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In this painting, Evonne has painted her Mari (mothers, mother) dreaming of Buliya (catfish). This is a freshwater story from Ganalbingu country in the Arafura Wetlands. Evonne’s Mari taught Evonne’s mother, Joy Burruna, to paint at an early age. Joy passed on her knowledge and taught Evonne to paint at an early age, keeping alive Yolngu traditions for many generations.
Yawkyawk is a word in the Kunwinjku/Kunwok language of Western Arnhem Land meaning ‘young woman’ and ‘young woman spirit being’. The different groups of Kunwinjku people (one of the Eastern dialect groups call themselves Kuninjku) each have Yawkyawk mythologies, which relate to specific locations in clan estates. These mythologies are represented in bark paintings and sculptures of Yawkyawk beings. There are also a few examples of rock art images of these beings.
The female water spirits Yawkyawk or Ngalkunburriyaymi are perhaps the most enigmatic of mythological themes. Sometimes compared to the European notion of mermaids, they exist as spiritual beings living in freshwater streams and rock pools, particularly those in the stone country. The spirit Yawkyawk is usually described and depicted with the tail of a fish. Thus the Kuninjku people sometimes call them ngalberddjenj which literally means ‘the young woman who has a tail like a fish’. They have long hair, which is associated with trailing blooms of green algae (called man-bak in Kuninjku). At times they leave their aquatic homes to walk about on dry land, particularly at night.
Aboriginal people believe that in the beginning most animals were humans. During the time of the creation of landscapes and plants and animals, these ancestral heroes in human form transmutated into their animal forms via a series of various significant events now recorded as oral mythologies. The creation ancestor Yawkyawk travelled the country in human form and changed into the form of Ngalkunburriyaymi as a result of various ancestral adventures. Today the Kuninjku believe that Ngalkunburriyaymi are alive and well and living in freshwater sites in a number of sacred locations.
Some features of a respective country are equated with body parts of Yawkyawk. For example a bend in a river or creek may be said to be ‘the tail of the Yawkyawk, a billabong may be ‘the head of the Yawkyawk and so on. Thus different groups can be linked together by means of a shared mythology featured in the landscape, which crosscuts clan and language group boundaries.
Burlupurr, or dilly bag, is a large woven collecting basket. These large bags are often made from the vine ‘Malasia scandens’, a strong pliable plant which grows along the floor and into the canopy of monsoon vine thickets. The bags are used to collect any kind of large numbers of heavy foods such as fish caught in conical fish traps or large collections of yams.
They can also be made from Pandanus spiralis, a plant which grows in many areas of Arnhem Land. These dilly bags are a tightly woven collecting basket, very finely made. These dilly bags are often used to collect sugarbag, the native honey
As well as being of practical use, dilly bags are also of religious significance to Arnhem Land people. Dilly bags are said to be totemic objects and associated with particular sites in the landscape.
Burlupurr, or dilly bag, is a large woven collecting basket. These large bags are often made from the vine ‘Malasia scandens’, a strong pliable plant which grows along the floor and into the canopy of monsoon vine thickets. The bags are used to collect any kind of large numbers of heavy foods such as fish caught in conical fish traps or large collections of yams.
They can also be made from Pandanus spiralis, a plant which grows in many areas of Arnhem Land. These dilly bags are a tightly woven collecting basket, very finely made. These dilly bags are often used to collect sugarbag, the native honey
As well as being of practical use, dilly bags are also of religious significance to Arnhem Land people. Dilly bags are said to be totemic objects and associated with particular sites in the landscape.
Burlupurr, or dilly bag, is a large woven collecting basket. These large bags are often made from the vine ‘Malasia scandens’, a strong pliable plant which grows along the floor and into the canopy of monsoon vine thickets. The bags are used to collect any kind of large numbers of heavy foods such as fish caught in conical fish traps or large collections of yams.
They can also be made from Pandanus spiralis, a plant which grows in many areas of Arnhem Land. These dilly bags are a tightly woven collecting basket, very finely made. These dilly bags are often used to collect sugarbag, the native honey
As well as being of practical use, dilly bags are also of religious significance to Arnhem Land people. Dilly bags are said to be totemic objects and associated with particular sites in the landscape.
Burlupurr, or dilly bag, is a large woven collecting basket. These large bags are often made from the vine ‘Malasia scandens’, a strong pliable plant which grows along the floor and into the canopy of monsoon vine thickets. The bags are used to collect any kind of large numbers of heavy foods such as fish caught in conical fish traps or large collections of yams.
They can also be made from Pandanus spiralis, a plant which grows in many areas of Arnhem Land. These dilly bags are a tightly woven collecting basket, very finely made. These dilly bags are often used to collect sugarbag, the native honey
As well as being of practical use, dilly bags are also of religious significance to Arnhem Land people. Dilly bags are said to be totemic objects and associated with particular sites in the landscape.
The Yolngu people of Arnhem Land originate from a spiritual source, fixed in a particular place in their land or the sea. These ‘Spiritual Reservoirs’ are often in the form of special waterholes made by Wangarr (Creative Beings) long ago close to the beginning of time.
The creator beings moved across the country side, shaping the land and implanting in each tract of country, the spiritual life force for the people who were to own it. These Creative Spirits took many forms. When they gave the land to each group they also gave songs, dances, ceremony, the associated laws and language. The Creation story for Ganalbingu people took place near the middle section of the Glyde River where it becomes the Goyder River. Their land, Ngaliyindi, sits astride the Arafura Swamp in Central Arnhem Land.
In this painting, the artist has depicted Gumang (magpie geese), which are sacred to the Ganalbingu people. To the east of the Arafura Swamp is a freshwater billabong which is said to have been made by the Goose Spirit and is in the shape of a goose nest. As a result, geese, their eggs and their nests are sacred.
This painting depicts Lurrpu (Sulphur-crested cockatoo) and Marrngu (possum) in a Mayku Tree (Paper Bark Tree) and is a song line for the Gupapuyngu people. In the song line the Lurrpu feed on nuts and seeds of the Mayku Tree across the vast landscapes of Arnhem Land.
It also features guwak (cuckoo koel) which is a very sacred bird. When there is a funeral, this clan family wait until the early hours of the morning and when they hear the bid sing, they know the bird has taken the spirit.
The artist, Janet Marawarr calls this design Kunred Kunkurra in her language, Kuninjku. Kunred means country, kunkurra refers the spiralling wind associated with the mini cyclones that occur around several sites in the Kardbam clan during the build up to the wet season. Marawarr often shares different versions of Kunkurra in her Lino print and Screen Print designs, the story or djang (dreaming) can be heard across the Kardbam clan groups Eastern Kunwinjku and Kuninjku people of the Yirridja moiety. This particular artwork describes the underground lightening that occurs during Kunkurra, in the build up to a storm in Mankorlod, Marawarr’s clan estate in West Arnhem Land.
‘The round shapes in the design mean flashing lightening. The lines beside those shapes are foot tracks, human foot tracks. When the rain falls it makes mud and underground lightening. When the sky is really red and black, we see the build up to a storm and we call that Kakodjngolbalabalahmen. That means that the clouds are forming. So that’s the one you see in this artwork. You can also see the leaves on top of the mud when the rain stops.’ Janet Marawarr 2023