This Tjukurpa is from a place called Walytjata near Pipalyatjara. It’s a true story. You can see all the kids sitting there in the cave. The mother left and told the kids to stay there, but she never came back. It’s a sad story. The older brother, he was looking after everyone. He would go out hunting for malu (kangaroo), kalaya (emu) and bring back the kuka (meat) for all the kids.
Tjala or honey ants live in nests about a metre underground beneath mulga trees, and they are a highly favoured food source. The tjala tunnels that lead down to the ants’ nests are called nyinantu, and the larvae are called ipilyka-ipilyka. After the rain when the ground is soft the women go digging for tjala by looking for the drill holes under the trees. They then use shovels and crowbars to dig down following the tunnels to find the tjala inside. Anangu suck the delicious rich honey-like liquid from the distended abdomen of the tjala. The story of the tjala is told across the Northern Territory into South Australia and is an important link between Anangu mythology and inter-dependence on the environment.
This Tjukurpa is from Lorabella’s grandfather’s homeland called Kunytjanu, located just south of Pipalyatjara near the SA border with WA. It’s a story about tjakura, the great desert skink, a small orange lizard found across the APY Lands.
Tjakura has a lot of grandchildren looking after him. One day, a long time ago, he saw too many strangers, an army coming from Mutitjulu. They came and found the tjakura and they killed him. All the kids made a cemetery there for the tjakura. This is a really big story that goes from Kunytjanu to Aralya.
There is a story of deep significance to women which contains metaphorical references to female cycles. It tells of two women travelling north. The pair meet with a group of women, including Kutungu, who are caring for a man who then passes away. They then travel to the area known as Mantaruta, near Uluru, where they chase a curious wanampi (serpent) deep into the ground while trying to catch him. They burn their body hair to attract him and hit him on the head and run away. From afar they throw a manguri/traditional head-ring for carrying which also hits him. He then comes and hits the women who travel on bleeding and hurt.
There is a story of deep significance to women which contains metaphorical references to female cycles. It tells of two women travelling north. The pair meet with a group of women, including Kutungu, who are caring for a man who then passes away. They then travel to the area known as Mantaruta, near Uluru, where they chase a curious wanampi (serpent) deep into the ground while trying to catch him. They burn their body hair to attract him and hit him on the head and run away. From afar they throw a manguri/traditional head-ring for carrying which also hits him. He then comes and hits the women who travel on bleeding and hurt.
Artists use this title when they are depicting their Country. It might be a representation of a particular place or of different aspects of that area. The artist uses a combination of colour and design to indicate variations in the landscape. Inspiration is drawn from all elements of Country and might include bush tucker, water holes, meeting places, rock formation, birds or animals.
Artists use this title when they are depicting their Country. It might be a representation of a particular place or of different aspects of that area. The artist uses a combination of colour and design to indicate variations in the landscape. Inspiration is drawn from all elements of Country and might include bush tucker, water holes, meeting places, rock formation, birds or animals.
Artists use this title when they are depicting their Country. It might be a representation of a particular place or of different aspects of that area. The artist uses a combination of colour and design to indicate variations in the landscape. Inspiration is drawn from all elements of Country and might include bush tucker, water holes, meeting places, rock formation, birds or animals.
Old Tambrey Station Mudhouse where my old grandparents worked when they were young kids.
There were two sisters who married two brothers and they all lived together. One day the women went wandering and they went such a long way that they forgot about their husbands. Back at the camp, the two husbands were thinking, ‘Where are our wives?’ and they decided to go looking for them. One brother said to the other, ‘What should we become to go looking for them?’ and the other brother said ‘Why don’t we become Rainbow Serpents?’ And they travelled in the sky looking down for their wives. Finally they see them hunting for carpet snakes and they put something in the hole where the women were digging. The women find it and then dig another hole and once again the men have put something in there. And this is how the men lure the women back to Piltati where the men make the sisters transform into Wanampi, swallow them and keep .them in their throats. All four of them live together in the waterhole and still live there today.