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Goanna Song line

The Lorrkon or bone pole coffin ceremony was the final ceremony in a sequence of mortuary rituals celebrated by the people of Arnhem Land. This ceremony involves the placing of the deceased’s bones into a hollow log until it slowly decayed over many years. The log is made from a termite hollowed Stringy bark tree (Eucalyptus tetradonta) and is decorated with totemic emblems.

This Lorrkon tells the story of goanna, hiding among hollowed out logs. Also visible are plants around the hollow logs. Harry holds a songline story for the goanna and takes pride in creating light weight lorrkon that tell his songline stories. 

Story has been painted using a mixture of modern paintbrushes along with a handmade Jarlk grass reed brush. Jarlk is found among billabongs and wet areas, and hand shaped to create the fine line work called Raark. Raark is in Yirritja style and consists of multiple lines before alternating colour.

Timber used is Woolybutt, native to the Arnhem region, and has been sanded smooth to create a lighter Lorrkon.