September 2021

111981625954

Mimih Spirit

Aboriginal people in the rocky environments of western and south-western Arnhem Land tell of the existence of tall slender spirits which they call Mimih. The name Mimih is well known throughout the top end of the Northern Territory. Aboriginal groups living in the rocky environments of western and southern Arnhem Land share mythology which relates to the beings known as Mimih. These groups include the Kunwok chain of languages, and also Rembarrnga, Dalabon and Djawoyn language groups. Other groups of people with familial and ceremonial links to rock country inhabitants are also familiar with the idea of the Mimih.

In recent years the Mimih has become a topic in the repertoires of some artists among the Kunibídji people, speakers of the Ndjébbana language and the traditional landowners of the Maningrida area. The people of western Arnhem Land believe that Mimih spirits live in a social organisation similar to Aboriginal people and that Mimih society existed before humans. Mimih are credited with instructing the first people with knowledge relating to survival in the rocky environment of the Arnhem Land plateau. Mimih are said to have taught the first humans how to hunt and butcher game and also how to dance, sing and paint. The song and dance style of western Arnhem Land Aboriginal people is still known today as Mimih style. This term is also used by Aboriginal people further to the east in Central Arnhem Land when describing the dance and song of their western neighbours.

Despite the usual descriptions of Mimih as being benign towards humans, sometimes however they are attributed with mischievous and dangerous qualities, capable of kidnapping and even killing humans. ‘Clever’ men, or Aboriginal men with supernatural powers, sometimes befriend the Mimih and are taught their songs and dances and shown their secret places. The Mimih are like people using the same kinship terms and speaking the same language as the local Aboriginal group. They live in families like humans and it is said that some of these Aboriginal men with mystical knowledge have spent time living with them in their camps.

Mimih are however, terribly thin, having necks so slender that a stiff breeze would be fatal. For this reason they emerge only on windless days and nights to hunt. As soon as a breeze develops, the Mimih are said to run back to their rocky caverns and disappear inside.

By , ago

111981625952

Mimih Spirit

Aboriginal people in the rocky environments of western and south-western Arnhem Land tell of the existence of tall slender spirits which they call Mimih. The name Mimih is well known throughout the top end of the Northern Territory. Aboriginal groups living in the rocky environments of western and southern Arnhem Land share mythology which relates to the beings known as Mimih. These groups include the Kunwok chain of languages, and also Rembarrnga, Dalabon and Djawoyn language groups. Other groups of people with familial and ceremonial links to rock country inhabitants are also familiar with the idea of the Mimih.

In recent years the Mimih has become a topic in the repertoires of some artists among the Kunibídji people, speakers of the Ndjébbana language and the traditional landowners of the Maningrida area. The people of western Arnhem Land believe that Mimih spirits live in a social organisation similar to Aboriginal people and that Mimih society existed before humans. Mimih are credited with instructing the first people with knowledge relating to survival in the rocky environment of the Arnhem Land plateau. Mimih are said to have taught the first humans how to hunt and butcher game and also how to dance, sing and paint. The song and dance style of western Arnhem Land Aboriginal people is still known today as Mimih style. This term is also used by Aboriginal people further to the east in Central Arnhem Land when describing the dance and song of their western neighbours.

Despite the usual descriptions of Mimih as being benign towards humans, sometimes however they are attributed with mischievous and dangerous qualities, capable of kidnapping and even killing humans. ‘Clever’ men, or Aboriginal men with supernatural powers, sometimes befriend the Mimih and are taught their songs and dances and shown their secret places. The Mimih are like people using the same kinship terms and speaking the same language as the local Aboriginal group. They live in families like humans and it is said that some of these Aboriginal men with mystical knowledge have spent time living with them in their camps.

Mimih are however, terribly thin, having necks so slender that a stiff breeze would be fatal. For this reason they emerge only on windless days and nights to hunt. As soon as a breeze develops, the Mimih are said to run back to their rocky caverns and disappear inside.

By , ago

111981625951

Mimih Spirit

Aboriginal people in the rocky environments of western and south-western Arnhem Land tell of the existence of tall slender spirits which they call Mimih. The name Mimih is well known throughout the top end of the Northern Territory. Aboriginal groups living in the rocky environments of western and southern Arnhem Land share mythology which relates to the beings known as Mimih. These groups include the Kunwok chain of languages, and also Rembarrnga, Dalabon and Djawoyn language groups. Other groups of people with familial and ceremonial links to rock country inhabitants are also familiar with the idea of the Mimih.

