December 2025

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Puntawarri

“All around is sandhills and lakes on every side. You can see the grass, but the lakes are all dry. In the middle is Puntawarri waterhole. That’s the jila (snake) place, two jila. They nyupa (spouses), they darlings, man and woman. They sleeping near to Puntawarri. It’s a hole in the ground- that jila will come out of the ground and all the dust will go everywhere. All the dust going everywhere, the dust that flies up when the jila flies up out of its hole. The jila isn’t in that place anymore. It’s gone now but that jila used to stop there.” 

 – Helen Dale Samson

Puntawarri is an important cultural area located on the middle stretches of the Canning Stock Route and east of the Jigalong Mission (now Jigalong Aboriginal community). It is also the site of an abandoned community, a waterhole, creek and lake. Puntawarri’s close proximity to Jigalong Mission made it a popular site for Martu to visit during the ‘mission days’. Dale was born at Jigalong Mission, and continues to live in the community now located there today. Though she grew up in the dormitory at Jigalong, she spent her weekends and holidays in the bush, camping at sites such as Puntawarri with her extended family. Once married, she lived around Puntawarri, walking and hunting in the surrounding Country.

For many Martu, like Dale’s family, Jigalong Mission was the site where their pujiman (traditional, desert dwelling) lifestyle came to an end from the late 1940s as they transitioned to a life as stockmen and women working in cattle stations in the Pilbara region and beyond. In the wake of the extreme and prolonged drought of the 1960s, the last of the remaining pujimanpa (desert dwellers) were forced to move to missions like Jigalong, where a supply of food and water was assured. There, many Martu were reunited with family members that had already moved in from the desert.

The waterhole at Puntawarri is said to be populated by several kinds of ancestral jila, as referred to by Dale in her account. However the site is best known for its association with the Ngayurnangalku, fearsome ancestral cannibal beings. During the Jukurrpa (Dreaming) the Ngayurnangalku came together from all over the desert, first stopping near Puntawarri on their travels to Kumpupirntily (Kumpupintily, Lake Disappointment). At Kumpupirntily, they had a big meeting to debate whether or not they would continue to live as cannibals, and eventually came to the decision to stop eating people. That night, a female baby cannibal was born to the eastern Ngayurnangalku on the red sandhills at Puntawarri, where she continues to live today as the ‘big mummy’ Ngayurnangalku. Following protocol, the baby also had to be consulted by the group. She determined that the Ngayurnangalku should continue to eat people. Her decision divided the group, and from this point the group from the east continued to live as ‘bad’ cannibals at Kumpupirntily, while the group from the west became ‘good’, thereafter consuming only animals.

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Wanti Yuu

“Wanti Yuu (Woman Yeah!) is a story of resilience and of women coming together. It is about the strength of the women in our community who put themselves last and take on a lot. She [Wanti Yuu] is someone who looks after her family, putting the grand kids and everyone around her first. The word Matriarch comes to mind. They are the matriarch of the family. The Boss Lady. Always helping everyone else out and leaving herself to the end. She paints, she teaches us her knowledge, like basket weaving and honey ant collecting. She is the top lore woman and her story of Pujiman (traditional, desert dwelling) is so important. She is a leader of the Martu women and a senior artist. That’s all I can say about these women. These women; you give her the bread if you know what I mean. It’s a true story. Anything in my pockets. Because when you look at her, her stance, her energy and her vibe, you can feel it. You don’t muck around with Wanti Yuu.”

-Silvia Wilson

Wanti Yuu celebrates women’s resilience, matriarchal relationships, and Sylvia’s place in this story.

As Sylvia explains, the work is both a depiction of, and attribute to, the women in her life. “I follow my great grandmother’s guidance and direction in life. These women in my life carry so much on their shoulders, as well as the responsibility and future of our culture.”

