October 2025

Wayuk (waterlily) and river moss

Ngalng (Freshwater Crayfish) – Babbarra Texta

‘This is a story from Mankorlod. This is a djang (creation) story. This is the creation story about the freshwater yabby. Starting with the stone, that’s the raw one and the cooked one. The stone rock suddenly turned to ngalng, in a flash. Ngalng started growing and turned into a body. It’s a magic one and it can change from rock to ngalng to human and back to ngalng. Now it’s a ngalng. 

The country is near Mankorlod and Korlobididah. The ngalng is stuck there forever on the rock at Korlobididah.’ 

‘There is also duruk (camp dog) called Djanbokkon. This is a duruk that comes from water and no one has seen it. This is a true duruk, he goes everywhere in the country. His body is striped. He is a secret dog and he has a secret story.’ 

Janet Marawarr 2022

Manbirrbbirr la Kunwardde (yellow flowers and rocks)

In Kuninjku the name manbirrbbirr is used for a number of densely flowering shrubs and small trees including Verticordia cunninghamii, yellow flowering Austromyrtus species and also Acacia platycarpa which also has dense white.

Kunwardde means stone, rock or money in Kuninjku.

This design combines imagery of the country around Mumeka with common dry season bush flowers. 

Marebu – Raylene Bonosn

A ‘marebu’ is a hand-woven mat made of pandanus, often coloured with natural dyes. Marebu can be used as a floor mat, a fence to trap fish in waterways, a shield to cover babies from mosquitoes, a wrap for rinsing food in water, and a ceremonial skirt for women.

‘Marebu (pandanus floor mat) is used by lots of people for lots of things. When people go hunting, they use marebu to sit on and to put all the manme (food) they catch like freshwater fish and cheeky yam. When the people are finished hunting, they can use the marebu to wrap up all the manme (food) and carry it home to cook on the fire. You can put that marebu in the freshwater to wash it. Marebu is also used as a bed to sleep on. This design comes from my mother’s side and is a Kuninjku story.’

Link to ‘marebu’ definition – Njamed.com

https://njamed.com/entry/marebu/?tab=Dictionary

Ngaldjorlhbo (Mother of Everything)

Ngaldjorlhbo is a powerful woman who created the spiritual and tangible world for the Aboriginal people in Western Arnhem Land. In creating the land and environment, she endowed Kuninjku people with the ability to create art, and with their culture, to share with future generations. Ngaldjorlhbo gives women the cultural knowledge and deep links to country, identity and ancestor spirits. 

‘Ngaldjorlhbo created daluk (women) When she started walking she started talking and telling stories. She create, came together as one. She was walking, thinking and writing with her hand creating all the animals and trees.  Creating mountains and rivers. Came together and made a beautiful flowing wind and river to the coming of the land. From fresh water to the salt water river, all the fish, all kinds of fish she created.

From little bird, big bird she created. She came all the way from east, west, north and south. 

She knows all the places from this land. She was speaking, she was telling, she was creating the country, this world. 

She was carrying kunmadj and digging stick and she created yawkyawk.

So that’s the story about Ngaldjorlhbo.’

Janet Marawarr 2022

Djomi (Fresh Water Spirit)

This design depicts the story of the artist’s ancestral dreaming, the Djómi (Fresh Water Spirit).

The Djómi figure is a mermaid-like spirit with fish tail that lives in the freshwater stream that flows out to the sea cliff near Maningrida. Djómi is known to be a very powerful fertility symbol.

“If you go there, you can get pregnant easily. Djómi has babies, and they can give other babies too. The Djómi spirit is so powerful, that women can end up with multiple babies at once, twins or sometimes even more. The Djómi spirits lay eggs near the sacred freshwater stream in Maningrida. Inside the eggs are human babies as well as young Djómi. Men do not go near that swamp, because Djomi is so powerful that men might get pregnant there too. So men are too scared of that Djómi. When we visit the Djómi freshwater spring, we can hear young Djómi  crying. They sound like normal babies crying, those Djómi spirits. They are looking for a mother. This Djómi is my dreaming, I got permission from my djungkay (ritual manager) to paint this Djómi design. For me I always ask my djunguy permission to paint, because that is our cultural way. This design also depicts the freshwater lily leaves and seaweed from the base of the sea floor.” Joy Galrbin