The Snake Well is in the Piuyl Mountains, near Warburton. It is where four Water snake people emerged from a hole in the ground and headed out in four different directions. This story is linked to the tales of the famous water snake woman, Kuniya, who ends up at Uluru.
‘Kungkarrangkalpa’ (The Seven Sisters or Pleaides) is significant Tjukurrpa (dreamtime). Its origins you may be familiar with in astronomy and its connection to ‘Wati Nyiru’ (Magic Man or Orion). The roots of this dreaming stems across indigenous groups around the world. The Australian Aboriginal songline is one part to the whole dreaming which can be traced all around the world. The ladies of the Ngaanyatjarra Lands depict their significant chapter and understanding of the journey of the sisters. The different versions of this story depend on where you live and the significance’s of local Tjukurrpa places.
Nyiru fell in love with the sisters but he was of the wrong skin group to marry, but he still pursued them on their journey. The sisters travel across the land to escape Nyiru’s unwanted attentions, but he is persistent and always finds them. There are significant land forms which can be sited today that evidence this dreaming. As Nyiru is chasing the sisters he tries to catch them by using magic to turn into the most tempting kampurarrpa (bush tomato) and the most beautiful Yirli (wild fig tree), for them to eat and camp under. However, the sisters are knowledgeable of his magic and too clever for Nyiru who they outwit again and again. They go hungry and run through the night rather than be caught by him. As the journey continues, Nyiru gets so frustrated at the wit of the sisters that he uses his magic to make the oldest sister sick to try and get closer to her. The other sisters rescue the big sister and nurse her back to health. It is said he also captures the youngest sister, but with the help of the oldest sister, she escapes back to her sisters who are waiting for her. Eventually, the sisters fly into the sky to escape Nyiru, forming the constellation. Nyiru felt lonely, longing for the sisters who were so far away. Nyiru used his magic to go to the sky, forever in pursuit.
This is my Mothers Mothers country, out near Canteen Creek, we go hunting for wild onions, goannas, echidnas and sugar bag honey in the trees. I like to hunt in my country, there is water all year round even if it looks dry, we follow the bird tracks to know where to dig and then we find water.
This painting is after rain, many grasses are out, but the riverbed is still sandy.
Colleen is one of the original artists in the Utopian batik movement in the 1980’s and has been successfully painting ever since.
Colleen’s paintings often depict her Grandfather’s country where her family have hunted for many years. As a child she was taught about the seasonal bush medicines and plants that grew there and how to gather them. “When I was a little girl I would go and collect the seed from the altywart grass with my grandmothers. They would teach us how to hang on to the tree and grind the seeds with our feet. We would carry the seed in our coolamon back to the camp, then make damper, cook it on the fire and eat with our families”.
The elders would teach the importance of looking after country and that the sacred ancestral spirits watch over and protect the animals and plants. Her Mother and Grandmother taught her about bush medicine, a topic that is especially important to Colleen and is expressed within her paintings.
The layers of Colleen’s paintings are as detailed and complex as the stories she paints. Her paintings help to keep her culture strong and keep the stories alive to be shared and used to educate current and future generations.
My mothers country is flowers, trees and mountains. I love to paint them. We see springs, the water from the springs is like rainwater, fresh and clean. We hunt goanna and turkeys, we roast them in the fire and the flesh is strong and sweet.
When we hunt we sleep at night next to the fire, the skies are big and the stars are beautiful, it makes me feel good.
This is my country, it’s the country around Irrultja. This is where we like to go after big rain. After big rain there, we can go swimming. There is always good hunting on my country. It is good for me to paint my country and it makes me feel good.
The artists of Ampilatwatja made a conscious decision not to paint altyerr (dreaming stories). The artists paint their country where those stories sit.
Kwetyaylp (donkeys) and nantew (horses) would come and drink from the water at Spring Creek on my father’s country. We would put a bucket in the sand we would filter the water so we could drink it.
When I was young girl we would go to Canteen Creek following the track along the hills, we would hunt turkey, emus and kangaroo and we would cut the bark and collect the sap from the sugar bag trees. `
The long necked turtle is a dreaming totem for the freshwater people, the Ganalbingu, whose country includes the World Heritage listed, Arafura Wetlands in Central Arnhem Land, Northern Territory
The Yolngu (people) of Arnhem Land originate from a spiritual source, fixed in a particular place in their land or the sea. These ‘Spiritual Reservoirs’ are often in the form of special waterholes made by Wangga (Creator Beings), long ago close to the beginning of time. These creator beings moved across the country side, shaping the land and implanting in each tract of country, the spiritual life force for the people who were to own it.
These creator spirits took many forms. When they gave the land to each group they also gave songs, dances, ceremony, the associated laws and language. The Creation story for Ganalbingu people took place near the middle section of the Glyde River where it becomes the Goyder River. Their land, Ngaliyindi, sits astride the Arafura Swamp in Central Arnhem Land. Some of their major Creative Beings include Banda (freshwater long neck turtle) and Yalman (water lilies).
This is the soakage (place to dig to find water) after the bushfire, made by a lightning strike. It burnt the grass down, then the rain came and the grass grows sweet and new. The kangaroos come out for the new grass, so we can go hunting for kangaroos and goannas, it is easy hunting because the land is bare of bush and we can see them
“This is country after we’ve had apangw (big rain). The new grasses are coming up and the water is flowing.”
Kwatcha (water) is a valuable and a much revered resource when living out in the desert. The earth responds with vibrant joyful greens after just one downpour. All life out here celebrates to the music of rain.
The community of Ampilatwatja made a conscious decision not to paint altyerr (dreaming stories). The artists paint their country where those stories sit.