 

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Wanti Yuu

“Wanti Yuu (Woman Yeah!) is a story of resilience and of women coming together. It is about the strength of the women in our community who put themselves last and take on a lot. She [Wanti Yuu] is someone who looks after her family, putting the grand kids and everyone around her first. The word Matriarch comes to mind. They are the matriarch of the family. The Boss Lady. Always helping everyone else out and leaving herself to the end. She paints, she teaches us her knowledge, like basket weaving and honey ant collecting. She is the top lore woman and her story of Pujiman (traditional, desert dwelling) is so important. She is a leader of the Martu women and a senior artist. That’s all I can say about these women. These women; you give her the bread if you know what I mean. It’s a true story. Anything in my pockets. Because when you look at her, her stance, her energy and her vibe, you can feel it. You don’t muck around with Wanti Yuu.”

-Silvia Wilson

Wanti Yuu celebrates women’s resilience, matriarchal relationships, and Sylvia’s place in this story.

As Sylvia explains, the work is both a depiction of, and attribute to, the women in her life. “I follow my great grandmother’s guidance and direction in life. These women in my life carry so much on their shoulders, as well as the responsibility and future of our culture.”

 

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Wanti Yuu

“Wanti Yuu (Woman Yeah!) is a story of resilience and of women coming together. It is about the strength of the women in our community who put themselves last and take on a lot. She [Wanti Yuu] is someone who looks after her family, putting the grand kids and everyone around her first. The word Matriarch comes to mind. They are the matriarch of the family. The Boss Lady. Always helping everyone else out and leaving herself to the end. She paints, she teaches us her knowledge, like basket weaving and honey ant collecting. She is the top lore woman and her story of Pujiman (traditional, desert dwelling) is so important. She is a leader of the Martu women and a senior artist. That’s all I can say about these women. These women; you give her the bread if you know what I mean. It’s a true story. Anything in my pockets. Because when you look at her, her stance, her energy and her vibe, you can feel it. You don’t muck around with Wanti Yuu.”

-Silvia Wilson

Wanti Yuu celebrates women’s resilience, matriarchal relationships, and Sylvia’s place in this story.

As Sylvia explains, the work is both a depiction of, and attribute to, the women in her life. “I follow my great grandmother’s guidance and direction in life. These women in my life carry so much on their shoulders, as well as the responsibility and future of our culture.”

 

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Wanti Yuu

“Wanti Yuu (Woman Yeah!) is a story of resilience and of women coming together. It is about the strength of the women in our community who put themselves last and take on a lot. She [Wanti Yuu] is someone who looks after her family, putting the grand kids and everyone around her first. The word Matriarch comes to mind. They are the matriarch of the family. The Boss Lady. Always helping everyone else out and leaving herself to the end. She paints, she teaches us her knowledge, like basket weaving and honey ant collecting. She is the top lore woman and her story of Pujiman (traditional, desert dwelling) is so important. She is a leader of the Martu women and a senior artist. That’s all I can say about these women. These women; you give her the bread if you know what I mean. It’s a true story. Anything in my pockets. Because when you look at her, her stance, her energy and her vibe, you can feel it. You don’t muck around with Wanti Yuu.”

-Silvia Wilson

Wanti Yuu celebrates women’s resilience, matriarchal relationships, and Sylvia’s place in this story.

As Sylvia explains, the work is both a depiction of, and attribute to, the women in her life. “I follow my great grandmother’s guidance and direction in life. These women in my life carry so much on their shoulders, as well as the responsibility and future of our culture.”

 

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Kaalpa (Kalypa, Canning Stock Route Well 23)

“Kaalpa (Kalypa, Canning Stock Route Well 23) is my grandfather’s Country. There’s a waterhole there, Kaalpa waterhole. It’s my two pops’ Country. They been walking around, hunting around Kaalpa. You can see a yapu (rock), warla (lake), claypans, karru (creek) and tuwa (sandhills) there. It’s on the [Canning] Stock Route, it’s Well 23. One walypala One walypala (whitefella) well, and a real kalyu (water) there, jurnu. The Seven Sisters landed there, Jukurrpa (Dreaming). That man Yurla yapu (hill, stone, rock) there.” [Yurla, who chased the Seven Sisters during the Jukurrpa remains at Kaalpa in the form of a rock]) 

In pujiman (traditional, desert dwelling) days, pujimanpa (desert born people) walking around all this Country. My pops told me about that place, a big flat area, parlkarra (flat country) good for hunting parnajarrpa (goanna), lunki (witchetty grub), lungkurta (blue tongue lizard), wamurla (bush tomato), jinyjiwirrilyi (wild gooseberry). Kaalpa is a busy place for emus getting a drink. 

