May 2022

Wayuk

‘I always follow the footpath of my grandmother. I have too many stories of my grandmother. We went to the bush and ate bushtucker like yam, yabbie, barra, catfish and magpie goose. We didn’t come into town often, we were staying at Barrihdjowkkeng outstation. I learned how the old people used to live. I always think about my family out there and I keep going. My grandmother asked me to work with her for many years. I watched her making lino and screen printing. That’s why I stay in this job and I’m for the women’s centre’.  Roseanna Bonson 2021

Roseanna’s first design is a 2 colour waterlily design. Wayuk (waterlily) *kuninjki grow in the swamps around Barrihdjowkkeng.

‘The flowers of the waterlily are white and yellow and I like that kind of colour.’ Roseanna Bonson 2021

Gunga (Pandanus)

Sea Shells and Dilly Bags

‘Sometimes when we go down to the beach in Maningrida we pick all these shells up. Some family make necklaces and earrings. In the olden days they used to collect shells and put them in the dilly bags. The old people used to carry dilly bags when they went hunting. They used the dilly bag for bush food. My design shows mud muscle and long bum and cockles.’ Belinda Kernan 2022

Belinda’s mother is from Eastern Arrernte country near Alice Springs, the community of Ltyentye Apurte (Santa Teresa), and her father’s country is Maningrida. Belinda speaks languages from both sides of her family, as well as various languages belonging to Central Arnhem Land. She lives in Maningrida and prints lino at the women centre. Belinda is also a strong leader for young people in her community.

Wubbunj (Paperbark Canoe)

“Wubbunj is our traditional canoe. This design is the old history story of how people came to live in this place we call Maningrida. Two old people were staying on the other side of the saltwater, in Narlarrambarr area. The old people slept in a paper bark shelter and hunted on the water using their canoe.

A long time ago our people carved these canoes from the big paperbark trees. They had paddles with one person at the front, one at back, and other kids and passengers in the middle. Kunkot (paper bark) was used to make the sails which they would stand up and catch the wind.

One day these old people saw a new boat in their waters, which belonged to the Makassans (Indonesians). Those two old men saw the big Makassan boat coming in, and decided to paddle their canoe from Narlarrambarr to the other side (modern day Maningrida). We were scared of the Makassans, they gave us tobacco and tea, but they took many of our women.

When those two old people tasted that water at Maningrida from the Djomi spring, it was sweet freshwater and they decided to stay here. People here had no clothes in those time, we were just wearing string morkoi (loin cloths). Seven tribes were here then, but now in Maningrida there are lots more languages.” – Raylene Bonson

Mankotbe (Bush Onion)

Mankotbe (bush onion) grows under the ground, we follow the vine to dig it up. It is brown on the outside and white inside and we cook it on the fire, just like a potato. All the old people used to eat Mankotbe on my homeland. My grandmother showed me how to find that plant and the first time I ate so much my mouth got sore! You can’t be too greedy.

This design brings back good memories for me. I used to eat Mankotbe when I was young and living at my homeland Buluhkaduru. In those old times, my house was made of paper bark and sticks. If we wanted to come into town we had to walk, and it’s a long walk, so we would fill our dilly bags with sugar bag honey, Mankotbe and long yams to eat on the way. They were good times for me.

You can find Mankotbe any time of the year- the plant has big black leaves. When you find one onion, you know there is big mob around- they are always connected by a big long vine underground

Wubbunj (Paperbark Canoe)

“Wubbunj is our traditional canoe. This design is the old history story of how people came to live in this place we call Maningrida. Two old people were staying on the other side of the saltwater, in Narlarrambarr area. The old people slept in a paper bark shelter and hunted on the water using their canoe.

A long time ago our people carved these canoes from the big paperbark trees. They had paddles with one person at the front, one at back, and other kids and passengers in the middle. Kunkot (paper bark) was used to make the sails which they would stand up and catch the wind.

One day these old people saw a new boat in their waters, which belonged to the Makassans (Indonesians). Those two old men saw the big Makassan boat coming in, and decided to paddle their canoe from Narlarrambarr to the other side (modern day Maningrida). We were scared of the Makassans, they gave us tobacco and tea, but they took many of our women.