In recent years the Mimih has become a topic in the repertoires of some artists among the Kunibídji people, speakers of the Ndjébbana language and the traditional landowners of the Maningrida area. The people of western Arnhem Land believe that Mimih spirits live in a social organisation similar to Aboriginal people and that Mimih society existed before humans. Mimih are credited with instructing the first people with knowledge relating to survival in the rocky environment of the Arnhem Land plateau. Mimih are said to have taught the first humans how to hunt and butcher game and also how to dance, sing and paint. The song and dance style of western Arnhem Land Aboriginal people is still known today as Mimih style. This term is also used by Aboriginal people further to the east in Central Arnhem Land when describing the dance and song of their western neighbours.

Despite the usual descriptions of Mimih as being benign towards humans, sometimes however they are attributed with mischievous and dangerous qualities, capable of kidnapping and even killing humans. ‘Clever’ men, or Aboriginal men with supernatural powers, sometimes befriend the Mimih and are taught their songs and dances and shown their secret places. The Mimih are like people using the same kinship terms and speaking the same language as the local Aboriginal group. They live in families like humans and it is said that some of these Aboriginal men with mystical knowledge have spent time living with them in their camps.

Mimih are however, terribly thin, having necks so slender that a stiff breeze would be fatal. For this reason they emerge only on windless days and nights to hunt. As soon as a breeze develops, the Mimih are said to run back to their rocky caverns and disappear inside.

By , ago

111981625887

Namurrungkidj ‘fish-stealing spirit’

The Namurrungkidj is an evil natured spirit who goes out at night stealing from fish from rivers and billabongs

By , ago

111981625869

Didjeridu

Arnhem Land and the Top End of the Northern Territory is the traditional home of the didjeridu, a rhythmic wind instrument used by Aboriginal people of the region. Its use spread globally in part because the instrument was adopted by world music enthusiasts, and the profile of the instrument reached new heights through Aboriginal rock bands from Arnhem Land, such as Yothu Yindi. It’s an instrument that is now played around the world, in genres ranging from classical to hip hop.

The didjeridu has come to mean many different things to people who have a reason for playing it around the world. In Maningrida it remains primarily an instrument of song accompaniment used in public ceremony. The manner of playing provides an instant recognition to listeners of both language and regional stylistic affiliation. In the wake of the development of new non-Aboriginal ‘world’ styles of playing the instrument, Arnhem Land styles of playing take on new meaning as markers of the cultural and historical origins of the didjeridu.

All of the language groups of the Maningrida region have their own musical genres and song series in which the didjeridu is used as an instrument of accompaniment. Traditionally, it is primarily a secular instrument used in song genres that are performed for two main types of public ceremony: the music of diplomacy (exchange) ceremonies and of funerals and some mortuary rituals. The didjeridu is generally not used as a solo instrument and nor is it used in the most secret and sacred ceremonies still practiced in the western and central Arnhem Land region.

Aboriginal people living today in the rocky escarpment country of western Arnhem Land say that humans were first shown and taught to play the didjeridu by spirit beings who live among the dark caves and crevices of the stone country. These beings are known as mimih and are said to be tall and slender with necks so fragile they are easily snapped by the gentlest of breezes. Because of this, mimih live inside their own worlds within the rock. Mimih are credited with teaching Aboriginal people of the stone country about the foundations of stone country culture, including how to play the didjeridu. Many of the stone country language groups today describe their song and dance genres as mimih.

Researchers of Arnhem Land rock art have identified depictions of the didjeridu as belonging to the most recent phase of rock art, commencing around 1500 years ago.

Aboriginal names

Maningrida is a highly multilingual community and the linguistic diversity of western Arnhem Land is reflected in the various names used for the didjeridu. Here are the names for the instrument in the languages of the Maningrida region:

  • Ndjébbana (the language of the Kunibídji people) – ngalidjbinja
  • Kunwinjku, Kune, Kuninjku – mako [mago]
  • Rembarrnga – liddung, djalubbu
  • Burarra, Gun-nartpa – ngorla
  • Dangbon, Dalabon – morlo
  • Djinang, Wurlaki – wuyimbarl
  • Nakkara – ngunebobanja
  • Gurrgoni – mudburuja
  • Gundjeihmi (and also Kune) – morle

Process

The didjeridu-maker looks through bushland for a tree of the right species with the right diameter trunk. Most didjeridus in the Maningrida region are made from young trunks of the stringybark tree (Eucalyptus tetradonta) or the Darwin Woollybutt (Eucalyptus miniata).

