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Kantawara

“The yellow means kantawara. Kantawara is like ochre, theres a red, white, and yellow. You can smash it and put water on it and its like a paint for rock painting. Ochre is the red (yulpa). Kantawara is the yellow one used for painting up for woman’s corroboree dancing Yawulyu, they use two colours, white and yellow. The white is used for Sorry Business, when people passed away. That’s why I put the yellow, the painting represents my mother’s grandfather, his name was Nyunana Tjakamarra Kantawarra. He’s part of this Country, Winparrku and Yaya-yii. That’s the Country I represent with the yellow colour of my painting. You can also see bush foods. Purple one is bush coconut, wanpanpi. You can’t just eat it because it has a hard shell. When you get it from the tree you have to hit it with a rock to open it up to see what kind is inside, then you can eat it. Red ones are akatjiri, bush sultana. when it’s dry it’s like a sultana, when it’s there in a tree it tastes like a cherry tomato. When you eat lots of akatjiri that means cleaning the stomach, good for the stomach. Those green seed pods are pangkuna, bush bean. They have stringy leaves and a long curvy pod. Inside there’s the round bean, the pangkuna bush bean with the seed, you can eat that one when you cook the whole pod by laying it in the fire for a few minutes and then taking it out.” – Joyce Dixon