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Jaiya & longneck turtle (woolamarra)

Wandjina is the creator for all the food on the land and in the sea.He’s the one who give us fish (Jaiya).
This painting is of the Woolamarra (longneck turtle) which lives in freshwater. This turtle has its own law which says that young children cannot eat them unless the elders make the turtle crawl on their backs and scratch them. If a young person eats it without it crawling on their back then the Wandjina will send a big rain storm with hail and strong winds. The young child must go out into the storm and get hit by the hail stones to satisfy the Wandjina then he will make the storm go away. When the turtle has been eaten up you can see the shape of a Wandjina in the shell.

Name: Nancy Wungundin


Language: Ngarinyin



Biography:

Nancy Wungundin grew up in Imintji on the Gibb River Road. She is an emerging artist with a deep understanding of cultural knowledge and protocol. Nancy loves visiting country. She remembers the cave sites that her old people took her to visit as a child. The designs in Nancy's paintings are contempory however always maintain a strong connection with the cave paintings of her old people. 

Nancy is also a highly skilled carver. Based on the high level of craftmanship she was recently invited to facilitate Boab Carving Workshops at the Kimberly, Art, Law and Culture Festival, Jarlmadangah, 2014.


© the artist / art centre