March 2024

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Coil Basket

Coil basketry is a well-established fibre art form in the Maningrida region, especially for women from the Kuninjku, Rembarrnga, Ndjebbana and Nakkara language groups. 

Artists make coiled baskets of many shapes and sizes, ranging from small round baskets to large oval baby baskets, and made mostly from pandanus fibre that is dyed with natural pigments. Bundles of fibre are formed into coils which are covered and stitched together with strands of fibre threaded onto a needle. Artists combine colours and patterns to obtain intricate new graphic patterns.

These techniques are believed to have been introduced to Arnhem Land by Greta Matthews, a missionary on Goulburn Island in the 1920s. She had probably learnt coil basketry from Aboriginal people in the south-east of Australia, possibly the Murray River people such as the Yorta Yorta or the coastal Ngarrindjeri. 

The coiling technique spread quickly from Goulburn Island to people on mainland Arnhem Land. 

 

 

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Coil Basket

Coil basketry is a well-established fibre art form in the Maningrida region, especially for women from the Kuninjku, Rembarrnga, Ndjebbana and Nakkara language groups. 

Artists make coiled baskets of many shapes and sizes, ranging from small round baskets to large oval baby baskets, and made mostly from pandanus fibre that is dyed with natural pigments. Bundles of fibre are formed into coils which are covered and stitched together with strands of fibre threaded onto a needle. Artists combine colours and patterns to obtain intricate new graphic patterns.

These techniques are believed to have been introduced to Arnhem Land by Greta Matthews, a missionary on Goulburn Island in the 1920s. She had probably learnt coil basketry from Aboriginal people in the south-east of Australia, possibly the Murray River people such as the Yorta Yorta or the coastal Ngarrindjeri. 

The coiling technique spread quickly from Goulburn Island to people on mainland Arnhem Land. 

 

 

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Coil Basket

Coil basketry is a well-established fibre art form in the Maningrida region, especially for women from the Kuninjku, Rembarrnga, Ndjebbana and Nakkara language groups. 

Artists make coiled baskets of many shapes and sizes, ranging from small round baskets to large oval baby baskets, and made mostly from pandanus fibre that is dyed with natural pigments. Bundles of fibre are formed into coils which are covered and stitched together with strands of fibre threaded onto a needle. Artists combine colours and patterns to obtain intricate new graphic patterns.

These techniques are believed to have been introduced to Arnhem Land by Greta Matthews, a missionary on Goulburn Island in the 1920s. She had probably learnt coil basketry from Aboriginal people in the south-east of Australia, possibly the Murray River people such as the Yorta Yorta or the coastal Ngarrindjeri. 

The coiling technique spread quickly from Goulburn Island to people on mainland Arnhem Land. 

 

 

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Mimih Spirit

The mimih spirit exists in a realm that runs parallel to and mirrors many facets of human life, also demonstrating the deep sense of time and place understood by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Such spirits feature importantly in relation to Aboriginal spirituality, cosmology, social and moral tales as well as ritual. As is true with the multiple mediums employed by artists of West Arnhem Land, the development of artistic style and form is in line with an awareness by the artist that the work produced is predominantly made for a broader audience. Whether show in a national or international context these works communicate and exist in a particular space that is cross-cultural and simultaneously so particular to the Arnhem region.



The mimih sits within a complex and important pedagogical and religious body of knowledge which links Kuninjku people to their distinctive escarpment homelands. Young Kuninjku artists, or apprentices, employ the mimih as an important exercise for the practice of the rarrk technique, as it could be achieved on a smaller surface area before, being attempted in larger scale, on pieces of bark. The mimih serves a purpose for those young artists first learning to carve in a social space of sharing and innovating. The initial mimih manifestation was a large form that almost mirrored the anatomy of a human and at this stage the sculptures have been likened to morkuy carvings visible in eastern Arnhem Land. Contemporaneously, mimih are depicted in a refined, slender, even emaciated form with a broad range of facial expressions giving both individual character to, and denoting the potential volatility and humour that mimih spirits are notable for in their interaction with bininj (humans). The sculptures are frequently carved from the thin trunks of softwoods such as kapok (bombax ceiba or cottonwood) kurrajong, beach hibiscus or leichardt and are painted with earth pigments for their colouring and design.

