September 2024

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Juwari- The Devil Spirit – by Peter Thomas

The Juwari is the Devil Spirit.

He is the power, force and spirit of creation iitself, and everything within it and within us  He is the creation of country and the land, of the weather & seasons, of all the elements. He is the source of all forms of life and of death.

The Gija people present Rover Thomas’s dreamtime story, through performing the Joonba- A traditional dance and song ceremony called Gurrir Gurrir. Rover was given this dreamtime by the Juwari

This Gija story as told by senior Gija elder Patrick Mung and Cultural leader Jane Yalunga (Rover Thomas’s only daughter).

The story shares ‘there were three Juwari, from Wyndham side, from Gija country and down that way. Each one had a Joonba, it different each way. Them Juwari been fighting  who is the strongest  and who will bring them joonba to the Old man.

The Gija Juwari won and that was the start of the beginning, the birth of the corroboree and the Joonba- Gurrir Gurrir, as it is today’

 

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Garn’giny Ngarranggarni – Mabel Juli

Well this the dreamtime story about Wardal and Garn’giny (star and moon). That’s what my mother and dad told me about that Dreamtime thing.

“Garn’giny ngelmang roord-ngarri nginji.

The moon sits in the east.

Wardal dal gerloorr ngarrgalen.

The star sits on top of the hills.

Laarne berdij nginiyi danyi garn’giny.

The moon went and climbed that hill.

Wijige-ngarri ngoorramangbe-ngiyiwa thamboorroo-gal.

They made him run away because he loved his mother-in-law.

(That moon loved his mother in-law, but they told him he couldn’t love her and to go away.)

Ganybelgbe nginini.

He felt shame (and climbed up the hill).

Gerlewirring deg nginini.

He was looking from on top [of the hill].

Nginini-birri “Nanggayib barrroonnha.”

He told all the people “You will all die.”

Nginini-birri “Ngayimoowana mooliyinde ngenben’ge.

He told them “I will be the only one living”.

(He cursed those people.)

“Boora-boorab ngeliyande” wanemayi-birri melagawoom dam, woorrji-ngarri berrani yilag.

“I will keep coming back” he told them all, while they were sitting down below.

(You are all going to die and I will be still alive, coming out.)

“Daam merrgernbem boorarrgarr ngeliyande.”

“After three days camp I will rise from the dead.”

Nanggayibwa berrayin-gili namoowana ngininji.

They all died and he was the only one that stayed alive.

Merrgern daam nginji boorab ngidji, daam merrgernbem.”

He camps (sleeps ~ dies) for three days then appears (again as the moon), after three days.

This is Yarin country in Darrajayin (Springvale Station) which lies south of Warmun. This is Juli’s traditional country.

The star in the paintings is the promised wife of the moon, the straight skin to be his wife. He wanted dawool, the woman who became the black headed python who was the mother of wardal, the star, i.e. his mother-in-law.

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Bailinyin – Eileen Bray Joomena

The painting is of the country of Spring Vale Station, Bailinyin. Recently, in the wet season, Rusty traveled to this place with his grandchildren. There they were shown how to catch and kill a goanna, they learnt new Gija words, they learnt about Rusty’s life on this country – it is where he was born and where he worked as a young man. They leant about historical, complicated politics of the land and Rusty’s experience of it and relations to it. In the left hand corner, Rusty has painted red soils plains, the black area is the soil and the yellow ochre parts are the flat country. The grey is Warnidiwal creek. It is tributary of Bullock Hole, a popular rest spot for Rusty and his family and others who lived and worked on Springvale station.

I’ve been given this story to paint, Rusty gave it to me.

-Eileen Bray Joomena

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Garn’giny Ngarranggarni – Mabel Juli

Well this the dreamtime story about Wardal and Garn’giny (star and moon). That’s what my mother and dad told me about that Dreamtime thing.

“Garn’giny ngelmang roord-ngarri nginji.

The moon sits in the east.

Wardal dal gerloorr ngarrgalen.

The star sits on top of the hills.

Laarne berdij nginiyi danyi garn’giny.

The moon went and climbed that hill.

Wijige-ngarri ngoorramangbe-ngiyiwa thamboorroo-gal.

They made him run away because he loved his mother-in-law.

(That moon loved his mother in-law, but they told him he couldn’t love her and to go away.)

Ganybelgbe nginini.

He felt shame (and climbed up the hill).

Gerlewirring deg nginini.

He was looking from on top [of the hill].

Nginini-birri “Nanggayib barrroonnha.”

He told all the people “You will all die.”

Nginini-birri “Ngayimoowana mooliyinde ngenben’ge.

He told them “I will be the only one living”.

(He cursed those people.)

“Boora-boorab ngeliyande” wanemayi-birri melagawoom dam, woorrji-ngarri berrani yilag.

“I will keep coming back” he told them all, while they were sitting down below.

(You are all going to die and I will be still alive, coming out.)

“Daam merrgernbem boorarrgarr ngeliyande.”

“After three days camp I will rise from the dead.”

Nanggayibwa berrayin-gili namoowana ngininji.

They all died and he was the only one that stayed alive.

Merrgern daam nginji boorab ngidji, daam merrgernbem.”

He camps (sleeps ~ dies) for three days then appears (again as the moon), after three days.

This is Yarin country in Darrajayin (Springvale Station) which lies south of Warmun. This is Juli’s traditional country.

The star in the paintings is the promised wife of the moon, the straight skin to be his wife. He wanted dawool, the woman who became the black headed python who was the mother of wardal, the star, i.e. his mother-in-law.

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Springvale

“Well this one you know, our land, well before, no Gardiya (whitefella) was coming before… so I drew this one, like our ancestors from the Ngarrangarni (dreamtime), they lived in the cave, that’s their home, from long time before.

And this now (the rest of the painting), this is Mabel Downs today. And, before they didn’t have houses like that, and then Gardiya been coming along, and we been start to meet up with Gardiya. Our people meet up with Gardiya and Gardiya been build a house like that for us.

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Elephant Hill

Elephant Hill is in Purnululu. The grey area is an ant hill and the circle is hole in the rock that you can see straight through. The sky is full of shooting stars which I painted in my grass painting style.

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KANGAROO DREAMING – MABEL JULI

Mabel paints of a dreamtime story told to her by both parents, this story takes place on her mother’s country which is called Spring Vale station.

This is the Kangaroo dreaming  – There were two different species of kangaroo’s, Jarlangarnany from plain country and the other was called Jirrgany from hill country. These two are represented as the stones that sits upright within the painting, 

Long ago there was a fight between the two kangaroo’s, Jirrgany one day found a good spot near a waterhole to rest then came across some bush honey (ngarinj) and started to dig in and eat, he was really selfish. Jarlangarnany then came along and seen that he was eating honey and wanted to have some as well, but instead of sharing with Jarlangarnany he gobbled up every bit of it, leaving just the bee’s wax and bee’s. That was when Jarlangarnany got out his fighting stick and had a fight with the Jirrgany.

The hole that sits within the middle represents the hole of where the bush honey lays, Traditional fighting sticks of the old days were used in their battle as they fought each other.