---

---

Nakidjkidj a vicious spirit

This is a painting of a harmful and nasty spirit called Nakidjkidj who inhabits a place called Kaburrmiyo near Devil Hill. Nakidjkidj is a mythological spirit from the Dreamtime who has powers over the site at Kaburrmiyo.
The Kardbam clan, of which the artist is a member, believe that if a person is on a hunting trip and sees an animal such as the karndakidj ‘male antilopine wallaroo’ [Macropus antilopinus] pictured on the left, lying still but not dead, then one must not touch it, because Nakidjkidj may be standing nearby and will point a spear at the person. If this happens a person will become sick and go blind.
Nakidjkidj lives in the bush and spears kangaroos, and the artist has depicted this in the painting with two stylised spears crossing diagonally through the karndakidj. The spear running from top right to bottom left is a yorndidj ‘stone tipped spear’ and top left to bottom right is a djalaban ‘three pronged spear’, the tip of which is usually made of iron wood.
Nakidjkidj can kill humans if disturbed. Normally he smells people coming and runs away or he can ascend up into the clouds. He can also change his form into that of a kangaroo.
Other significant elements in the painting are the dadken ‘stone axe’, top right, and borndok ‘woomera’, bottom right.
Text by Adam Saulwic