A leading figure engaging the spirit in visual storytelling was Crusoe Kuningbal, a Kuninjku man, who while traveling was familiarised with carving styles from the east of Arnhem at the mission in Milingimbi pre-dating World War II. This showing a notable connection and interaction of different language groups across such space. As well as travel and the development of art forms being informed by cross cultural dialogues within northern Aboriginal language groups. The mimih became a valued inclusion in performance and public ceremony by Kuninjku people like Kuningbal. At times these ceremonies were performed for extended language groups in the local region.

Now a familiar and broadly depicted figure of iconography, it is important to acknowledge the development of this quite recent sculptural tradition. The depiction of this particular spirit being, once used as an addition to the sharing of song cycles and ceremony, has since been elevated to a prominent form and subject of contemporary sculpture. Variation in the creation of mimih acts as an indication of the individualism of each artist and their stylistic markers. Additionally significant to note is that in the space of the past thirty years the mimih has begun being produced by multiple language groups residing in the Maningrida area including the traditional owners of Maningrida, the Ndjébbana, speaking Kunibidji as well as Gurrgoni people who have strong ties to Kuninjku.

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*Maningrida Arts & Culture acknowledge the work of many academic and non-academic voices when writing on this topic, it is important to note Luke Taylor, who’s broad research has informed this text.

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Lorrkon (Hollow Log)

The Lorrkon or bone pole coffin ceremony was the final ceremony in a sequence of mortuary rituals celebrated by the people of Arnhem Land. This ceremony involves the placing of the deceased’s bones into a hollow log which was decorated with painted clan designs and ceremonially placed into the ground where it remained until it slowly decayed over many years.

The log is made from a termite hollowed Stringybark tree (Eucalyptus tetradonta) and is decorated with totemic emblems. The western Arnhem Land version of the Lorrkon ceremony involves the singing of sacred songs to the accompaniment of karlikarli, a pair of sacred boomerangs used as rhythm instruments. During the final evening of the ceremony, dancers decorate themselves with kapok down, or today, cotton wool and conduct much of the final segments of the ceremony in the secrecy of a restricted mens’ camp. The complete ceremony may stretch over a period of two weeks, but on the last night the bones of the deceased, which have been kept in a bark container or today wrapped in cloth and kept in a suitcase are taken out, are painted with red ochre and placed inside the hollow log. This ceremony may take place many years after the person has died.

At first light on the final morning of the Lorrkon ceremony, the men appear, coming out of their secret bush camp carrying the pole towards the women’s camp. The two groups call to each other using distinct ceremonial calls. The women have prepared a hole for the pole to be placed into and when it is stood upright, women in particular kinship relationships to the deceased dance around the pole in a jumping/shuffling motion. The Lorrkon is then often covered with a tarpaulin and left to slowly decay.

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Burlupurr – large dillybag

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.

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Ngalkodjek Spirit Pole

Transcription of text by Jack Nawilil about two ceremonial objects— Karlanj and Ngalkodjek. Transcribed by Murray Garde and Margaret Carew 2 & 5 December 2017. Notes by Margaret Carew on 5 Dec 2017

 

Note: The site Jack refers to as Kœnœdjangka is in the Rembarrnga language. The ‘œ’ vowel sounds like the ‘ur’ in English ‘fur’. As this vowel does not exist in neighbouring languages, it is usually converted to an ‘i’ as Kinidjangka by Kuninjku and Burarra speakers. I have used that spelling also in the English translation but retained Kœnœdjangka in the transcription of Jack’s speech. Jack’s speech involves code switching amongst Kriol, Kune, Burarra and English.

