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Waterhole

This work depicts a waterhole within the artists’ ngurra (home Country, camp), typically represented with circular forms. Waterholes are sites that require maintenance, including digging to increase flow, clearing out surrounding growth, and cleaning up after sullying by camels or cattle.

During the pujiman (traditional, desert dwelling) period, 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 through real life experience and the recounting of Jukurrpa (Dreaming) narratives by name, location, quality and seasonal availability. This encyclopedic knowledge extends even to the nature and movement of arterial waterways, and sustained Martu as they travelled across their Country, hunting and gathering, visiting family, and fulfilling ceremonial obligations. They would traverse very large distances annually, visiting specific areas in the dry and wet season depending on the availability of water and the corresponding cycles of plant and animal life on which hunting and gathering bush tucker was reliant.

Categories: Shire of East Pilbara (Martumili Artists)

Name: Morika Biljabu

Language: Manyjilyjarra

Community: Punmu

Biography:

"I was born in Port Hedland in January 1988, my skin is Purungu. I’m a Martu girl. My first language is Manyjilyjarra and my second language is English. I grew up in Parnngurr and Punmu communities. When I was young, I didn’t know what was out in the desert. Even when I first took photos of Martu people, I didn’t really know what was going on. When the old people all started painting, I asked them what they were doing and they told me where their country was and taught me the country stories. I really love taking photos of the old people and they have been giving me a better idea of what they are doing when they paint. That was how I learned about the history of the Canning Stock Route and how they all lived in the desert. How they survived there. They all helped me a little bit. They helped me understand how I am connected to their paintings and related to all the families through the skin groups and how we are all connected to the country. It’s a big country. All the people seem to paint different stories, but it’s the same story underneath. We’re really all one people, with one big story and one big country." Morika has been assisting her grandmother, Jakayu Biljabu, on a series of significant works and learning more about her country. In 2009, Morika was nominated for the Prix Pictet, an international prize devoted to photography and sustainability.

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