When those two old people tasted that water at Maningrida from the Djomi spring, it was sweet freshwater and they decided to stay here. People here had no clothes in those time, we were just wearing string morkoi (loin cloths). Seven tribes were here then, but now in Maningrida there are lots more languages.” – Raylene Bonson

Wak Wak – Deborah Wurrkidj

Wak Wak (Black Crow Dreaming) by Deborah Wurrkidj depicts a sacred site at ‘Kurrurldul’, an outstation south of Maningrida.

The ‘rarrk’, or abstract crosshatching, on this work represents the design for the crow totem ancestor called ‘Djimarr’. Today this being exists in the form of a rock, which is permanently submerged at the bottom of Kurrurldul Creek. The ‘Djimarr’ rock in the stream at Kurrurldul is said to move around and call out in a soft hooting tone at night. Both the stone itself and the area around it are considered sacred.

The imagery represents the rock mentioned above at the bottom of Kurrurldul creek, which is the final transmutation of the dreaming ancestor ‘Djimarr’. Finally, the pattern used here is also the crow design used in the sacred ‘Mardayin’ ceremony, which is a large regional patri-moiety ceremony now rarely conducted in central and eastern Arnhem Land.

Bawaliba and Ngalyod (Rainbow Serpent)

‘My Kikka (mother), when she was alive, she would tell me these stories. I was just a  little girl and she would tell us the stories in her language Gurrgoni.

In the camps there were boy and girl Bawaliba, and old Bawaliba too. They loved to  dance by the firelight, keeping rhythm with a stick. They had lots of hair, they were  really tall and skinny, with spots on their bodies. The Bawaliba lived a long time in  peace. They were the only spirits on their country and so they were never disturbed.

One day, a long time ago, the Bawaliba were out hunting and they saw a large  snake- they didn’t know then but she was the Rainbow Serpent. They were really  scared, they had never seen that. creature before. She was really beautiful- like a  normal king brown snake but with a rainbow from the sky on her back. The rainbow  serpent was really hungry, and she could smell the Bawaliba from a long way away.  She was out looking for food.  The Bawaliba tried to stop Ngalyod coming for them but she was just too quick. She  snuck up behind the Bawaliba and before they could get away she ate them up.  When she was really full and couldn’t eat anymore Bawaliba she changed the rest of  them into stone. Still til this day, the Bawaliba stay on that same country as stones.’ Lucy Yarawanga

Gungura – Janet Marawarr

Janet Marawarr has depicted kunkurra, the spiralling wind associated with several sites in the Kardbam clan. On one level, this design can be interpreted as a depiction of the kinds of mini-cyclones common during the wet season in Arnhem Land, where the artist lives. Kunkurra also relates specifically to a site called Bilwoyinj, near Mankorlod, on the artist’s clan estate.

At this site, two of the most important Kuninjku creation beings, a father and son known as na-korrkko, are believed to have hunted and eaten a goanna. They left some of the goanna fat behind at the site, which turned into the rock that still stands there today. The word Bilwoyinj, which is the name of this site, also refers to the fat of the goanna. Bilwoyinj site is also a ceremonial ground for a ceremony called Yabbaduruwa, a major ceremony owned by the Yirridja patrimoiety. The Yabbaduruwa ceremony is primarily concerned with initiation, land ownership and promoting the cyclical regeneration of the human and natural worlds.

Gungura – Janet Marawarr

Janet Marawarr has depicted kunkurra, the spiralling wind associated with several sites in the Kardbam clan. On one level, this design can be interpreted as a depiction of the kinds of mini-cyclones common during the wet season in Arnhem Land, where the artist lives. Kunkurra also relates specifically to a site called Bilwoyinj, near Mankorlod, on the artist’s clan estate.

At this site, two of the most important Kuninjku creation beings, a father and son known as na-korrkko, are believed to have hunted and eaten a goanna. They left some of the goanna fat behind at the site, which turned into the rock that still stands there today. The word Bilwoyinj, which is the name of this site, also refers to the fat of the goanna. Bilwoyinj site is also a ceremonial ground for a ceremony called Yabbaduruwa, a major ceremony owned by the Yirridja patrimoiety. The Yabbaduruwa ceremony is primarily concerned with initiation, land ownership and promoting the cyclical regeneration of the human and natural worlds.