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Ngaginyji Joomooloony

This painting is about Joomena’s Ngaginyji Joomooloony, her boab tree. “The boab tree we are born under becomes our special tree; this one is Ngaginyji Joomooloony, which means ‘My Boabtree'” 

 

Eileen Bray Joomena was born on the side of a dusty highway along the road to Ord River and next to the creek that runs into Birnuwun (Alice Downs), Joomoon’s traditional county. The family had ventured out on a fishing trip when Eileen’s mum went into labour and was ‘laid down, with her sisters in law’, under a big boab tree and gave birth. The women stayed under the boab for a week, as is customary, and until ready to go back to camp.

Categories: WARMUN ART

Name: Eileen Bray Joomena


Language: English, Gija, Kriol


Community: Warmun


Biography:

Eileen Bray Joomena is a very well-respected language teacher and translator in Warmun Community and is an emerging artist at Warmun Art Centre. She has been involved with the Gija language program at the Ngalangangpum community school in Warmun and IATSIS project with Melbourne Univeristy for many years and has has assisted with many publications that have involved Warmun and Gija language, including the Co-author of the recently published Gija Dictionary. With her keen grasp of both Gija and English and her lively personality Joomoon is seen by many as a pivotal figure and bridge between two worlds.
Joomoon takes her traditional country, Birnuwun (Alice Downs) and its Ngarrangkarni (Dreaming) stories as the subject of her work, most recently drawing on the story of her birth and Ngaginyji Joomooloony; 'My boab tree'.


© the artist / art centre