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Bush Medicine Plants

“Bush medicine plants are used for healing on the body and for drinking. We make this by smashing the plants with a rock, we use the juice and the fibre of the plant.

We collect bush medicine plants when we are out hunting. Different kinds of plants grow during different seasons.

There are lots of different medicines, we know what their stories are, we learnt them from our parents and we teach these stories to our children.”

Bush medicine knowledge is still strong in Ampilatwatja, it continues to be passed down to the younger generations and is widely used.


When the women go hunting they often gather bush medicine. The plants depicted here are found in the country around Ampilatwatja, they are used for soothing skin infections and to make a drink to help with colds and coughs.


Painting bush medicine stories is important because it helps to maintain a strong knowledge and culture for the community.

Name: Maisie Petyarre Bundey


Language: Anmatyerr


Community: Ampilatwatja


Biography:

Maisie was one of the original Batik painters of Utopia. Maisie and her sisters Bessie, Kate and Josie are prolific painters who learnt to paint by watching their mother Polly Ngale.

Growing up on Utopia Station, her family worked at the station.  Her father was a stockman and worked with horses and cattle. She loved the life and growing up at the cattle station with her family.

 


© the artist / art centre