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Pinarti Seeds

[The] old people used to collect [the seeds] to attach to their hair and keep the fly out… they glue it in and wax it up with spinifex [resin]. They thread it up using their hair and make it into necklace.  – Nola Taylor

They’re seeds you find in the tree, you know. Red, orange, mixed colours yeah, yellow and brown. I seen her (Nola) collect it (Pinarti seeds) there, she collects it in her basket. – Jenny Butt


Martu country is home to incredibly diverse flora. Many of these plants are significant food sources, important bush medicine or celebrated for their aesthetic splendour.
The Pinarti tree or Erythrina vespertilio is one such example of this. The tree can be found along watercourses, and during the summer it produces Pinarti seeds. These seeds are often collected by Martu women who use them as beads for necklaces. As the seeds are vibrant red, orange and yellow they make for a colourful adornment.
The seeds also have a practical application as fly deterrents. By attaching them to their hair with spinifex resin, Martu are able to ustilise the weight and movement of the seeds to keep flies away from their face. This artwork celebrates the vibrancy of the Pinarti seeds and recognises the important role they play in Martu culture.  

Categories: Shire of East Pilbara (Martumili Artists)

Name: Jenny Butt

Biography:

“Growing up in Bidgy (Bidyadanga Community) with old people that came from the desert. We lived in old camp, that’s the area which now they call Udilla street in Bidgy, with my dad and my aunties. They never speak English or couldn’t understand any English. But they taught me a lot of bush life and told me a lot of stories about themselves and also they took good care of me. We lived in a tin shed.

I started doing painting in Bidgy at tafe with Jacqui (a lady who ran course work and sells creative wears for the community). I started painting pattern about the colour of the ocean and the sand and the land, growing up near the beach.”

- Jenny Butt

Jenny grew up with family in Bidyadanga, a community located on the Kimberley coast in Western Australia, where the Great Sandy Desert meets the sea. The word Bidyadanga is derived from pijarta/ bidyada (emu watering hole).

Jenny went to school in Darwin at St Johns College, then returned to live in Bidyadanga. She enjoys traveling to see family, regularly travelling to Parnngurr Aboriginal community (Cotton Creek), located within the Martu homelands, and 370km east of Newman. Here she visits her grandmother's side of the family; brothers and sisters living in Parnngurr. 

 

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