 

 

[00:00:01] This one here, like ngaye ngakurrmeng, im my draw.

 

This one here [ceremonial objects], I have drawn my own personal designs on them.

 

[00:00:09] This one Ngalkodjek.

 

This one (is called) Ngalkodjek. (MG- note, that this is not the subsection term Ngalkodjok, rather the stem -kodjek is formative in the verb -kodjekmang ‘to abduct’ and may refer to a secret episode in the Nakorrkko story, the father and son cultural heroes for Bininj in western Arnhem Land).

 

[00:00:13] Daluk, im from Elcho im bin travellng, im from Elcho, gama ngarla, jiny-bona didjan na, and didjan du.

 

This represents a woman, she travelled (here) from Elcho Island, she is from Elcho, she was a woman indeed, she went/travelled, this one and this one too.

 

[00:00:27] Didjan najawan, didjan na.

 

This is another one however, this one.

 

[00:00:30] Shemaiah: Those two are the same story?

 

[00:00:33] Same story this mob but I’ll bringim next week. I’ll bring another one.

 

[00:00:39] This one here, an-nerranga, an-guna balaji, mun-anngiya langa djolworra kantri, im from gun-anngiya, im from like im 

 

This one here, this is a different one and represents a food plant, what’s its name (that tucker), it is from the saltwater country, from this way, like, it’s from what’s that place

 

 

(MC comment: -anngiya is a ‘what’s its name’ word, that inflects for noun class.)

 

[00:01:05] In my country where that Kœnidjangka way. Didjan na.

 

In my country there at Kinidjangka. This one here.

 

[00:01:09] Yo an-guna. Yo Murray, Murray im save, marn.gi.

 

This one. Murray knows about this.

 

[00:01:19] Yo, Murray ngudda yibengkan ngayi ngarduk nani Murray. From Kœnidjangka ngamarnbom.

 

Murray you know this one, it’s my design Murray. I made it, the one from Kinidjangka.

 

[00:01:28] En nani Kœnidjangka ngamarnbom, en nani kuluban kayo kure Nakorrkko wam. Nani ngamarnbom. Ungke nane ngamarnbom that story ngarduk na. Ngakurrmeng ngaye. Ngudda yibengkan. Kanmarnebengkan Bulanj. Yoh.

 

This one I made it, the design from Kinidjangka, the place where flying foxes live where the Nakorrkko passed through. I made that. I’ve made that story for you, that one of mine. I have put it there. You know that. You know what I’m talking about Bulanj (to Murray Garde).

 

[00:01:51] Didjan, nane, dijan gama i bin travelling garra didjei, garra didjei.

 

This one here, she is a woman who travelled this way, coming this way (to the west from north-east Arnhem Land).

 

[00:02:03] Im gona garra ebrijing. From Kunidjangka i bin make it. From Kœnidjangka ngamarnbom en nani Kœnidjangka ngamarnbom. En dijan Kœnidjangka ngamarnbom. Nane now.

 

She has many things. I made it, the one from Kinidjangka. From Kinidjangka I made it. It is from Kinidjangka, this thing i have made. That’s it now.

 

[00:02:25] Ngarduk my draw nane. Like ngamarnbun, like im nomo marrek ba morning star, im different nani. ngardapa ngardapa ngarla dreaming. Mu-gurrmurra, yo a-gurrmurra a-bona. Wangarr ngarla.

 

This design belongs to me. Like, I made it, and it should not be confused with a morning star pole, no, it is something different. they are separate indeed, these dreamings. It (an ancestral spirit) put it there. It is my totemic emblem. It is my ancestral design of the ancestral beings, indeed.