The old people were telling me “Kaalpa’s your grandfather’s Country, you gotta paint it.” I went [to Kaalpa] for the first time [in 2018] on a Martumili KJ [Kanyirninpa Jukurrpa] trip. We went out there when we were looking for the [Greater] Bilby. They took me and [my sister] Tamisha, they showed us our grandfather’s Country, Well 23. I went out there, had a good look, walked around, and went back to Wantili (Warntili, Canning Stock Route Well 25), Parnngurr, and I started painting it. Now it’s my mind, now I know what Kaalpa looks like. When I went there, I was pukurlpa (happy). It made you open up your spirit, it feels like home.”

 – Corban Clause Williams

Kaalpa is a permanent water source located northeast of Kumpupirntily (Kumpupintily, Lake Disappointment). This site is a place of great cultural significance, and is also known for good hunting. Adjacent to the waterhole is a hill of the same name. The landscape around Kaalpa is parlkarra (flat country), bordered by tali (sandhills) stretching as far as Windy Corner, northeast and towards the border of Western Australia and the Northern Territory. The large and dangerous Jukurrpa (Dreamtime) mosquito and fly beings partially created the landforms in this area and continue to live underground here.

Kaalpa also features in the Minyipuru (Jakulyukulyu, Seven Sisters) Jukurrpa, a central creation narrative for Martu, Ngaanyatjarra, Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara people that is associated with the seasonal Pleiades star constellation. At Kaalpa the Minyipuru met a group of men; it was the first time either group had seen members of the opposite sex. The men tried to grab the women, but the Minyipuru chased them, hitting them with their digging sticks and leaving them lying there as they continued travelling east.

Relayed in song, dance, stories and paintings, Minyipuru serves as a creation narrative, a source of information relating to the physical properties of the land, and an embodiment of Aboriginal cultural laws. Beginning in Roebourne on the west coast of Western Australia, the story morphs in its movement eastward across the land, following the women as they walk, dance, and even fly from waterhole to waterhole. As they travel the women camp, sing, wash, dance and gather food, leaving markers in the landscape and creating landforms that remain to this day, such as groupings of rocks and trees, grinding stones and seeds. During the entirety of their journey the women are pursued by a lustful old man, Yurla, although interactions with other animals, groups of men, and spirit beings are also chronicled in the narrative.

The intersection of the Canning Stock Route with Kaalpa also made this a site of early contact with Europeans for many Martu then living a pujiman life in the desert. Following the route’s construction, Martu encountered Europeans and other Martu working as cattle drovers as they would travel up and down the Stock Route from water source to water source. Increasingly, pujimanpa followed the route to newly established ration depots, mission and pastoral stations. They were drawn to the route in search of food, by a sense of curiosity, or by loneliness. By the late 1950s and early 1960s, most of the desert family groups had left the desert. Eventually, these factors combined with an extreme and prolonged drought in the 1960s to prompt the few remaining pujimanpa to move in from the desert.

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Wanti Yuu

“Wanti Yuu (Woman Yeah!) is a story of resilience and of women coming together. It is about the strength of the women in our community who put themselves last and take on a lot. She [Wanti Yuu] is someone who looks after her family, putting the grand kids and everyone around her first. The word Matriarch comes to mind. They are the matriarch of the family. The Boss Lady. Always helping everyone else out and leaving herself to the end. She paints, she teaches us her knowledge, like basket weaving and honey ant collecting. She is the top lore woman and her story of Pujiman (traditional, desert dwelling) is so important. She is a leader of the Martu women and a senior artist. That’s all I can say about these women. These women; you give her the bread if you know what I mean. It’s a true story. Anything in my pockets. Because when you look at her, her stance, her energy and her vibe, you can feel it. You don’t muck around with Wanti Yuu.”

-Silvia Wilson

Wanti Yuu celebrates women’s resilience, matriarchal relationships, and Sylvia’s place in this story.

As Sylvia explains, the work is both a depiction of, and attribute to, the women in her life. “I follow my great grandmother’s guidance and direction in life. These women in my life carry so much on their shoulders, as well as the responsibility and future of our culture.”