The trunk needs to have been lived in and hollowed out by termites. To listen for hollowness, a tree with potential is stripped of a small patch of bark and the timber is tapped. The sound produced indicates the quality of the instrument the trunk will become. Having selected a good tree, the artist fells it and cleans out the hollow inside of the trunk, usually by ramming out any termite debris with a stick or pole. He strips all the bark off the outside, and smooths both ends. Traditionally, dark wax resin (cerumen or, in Kunwinjku and Rembarrnga languages, birdi) from native bees is applied to the mouthpiece. This substance sets hard but always becomes soft and pliable under pressure, enabling an airtight seal when playing.

Styles

In the Maningrida region, didjeridus are made to accompany songs in either of two styles: the bunggurl style of the language groups of eastern Arnhem Land (such as Bararra) or the kun-borrk style of language groups in the west of Arnhem Land (including Kunwinjku). People of central and south-western Arnhem Land whose country borders east and west (Rembarrnga and Kune), perform both styles.

Didjeridus of the region range in length from just under one metre to two metres. A less flared and longer didjeridu (1.5–2m) makes it easier to produce the characteristic hooted overblown tone that is used in bunggurl-style music. Longer didjeridus have a deeper tone than shorter didjeridus, and more resonance. To play them, you vibrate your lips at a lower frequency than you need to for a shorter didjeridu.

The decoration applied to the instrument can indicate its intended use. Rembarrnga artist Bob Burruwal often uses a design called bedjekbedjek. This is the same design used in body painting for the public diplomacy ceremonies of the Rembarrnga (and many other kun-borrk dance performances). Burruwal slaps wet white ochre over the surface of the instrument with his hands or with a bunch of leaves dipped in the ochre.

 

By , ago

111581626627

Kunawarritji (Canning Stock Route Well 33)

Kunawarritji is an important site in the Great Sandy Desert where multiple stories and histories intersect. Originally a spring water and major Martu pujiman (traditional, desert dwelling) camping site, at the turn of the 20th century Kunawarritji was converted into a well along the Canning Stock Route. Each year throughout the 1930-50s, the well became a site of contact between the drovers, their cattle, and desert families. 

Long before colonial history entered this Country, however, other stories dominated the site. Primarily, Kunawarritji features in the Minyipuru (Jakulyukulyu, Seven Sisters) Jukurrpa (Dreaming). Minyipuru is a central Jukurrpa narrative for Martu, Ngaanyatjarra, Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara people that is associated with the seasonal Pleiades star constellation. Beginning in Roebourne on the west coast of Western Australia, the story morphs in its movement eastward across the land, following a group of women as they walk, dance, and even fly from waterhole to waterhole. As they travelled the women left markers in the landscape and create landforms that remain to this day. During the entirety of their journey the women are pursued by a lustful old man, Yurla, although interactions with other animals, groups of men, and spirit beings are also chronicled in the narrative.

The Minyipuru travelled to Kunawarritji from Nyipily (Nyipil, Nibil, Canning Stock Route Well 34), and transformed themselves into a distinctive group of trees that remain in the area between these two sites. From Kunawarritji Yurla followed the sisters to Pangkapirni, where he finally caught one of the women. 

Today, Kunawarritji is a site of return, a place where people came back to continue their life in the desert with the formation of Kunawarritji Aboriginal community in the early 1980s. The community’s cultural significance endures, with the population swelling up to 1000 during cultural business.

By , ago

111581626623

Untitled

“When Martu paint, it’s like a map. Martu draw story on the ground and on the canvas, and all the circle and line there are the hunting areas and different waters and tracks where people used to walk, and [some you] can’t cross, like boundaries. So nowadays you see a colourful painting and wonder what it is, but that’s how Martu tell story long ago. It’s not just a lovely painting, it’s a story and a songline and a history and everything that goes with it.” 

– Ngalangka Nola Taylor and Joshua Booth

This work portrays an area of Country that can be interpreted in multiple ways. Firstly, the image may be read as an aerial representation of a particular location known to the artist- either land that they or their family travelled, from the pujiman (traditional, desert dwelling) era to now. During the pujiman 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. At this time, one’s survival depended on their intimate knowledge of the location of resources; thus physical elements of Country, such as sources of kapi (water), tali (sandhills), different varieties of warta (trees, vegetation), ngarrini (camps), and jina (tracks) are typically recorded with the use of a use of a system of iconographic forms universally shared across the desert. 