 

MC note: 

mu-gurrmurra

00:02:44.460 – 00:02:45.310

it put it (object belongs to mun- vegetable noun class)

00:02:44.460 – 00:02:45.310

a-gurrmurra a-bona

00:02:45.310 – 00:02:47.928

it put it (object now belongs to an- masculine noun class). a-bona here literally means ‘it (masculine) went’ but functions as an aspectual auxilliary, showing that the action is completed. Tense suffixes construe this in the past.

 

Shemaiah responds: yo gun-burral

00:02:49.570 – 00:02:51.155

yes that’s true

00:02:49.570 – 00:02:51.155

 

[00:02:53] Dijan, dijan, im from dijei na, from Elcho. mm dijan.

 

This one, its origins are from this way (the east), from Elcho, mm, this one.

 

[00:03:00] gama

 

a woman

 

[00:03:02] Shemaiah: Ngay ngay ngay

 

yeah yeah yeah

 

[00:03:05] Dijan, im daga ia la Kœnidjangka. Balajiya. But im Mardayin. Bad ai jas putumbat eniwe yuno?

 

This other one is an edible plant. Food. But it is a sacred thing from the Mardayin ceremony. But I have adapted it to make it a secular version.

 

MC note: balajiya – note emphasis -ya final syllable.

 

@Shemaiah: balaji murda

00:03:09.370 – 00:03:10.530

food this one

00:03:09.370 – 00:03:10.530

murda is a contracted demonstrative (from mun-narda), ‘this one in focus’ compare arda, jirda, gurda, other noun class inflected forms. These contracted demonstrative forms are a feature of modern Burarra. 

00:03:09.370 – 00:03:10.530

 

[00:03:19] Dijan na. Dijan, dijan mun-anngeyo balaji gen

 

This one. This is also a food.

 

[00:03:27] Shemaiah: balaji?

 

Food?

 

[00:03:28] Yo im my country igen bad awirri-gapajinga ngarla. We digim and karrimang. We eatim na, dijan na. 

 

Yes, in my country, we dig it, but has a secret element to the story. We dig it and take it out. Then we eat it, this thing.

 

MC note:

The transitive prefix awirri- (~abirri-) reads to me as ‘you and me plus one more’, ie inclusive unit augmented. If plural/augmented we’d expect mbi-gapajinga ie third person augmented acting on singular object, where there is noun class agreement with the object. If just ‘you and me’ is intended it would be ay-gapajinga. Quite commonly unit augmented prefixes are used in generic statements such as this, where one might expect another prefix going from the speech or discourse context.

00:03:29.960 – 00:03:31.565

 

[00:03:42] Like ngakurrmeng namekke Murray, Bulanj, nane Ngalkodjek wam from aa kure kamdolkkang from aam, Elcho.

 

So, Murray, that’s what I’ve put on it (the design). This is Ngalkodjek who travelled, setting out from Elcho Island.

 

[00:03:58] Ngamarnbom. Nabuyika nane, ngamarnbom manme rerri. Manme ngamarnbom, mane manme kangeydi manbingkanj.

 

I made it. The other one, I also made that one too. I made the plant food emblem, and the name of that plant is manbingkanj.

 

[00:04:16] Nane, nane ngamarnbom karlanj ngamarnbom, manme rerrih. Nane na Kœnidjangka ngamarnbom. Ngaleng nani, ngaleng Elcho kamwam daluk. Dijan na.

 

This thing here, I made it, this object is called karlanj and it represents a plant food. This one I have made is from Kinidjangka. She is a woman who came from Elcho Island. This one now.

 

[00:04:34] Im from long way dijan i bin travelling, from Elcho, (kala xxx ) like yu nomo save… yuno that, daluk, blanga im business, garra dijan i bin travelling. Yo. Dijan ia im mine dijan. Nane ngarduk rowk Bulanj, namekke draw namekke recordim ngayeman ngangeykurrmehkurrmeng nane.

