November 2024

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Status: Stock

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Emu Tracks to Puntawarri – Judith Anya Samson

Slim fit, Crew neck
Light weight, 150 GSM, 100% combed cotton, preshrunk to minimise shrinkage
Available in Black
Sizes: L, XL, 2XL

“Emu go to the springs to have a drink of water and then move on to the next one.”

– Judith Anya Samson

Puntawarri is an important cultural area, as well as the site of a now abandoned community, a waterhole, creek and lake. Puntawarri is located on the middle stretches of the Canning Stock Route and east of the Jigalong Aboriginal Community, where Judith grew up with her grandmother and senior Martumili Artist Dadda Samson (dec.). Anya continues to live between Jigalong and Newman today.

Puntawarri lies within Judith’s ngurra (home Country, camp) through her mother’s family, and as a young girl she frequently travelled and hunted with her family in this area, learning the stories for this Country. Depicted in this work are the tracks of a group of emus on their way to Puntawarri waterhole, searching for kapi (water). 

Karlaya (emu) were traditionally hunted during the pujiman (traditional, desert dwelling) era, and they continue to be a favoured bush tucker for Martu today. During the pujiman period, Martu would traverse very large distances annually in small family groups, moving seasonally from water source to water source, and hunting and gathering bush tucker as they went. Jina (tracks, footprints) are used by Martu people when tracking bush tucker. In the absence of an actual animal sighting, tracks act as an identifier that an animal was present, which can then be followed to the animal’s present location. Besides providing information on location, Martu are able to interpret from tracks the passage of time since the tracks were imprinted, as well as the corresponding animal species and its size.

The softer and more extensive the ground surface, the easier it is to locate and follow tracks, thus certain conditions are favoured for tracking. Tuulparra (spring) and yalijarra (hot time) are preferred over wantajarra (winter), when south easterly tradewinds blow strongly to obscure tracks. Tracks and burrows are also more readily visible in early growth lands, such as nyurnma (freshly burnt Country) and waru-waru (growth of new shoots and young plants). For this reason, fire burning is an important tool in animal tracking. Small burns are lit to clear vegetation, expose burrows, and to allow for access to walk and track readily in exposed sands, while simultaneously providing diverse regenerating habitats.

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Status: Stock

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‘Plane in Pujiman Days’ by Thelma Judson

Slim fit, Crew neck
Light weight, 150 GSM, 100% combed cotton, preshrunk to minimise shrinkage
Available in Khaki Green
Sizes: S, M, L, XL

“We travelled all around as pujiman (traditional, desert dweller), camping and then setting off again by foot. We didn’t get tired. We just kept on going. Sometimes it would rain, so we would build a shelter, just like a tent. Inside we would light a fire. Our pujiman lifestyle was very healthy and we didn’t get sick very often. Even when it was cold we continued to walk around in good health.

Our knowledge is ancient and has been passed on by our grandparents. Young people need to keep looking after it. Our home is where our ancestors walked around. They knew how to care for it. Now we are teaching the younger generation.”

– Nyanjilpayi (Ngarnjapayi) Nancy Chapman as translated by Kanyirninpa Jukurrpa

 

It is of great significance to the creative output of Martumili Artists that some of the last of the remaining pujiman comprise a high portion of the core elders that paint with the group. Through these elders critical traditional cultural and social knowledge has been, and continues to be passed on to younger Martu artists; knowledge from the pujiman era. At this time Martu traversed very large distances annually in small family groups, moving seasonally from water source to water source, and hunting and gathering bush tucker as they went.

Whilst desert life has moved away from mobile hunter-gatherer subsistence throughout the course of the twentieth century, all Martumili Artists, young and old, have regular experience in the practices that most closely approximate the pujiman lifestyle. Living between Newman and the remote Martu communities of Punmu, Parnngurr, Kunawarritji, Jigalong, Irrungadji (Nullagine) and Warralong, knowledge of Jukurrpa (Dreaming) narratives, kapi location and quality, and the medicinal properties of native plants, as well as the continued practices of hunting, gathering, and waru (fire) burning are all transferred to younger generations as integral components of everyday life.

In addition to strong cultural and social maintenance through life in Aboriginal communities, cultural knowledge is transferred through visual arts as practiced by Martumili Artists. Younger Martu artists typically begin painting with their parents, grandparents and extended family, thus fostering an organic process of learning, not only about painting techniques, but also specific locations, family histories, traditional ways of life, bush tucker and Jukurrpa.