

Categories: Shire of East Pilbara (Martumili Artists)

Name: Biddy Bunawarrie

Biography:

“Pujiman [bush-dwelling] people they were walking around with nyimparra(hair belts) – old people. They didn’t know nothing about painting. They were walking around with no clothes. I was a kid, a grown kid, I wore a nyimparra and then when we came to the station we made flour bag clothes to wear. We were wearing flour bag clothing on the stations, shorts and little dress and shirts. All the white ones, white bags.”  

Biddy Bunawarrie was born in the bush on Anna Plains cattle station.She recalls walking vast distances of the Western side of the Pilbara between Port Hedland and the desert, an area she refers to as the ‘plains’ (Nyamal Country, around Marble Bar) for most of her young life. Many of the artists residing in this part of the Pilbara recall being transient and moving around with non-Indigenous activist Don McLeod, prior to his establishment of Strelley Station during the 1970s. Biddy talks about following him after people were liberated from stations. “That old man (Don Mcleod) picked you up and cut the rabbit proof fence so we could get out – Don was fighting for black man. The pussycat was a Tjukurrpa and the white people want to kill it but we said you can kill it for nothing. Then it disappeared – no one knows.” Biddy worked as a domestic on Strelley Station and remembers working most of her young adult life before settling in Warralong Community, between Port Hedland and Marble Bar.  

Today Biddy lives in Warralong with her family. Many of the Warralong artists had been on the periphery of the Martu painting movement, but were inspired to try it after watching senior Martu artist May Wokka Chapman, who is also based in the Community. Biddy has developed her own style that depicts the claypans and salt lakes of her ancestral Country. Shepaints spring country near Nimarinya(Salt) clay pans. A jila[snake] lives there under the lakes. Biddy paints the surface of the snake’s [ngurra] Country.

I like painting – I been see my sister painting in Broome. I love to do them and I thought I’d try. So I thought I’d give it a try. We did the painting Hedland and Broome but finished now I just paint in Warralong. Martu mob been learn us for painting. Susie Gilbert is my sister, she is still painting. I love painting! 

Related Posts

Shire of East Pilbara (Martumili Artists)

111582339106

Eighty mile beach/Warru Creek A special place , for fishing to get fish, mud crab, stingray, black tip shark (Djuduwyi), we used to walk from Mandora Station which is 3 and a half km walking Read more…

Shire of East Pilbara (Martumili Artists)

111582339104

Djimungurrgu (Chinaman Grove) All of my paintings, I paint from memory because I don’t have any reference like photos. In my memory I paint the places where I have lived. This place is at the Read more…

Shire of East Pilbara (Martumili Artists)

111582339403

Basket Weaving is a skill that has been practiced by Martu for thousands of years in the making of utilitarian and ceremonial items, such as yakapiri (bark sandals) and manguri (head pads for balancing carved carrying Read more…

© the artist / art centre