 

She was travelling a long way, from Elcho Island (…..) like, you don’t know that story (it’s secret)… you know it related to a woman, it was her ceremonial story, and she was travelling. This thing here is my (clan) design. These are all mine Bulanj (to Garde) and what I have drawn, it’s being recorded now and I’m explaining all the names relating to it.

 

[00:05:03] Nane Ngalkodjek daluk, nane manme karlanj en nane mak, njamed, um. Karlanj manih manbu. Mak mane manbuyika, djal manbuyika yerri.

 

This woman, her name is Ngalkodjek, and this is the food, the karlanj, and this whatsit, um. Karlanj, that’s it. And there is another one but it is different again.

 

[00:05:24] Manbu rerri kayime wanjh mani nawu.

 

It is similar again, this one here.

 

[00:05:26] Ngamarnbom.

 

I made them.

 

[00:05:28] Ungke Murray. Kaluk yibekkan yingan kumekke mankarre yimarnbun. Yo namekke. Ma, thank you.

 

This (recording) is for you Murray (to transcribe for the art and cultural centre). You can listen to it and document the cultural story. That’s it. Okay, thank you.

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Ngalkodjek Yawkyawk

This artwork depicts the Ngalkodjek Yawkyawk of Barrihdjowkkeng country.

“This story is very old. That old man [my father Crusoe Kuningbal] when he was alive, told that story to me, to all of us. He told us about the yawkyawk (mermaid) spirit women called Ngalkodjek who lives in the billabong on my country. He told us how they call out loudly, how they call out as they walk along.

That is what they do, calling out. They walked around eating bush foods like those little bush yams. They would pound the yams into a pulp and eat them. That is their traditional food which they eat.

When they walk down from the bush, they follow a set path that belongs to them and they walk along calling out. That is their path which they take. It is an old traditional route.

They placed a woman’s breast into the country. That rock was not there originally, but it was a woman’s breast. It is the breast of those women.

They put that djang [sacred place] there, and then at the time when non-Aboriginal people arrived in the region, then the breast turned to stone. Now it has turned solid into rock.”

– Owen Yalandja

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Ngalkodjek Yawkyawk

This artwork depicts the Ngalkodjek Yawkyawk of Barrihdjowkkeng country.

“This story is very old. That old man [my father Crusoe Kuningbal] when he was alive, told that story to me, to all of us. He told us about the yawkyawk (mermaid) spirit women called Ngalkodjek who lives in the billabong on my country. He told us how they call out loudly, how they call out as they walk along.

That is what they do, calling out. They walked around eating bush foods like those little bush yams. They would pound the yams into a pulp and eat them. That is their traditional food which they eat.

When they walk down from the bush, they follow a set path that belongs to them and they walk along calling out. That is their path which they take. It is an old traditional route.

They placed a woman’s breast into the country. That rock was not there originally, but it was a woman’s breast. It is the breast of those women.

They put that djang [sacred place] there, and then at the time when non-Aboriginal people arrived in the region, then the breast turned to stone. Now it has turned solid into rock.”

– Owen Yalandja

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Ngalkodjek Yawkyawk

This artwork depicts the Ngalkodjek Yawkyawk of Barrihdjowkkeng country.

“This story is very old. That old man [my father Crusoe Kuningbal] when he was alive, told that story to me, to all of us. He told us about the yawkyawk (mermaid) spirit women called Ngalkodjek who lives in the billabong on my country. He told us how they call out loudly, how they call out as they walk along.

That is what they do, calling out. They walked around eating bush foods like those little bush yams. They would pound the yams into a pulp and eat them. That is their traditional food which they eat.

When they walk down from the bush, they follow a set path that belongs to them and they walk along calling out. That is their path which they take. It is an old traditional route.

They placed a woman’s breast into the country. That rock was not there originally, but it was a woman’s breast. It is the breast of those women.

They put that djang [sacred place] there, and then at the time when non-Aboriginal people arrived in the region, then the breast turned to stone. Now it has turned solid into rock.”

– Owen Yalandja