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Namarnde – Spirit with one leg
Gideon Djorlom paints a profane spirit called Namarnde in Kuninjku language. This spirit is born with one and a half legs and lives in a cave underground, at a place called Mukolin in Born clan country.
Namarnde appears here as a man but he can transform himself into a palm tree, as which he stays during the day. At night he transforms into a human being and goes out into the country to hunt. With all his implements such as spear, dilly bag and fires stick and sometimes walking stick he wanders around and hunts. He sometimes catches barramundi and sits down to cook and eat it.
The artist has told only one part of the story concerning Namarnde, other parts are either of secret nature or shared with members of other clans, which the artist can explain.
Text by Christiane Kelle