Goolangoodie
My country Alice Downs
We call this place Goolangoodie.
Its a place where we go looking for gold.
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The old woman, the magpie and the old man
‘Nginjinyi ngarne junpanh-nginji ngalanj wanamayinte ngakinji ngapunjinginja marlukanj piya wana-njinte-nguyu langkurnul pelitch-puwa nyaniyitjite nginya ngarnji. Kerrerangkulji ngininiwarn-ngiyi ngalern, “nguwan nyungurn nimpin thanja piya wiyinji-ngu, thet panjkirrem nyalinj wayniya, merrep.” Pernenante nginini nginjinj jirakanj, kerrerangkulji hginjinj nginini-ngi, thala langkurnel “Merrep-karri Nyananinja, ngerrepakpe ngiyitji nginja marlukanj nginiyin ngerrepanh.’
‘This story was told to me by my mum a long time ago. It is about an old woman, a magpie and an old man. A long time ago in the dreaming, a old man had a fight with his wife. she ran away and hid from him in a cave, a little while later the old man came looking for her. The magpie seen him coming and told the woman “don’t move, don’t come out, that old man coming for you to belt you” so the woman hid in cave so the old man couldn’t see her.
They then all turned into stone and they are still there today, this story is on Violet Valley, my mothers Country.’
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JACK’S YARD, BOW RIVER
This is Jack’s Yard, Bow River Station.
My grandfather has mustered this Country, around these hills. Agoriginal people call this place Dararroo.
There is a cave here on Dararroo, in this cave there are cave paintings from the early days. This cave was used by Aboriginal people as a shelter in the wet and cold season.
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JIDINJNGURLIE
Mabel paints of the inside of a hill that is filled with nests, these are the black arched shapes seen inside the hill which belongs to a small brown bird, that in our language (Kija) it is known as Jidinjngurlie. With the black boarder line and traditional dots outlining the shape of the country. All colours are natural ochres that has been collected from the earth.
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Birnoo Country – Gordon Barney
This painting shows Gordon’s country – Birnoo Country (Alice Downs Station). Birnoo is Gordon’s mother’s country. Gordon mustered cattle all throughout this country for many years – the way his father taught him to.
He became known as a skilled horsebreaker and buckjumper (rodeo rider). When Gordon worked as a stockman, he would often carry with him a saddle bag for his ochre collection. At the end of his mustering stint, he would have a bagful of ochres that he sourced from riding through his country.
He often paints the hills of Birnoo, which connects his to his mother’s country.
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ALICE DOWNS WATERHOLE
This works depicts a deep waterhole on Alice Downs Country. This is Gordon’s Country, this is where he was born and worked as a stockman when he was a young man. It is situated around an hour south of Warmun, where Gordon now lives. Gordon used to go mustering all over this Country. He often paints the hills as a feature in his artwork, which are characteristic of his Gija ancestral country.
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Nyaardiny – Terminalia Platyphylla tree
In this painting Shirley has painted the flowers and seeds of a tree known as nyaardinji in our traditional language Kija – otherwise known as a Terminalia Platyphylla, this type are seen along creeks and is also a species that has edible gum that taste sweet. This is just one of the many bush food that the people of the old days use to live on, it starts to bloom between the month of January – October..
Shirley says that the early days women would look at the seeds and flowers and it would remind them of the dresses that were worn in those days. Which looked the same.
In the middle sits the seeds that are surrounded by the blooming red flowers and green leaves,