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Mungkulu – Miriam Atkins

“Mungkulu, down at the Canning Stock Route. It’s a rockhole place. That’s where Dadda [Samson] and her family come from. Nyarru (shame, poor thing), old lady.”

– Miriam Atkins

Mungkulu is a rockhole located south east of Kumpupirntily (Kumpupintily, Lake Disappointment). This site lies within Miriam’s ngurra (home Country, camp) through her family. As Miriam recounts here, the site was also the home Country for fellow Martumili Artist Dadda Samson (dec.)

During the pujiman (traditional, desert dwelling) period, Martu would traverse very large distances annually in small family groups, moving seasonally from water source to water source, and hunting and gathering bush tucker as they went. At this time knowledge of water sources was critical for survival, and today Martu Country is still defined in terms of the location and type of water. Each of the hundreds of claypans, rockholes, waterholes, soaks and springs found in the Martu desert homelands is known by name, location, quality and seasonal availability through real life experience and the recounting of Jukurrpa (Dreaming) narratives.