An additional layer of meaning in the work relates to more intangible concepts; life cycles based around kalyu (rain, water) and waru (fire) are also often evident. A thousands of year old practice, fire burning continues to be carried out as both an aid for hunting and a means of land management today. As the Martu travelled and hunted they would burn tracts of land, ensuring plant and animal biodiversity and reducing the risk of unmanageable, spontaneous bush fires. The patchwork nature of regrowth is evident in many landscape works, with each of the five distinctive phases of fire burning visually described with respect to the cycle of burning and regrowth.  

Finally, metaphysical information relating to a location may also be recorded; jukurrpa (dreaming) narratives chronicle the creation of physical landmarks, and can be referenced through depictions of ceremonial sites, songlines, and markers left in the land. Very often, however, information relating to jukurrpa is censored by omission, or alternatively painted over with dotted patterns.

By , ago

111581626592

Juntu Juntu (Well 30)

This painting portrays physical elements of Martu Country, such as the dominant tali (sandhills), warta (trees, vegetation), and water sources. Rock holes, waterholes, soaks and springs were all extremely important sites for Martu people during the pujiman (nomadic bush) era, with many important jukurrpa (dreamtime stories) chronicling the creation of these landmarks. In the past the Martu lived nomadically, moving from water source to water source, and hunting and gathering bush tucker as they went. They would traverse very large distances annually, visiting specific areas in the dry and wet season depending on the availability of water. As they travelled and hunted they would also burn areas of country creating a larger diversity of plant and animal life.

By , ago

111581626586

Jalura (clouds)

“All the flowers, little rockholes, all the flowers are nice colours, some good bush tucker too, also here is the jirntu (sun) going down and stars coming up.”

– Helen Dale Samson

This painting depicts the different colours of the sky above Lake Disappointment near Puntawarri. It shows all of the jalura (clouds) and the sky at sunset. 

This painting portrays physical elements of Martu Country, such as the dominant tali (sandhills), warta (trees, vegetation), and water sources. Rock holes, waterholes, soaks and springs were all extremely important sites for Martu people during the pujiman (nomadic bush) era, with many important jukurrpa (dreamtime stories) chronicling the creation of these landmarks. In the past the Martu lived nomadically, moving from water source to water source, and hunting and gathering bush tucker as they went. They would traverse very large distances annually, visiting specific areas in the dry and wet season depending on the availability of water. As they travelled and hunted they would also burn areas of country creating a larger diversity of plant and animal life.

By , ago

111581626553

Untitled

“When Martu paint, it’s like a map. Martu draw story on the ground and on the canvas, and all the circle and line there are the hunting areas and different waters and tracks where people used to walk, and [some you] can’t cross, like boundaries. So nowadays you see a colourful painting and wonder what it is, but that’s how Martu tell story long ago. It’s not just a lovely painting, it’s a story and a songline and a history and everything that goes with it.” 

– Ngalangka Nola Taylor and Joshua Booth

This work portrays an area of Country that can be interpreted in multiple ways. Firstly, the image may be read as an aerial representation of a particular location known to the artist- either land that they or their family travelled, from the pujiman (traditional, desert dwelling) era to now. During the pujiman 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. At this time, one’s survival depended on their intimate knowledge of the location of resources; thus physical elements of Country, such as sources of kapi (water), tali (sandhills), different varieties of warta (trees, vegetation), ngarrini (camps), and jina (tracks) are typically recorded with the use of a use of a system of iconographic forms universally shared across the desert. 

An additional layer of meaning in the work relates to more intangible concepts; life cycles based around kalyu (rain, water) and waru (fire) are also often evident. A thousands of year old practice, fire burning continues to be carried out as both an aid for hunting and a means of land management today. As the Martu travelled and hunted they would burn tracts of land, ensuring plant and animal biodiversity and reducing the risk of unmanageable, spontaneous bush fires. The patchwork nature of regrowth is evident in many landscape works, with each of the five distinctive phases of fire burning visually described with respect to the cycle of burning and regrowth.  

Finally, metaphysical information relating to a location may also be recorded; jukurrpa (dreaming) narratives chronicle the creation of physical landmarks, and can be referenced through depictions of ceremonial sites, songlines, and markers left in the land. Very often, however, information relating to jukurrpa is censored by omission, or alternatively painted over with dotted patterns.

By , ago