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Pipijarli (Calandrinia sp.)

“That’s a [painting of a] flower, a purple one like that. It grows everywhere on the plain, it’s a wild yam, like a mata (bush potato).”

• Lynne Charles

Pipijarli is a species of plant native to Western Australia, commonly found throughout the Pilbara region. The species thrives in arid conditions, and sprawling masses of the bright purple flower span across the vast plains of the western desert. Traditionally, the roots of pipijarli flowers are consumed as a form of bush food similar to kulyu/mata (Bush Potato).

During the pujiman (traditional, desert dwelling) 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. Whilst desert life has moved away from mobile hunter-gatherer subsistence throughout the course of the twentieth century, bush tucker continues to be a significant component of the modern Martu diet. Hunting and gathering bush tucker remain equally valuable as an important cultural practice that is passed on intergenerationally. Though hunting and gathering implements have been modernised, methods of harvesting, tracking and the use of fire burning to drive animals from their retreats are still commonly practiced today.